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March 20, 2008 Lijiang (CHINA) Touring the Tourist Mecca of Lijiang and David Spends Half the Day in a Chinese Hospital
Nevertheless, the throngs of tourists were not as bad as I was anticipating, in large part because Chinese New Year was only one month ago (when everyone takes off from work to travel or be with family), and the famous "May Day" is only 6 weeks away (when the entire country takes a one week holiday). So, I am visiting the country in the small window of time when the flowers and trees are in full bloom, the weather is perfect, and I can see the sights without the horror-factor of mobbing crowds. (God help those who visit China for the first time this August, but then again that will be an amazing time to see the country for different reasons).
Then, it was off to explore the town. I was handed a map by my guesthouse owner so I could begin learning my way through the winding alleys, and after taking a few wrong turns I developed a feel for the "main routes". Neil and I ate a typical Naxi breakfast (local minority people) at a restaurant near the town's main square, consisting of a Naxi Vegetable Omelet - goat's cheese, tomato, and fried egg between two pieces of fried baba. Baba is the Lijiang specialty, and is made of thick flatbread wheat stuffed with meats or vegetables.
After making another long walk-through of Lijiang, I stopped at a small supermarket to buy David standard food, and returned to the guest house at around 2:00 pm. Unsurprisingly, he was still bed-ridden, and had a ghastly impression on his face. What was surprising was the news that he coughed up blood earlier in the morning, and whether it was because of excessive vomiting or something more serious we could not be certain. I decided to hang around for another hour or so, getting him to drink as much as possible, but when his condition showed no signs of improving we decided to get help. Neil and I led him through Lijiang in search of a hospital, and were it not for my Mandarin-speaking ability we would really have been in a difficult position. The first hospital I found, which turned out to be no more than a clinic, was more suited to helping heat stroke victims and scraped knees than something like food poisoning, so they directed us into the city of Lijiang (outside the old town) where there was better treatment. (All directions, explanations, and conversations were being held in Mandarin, which was a far better test than any end-of-term examination one might receive in school). After a 45 minute walk, we reached the hospital, and went through the entire process of explaining everything that happened -from the likely cause being food poisoning, to the repeated vomiting, to the blood - so we could see a doctor. Fortunately, after a 20 minute waiting period in the lobby we were shown into the doctor's office, and he seemed perfectly content to let me carry on with my Mandarin description of everything before he let it be known he spoke better English than my Mandarin. It was a welcome relief, as were his compliments on my speaking ability (and I didn't mind receiving them because it is often draining trying to exceed my limitations in a foreign language).
90% of the eight hours were spent in the "sick room", shown to the right, where David had a drip in his arm (along with over a dozen other sick Chinese people). Obviously, I stuck around for as long as I could, not to keep David company, but rather because I was enjoying all the attention from the other Chinese present, none of whom could believe there were three foreigners present with one of them speaking passable Mandarin. When I finally left to grab dinner back in the old town, I was struck by the town's transformation: near the main canal there was absolute mayhem as local Chinese girls were dressed in traditional attire and trying to draw the swarms of tourists into their bar/restaurant. There was enough loud music, bright lights, and dancing people to create a scene of absolute mayhem, but I couldn't hang around for as long as I wanted because I felt bad for David. At least I brought the poor guy some 4 rmb ($0.50) flowers, which as the picture below illustrates, improved my mood more than his.
Lastly, some video showing the inner-workings of a Chinese hospital. If nothing else, it is interesting because another situation will never arise again.
I did not get back to the guest house until well after midnight, and as David was not having the greatest time in China, he decided it best to head back to Japan early instead of continuing on with Neil and myself. Although his plans were not yet finalized on how to reach Tokyo, I have no doubt missing his girlfriend played a big part in his desire to return. The important thing is that it would be only Neil and I for the remaining two weeks of the trip - and those two weeks would start bright and early tomorrow morning when we would catch a bus to Qiaotou, the starting point of the famous Tiger Leaping Gorge trek. |
As
I am now nearing ten visits to China 
This
morning, David did not get out of bed to grab breakfast
with Neil and I as he was complaining about feeling ill.
I was not surprised as I heard him get out of bed twice
in the night so he could vomit in the bathroom. As I
headed out the door, I laid a few extra water bottles at
the foot of his bed, and promised to bring him back
something simple to eat.
The
Naxi omelet was filling to eat, but what
really occupied my attention over breakfast were all the
Chinese I-want-to-be-a-professional-photographer
tourists crouching in all manner of positions to take
the perfect photo of a nearby canal. My trick? Point
my brick-of-a-camera in the general direction, snap a
photo, and move on. (Call me a minimalist, or just
call me lazy, but my photos turn out fine.)
Anyway,
the doctor was very helpful and prescribed medicine to
calm David's stomach, and he also prescribed several
bottles of nutrient-filled fluids to be administered via
a "drip". If matters did not improve by the following
day, of course he would take more drastic measures, but
for now that would suffice. After everything that had
happened, we were all happy that the end could finally
be in sight.
The
price of the medication (which I picked up at the front
counter of the hospital), and indeed the entire hospital
visit, amounted to less than $15, which is remarkable
considering the extraordinary hospital bills in
countries such as the United States or Japan. Granted,
the medication was not "name-brand" and "labor is cheap"
in China, but it still seems a remarkably low amount of
money for what amounted to an eight hour hospital visit.