Ni Hao,

Firstly... not only do I have nothing bad to say about china... I love china... yes, love is a strong word... But...

The food is off the hook, but it's not the flavor (well, sometimes its the flavour), its the culture... It's frieken everywhere here... Sometimes its the pleasure of weaving my way through the endless waves of bikes, tuk tuks, cars and pedestrians to order egg pancakes, fried bread, dumplings and soy custard (from 4 different vendors) for breakfast (chinese alfresco). Sometimes its been the joy of ordering 5 meals amongst 4 with a big bowl of mi fan (rice), slamming down a few piju (beer), lighting up a xiang yan (cigarette), walking away for 30 yuan each (5 AU dollars) and then exclaiming to the staff "zhen hao chi!" (Delicious!) as we make our way into the night.

It is a time honored tradition for me to cleans myself of the previous nights sins with copious amounts of fat... at home, that means bacon, eggs, butter and more butter... I was worried when i woke up on my third day in Nanning cursing the vodka gods. I thought all may have been lost... but i saw the light, and here i'de like to introduce you to a good friend of mine... CHINESE BBQ!... may friends... It washed away my sins and saved my soul... never have I had such excessive quantities of fat on duck... never have i been fortified so...

I love the meat on a stick, i love the cobs of corn, i love steamed buns, fried bread, dumplings and congee... Ohhhh, I love congee... bean congee, chicken congee, popcorn congee... its all good.

I haven't cooked for 2 weeks... i love this place.

The Chinese people I have come across are great. They are polite, to the point, hard working and kind.

Just for the record... I do not have a gun to my head...

The dogs run free and the cats are on leashes...

But I haven't just been eating, drinking and noting the behavior of domestic animals... there has also been the occasional trip to the hospital to watch some acupuncture. It's been a real buzz (cheesy pun totally intended)... electro, electro, electro... these guys and gals are junkies for the stuff. And there not shy about it either... i'm talking pulsating flesh.

For the most part the point combinations are pretty standard... but I have definately seen some interesting things that I may never have seen in Australia. It's a real trip to see acupuncture being done alongside Western Medicine. From the Stroke ward to the Fiver and Gall Biadder ward (check photos to understand) these are some sick puppies.

In my first week in the hospital i've:

- been laughed at for using poppers (oh how a wanted to defend my beloved shinkan, heads nearly rolled)

- had a chinese needle thrust into my arm without a twinkle of pain... only to be nearly reduced to tears with a few short thrusts

- seen the most honorable and famous Guang Xi University slow insertion needle technique which takes advantage of the yang ki at the surface of the skin by doing a shudo sensei style rotation at the surface before inserting painlessly

- watched 20 cups somehow fit onto one tiny ladies shoulder and arm

- learned the way of the "cat guts"... which is the Chinese version of the intradermal... they get a big needle with a lumen, insert a piece of fibre into the needle... shove the needle a cun or so into the skin then release the fibre... which is absorbed in 10 days. Pretty cool... although I saw it done on CO20 or is it 19... the one next to the nose.... not so sure about that.

- needled stroke patients (not much qi to by obtained there)

- massaged hepatitis patients

- sat at a table with a herbal doctor as she punched out 20 odd diagnosis and prescriptions in about 3 hours

- heard more cries of pain and seen more scrunched up faces than in all my time at student clinic

All the practitioners here are doctors and they all have at least 5 interns working with them in the room at any one time... which reminds me of Alan's clinic in brisbane... they have the same fun communal vibe. (i told one of the Doctors about Alan throwing cardboard guards at me relentlessly, he thought that was funny and offered to throw an electro machine at me to make me feel more at home) The students here all work tirelessly to perfect there version of the art of acupuncture... they are definately an inspiration.

Hope all the World Acupuncture Crew is having a great summer. I trust you will all be killing it over the holiday season. Have fun, whatever it is that your upto... you'll hear from me again soon.

Zai Jien

Anzhew