Two Cure-Alls to Everything

Before I moved to China IVs were something only the seriously ill got when they were hospitalized and hot water was something my grandmothers drank sometimes in the evening when they weren't in the mood for tea. To be honest, I don't think I've ever had an IV in my life! (Unless I was too little at the time to remember it.) And while I don't drink cold water outside of the summertime, I don't find hot water particularly appealing - just the opposite really!

Since moving to China, however, I've learned that IVs aren't just for the legitimately ill and hot water is not the occasional drink of the elderly. No sir! If you have a cold that lasts more than 2 or 3 days, what do you need? An IV. Want to pull an all-nighter or two to do some extra studying? Get an IV. Doctor tells you that you have a serious lung issue and need to be on medication for a week or more? Of course you're supposed to call off work so that you can rest...and so that you can trudge through the hazy wintertime smog to the hospital every day to take your medicines via IV.

And then there's the hot water! Have a sniffle? Drink hot water. Coughing? Drink hot water. Just not feeling well in general? Drink hot water. Serious lung illness? Drink hot water. Medicine, sure, yeah. (As long as it's being received via IV!) But hot water first and foremost! It doesn't matter if it's barely filtered tap water - something you really just shouldn't drink here - it will help you get or stay healthy.

All in all being sick here in Harbin has been a very interesting experience. I used to find it tiresome when people told me what to do when I got a bad cold, mostly because I was already doing all the things they would recommend and then some. But now I find the recommendations immensely narrowed down to just two things, and suddenly I'm much more grateful for friends elsewhere who at least researched effective ways to deal with illness instead of repeating mantras about the benefits of hot (versus room temperature) water and medication that's just as effective taken orally as it is via an IV drip.

I'm told it's the same elsewhere in China, so if you're considering a move to this great country, be prepared! If you move here, you will be told to drink more hot water to cure X, Y, or Z. Your Chinese friends will think you're weird for not running off to the hospital to get an IV drip after being sick for a day or two. And after being told this the first three or four times you will have to fight the urge to roll your eyes whenever you get advised to drink more hot water or get an IV! Not a deal breaker to be sure, but an annoyance to be ready for all the same. And a good reminder perhaps to be grateful to have the opportunity to live in a country with decent medical care available and the means to heat water!