A Chinese wall, a terracotta army – and infertility treatment

A bike ride in Xian

A busy day was about to start in Xian, one of the main education centres of China outside Beijing. We all had breakfast and following a visit to watchTai Chi in the local square we had a short bus ride to the wall of the city. This is the most complete city wall in the whole of China and it takes 90 minutes to cycle round it.

We had free time to walk the wall and then walk along the Calligraphy Street market in Xian.  It is interesting that about 9 styles of calligraphy are used medically as it helps stroke patients with hand-eye coordination. 

The local hospital

Following a visit to a  jade factory we went to the local hospital which was a provincial hospital. We visited 3 different units including:

• The Rehabilitation Centre which uses acupuncture as well as ultrasound and electromagnetic therapy.
•  The Massage Unit where the massage is different from the Indian massage in that they did not appear to use any oils and it was mainly deep tissue massage.
• We had a most interesting and informative visit to the Obstetric & Gynaecology Department.  The Professor and Director of the Unit gave a most informative talk which was translated by an associate professor, Professor Shanping Du.  This talk was mainly centred around infertility and how Western medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine was used. A case presentation was given and we were able to discuss the management of this case. 

For me, this was the highlight of the visit and since the  visit I have been in email correspondence with the professors about further case discussions.

Following this we then had a late flight to Guilin. This, again, was a very easy internal flight and we were transported from the airport to the hotel to prepare for Tuesday.

The terracotta army and a still-hidden city

After a good night’s sleep we were woken at 6.30am by loud music from the loudspeakers in the street. The terracotta warriors is one of the main reasons that most visitors go to Xian.

Amazingly, the warriors are just one piece of Quin Shi Huang’s attempt to reconstruct his empire for the afterlife. His tomb lies west of the terracotta warriors and has not been fully excavated. This is due to the fact that technology hasn’t yet been created that would allow excavation to take place without damaging the tomb.

It is said to include a full reconstruction of the ancient capital complete with rivers and lakes of mercury. According the historian Simar Quian, over 700,000 workers were drafted for the project and those involved in the construction of the tomb were rewarded with graves beside their emperor. In order to get further information about the terracotta warriors I would advise that you go the terracotta warriors website: www.terracottawarriors.co.uk which gives a full explanation.

Following this visit we returned to the hotel and had a meal in the theatre at the Shaanxi Grand Opera House followed by a Tang dynasty music and dance show. The show was a performance of music and dance originating the Tang dynasty over l,000 years ago. It has been recreated in accordance with various historical records as well as ancient art and relics discovered  in Xian, the capital of the empire of the Tang dynasty.

Other Interesting Facts

There are a lot of toll roads in China. This is due to private investment supporting road building and raises money.

 The hotel we were staying at in Xian was owned by the Xian Provincial Police Bureau.  This allows private investment to help the economy.

The one child policy is for Han Chinese but not ethnic minorities, eg, Chinese Russian or Chinese Mongolian. 

Chairman Mao wanted women to be equal and 8th March is Women’s Day. The other public holidays are 1st May, which is Labour Day, and 1st October, which is Chinese National Day.

A TV channel for Open University and education which is really encouraged.