Insights and Updates

I rented a small vegetable plot near Sijiqing Town in Haidian District, Beijing (each small plot costs 2,000 yuan a year; I rented two) and grow vegetables there. Many of my fellow gardeners have years of experience, so when I first arrived and they saw…

Today, four high school seniors close to me are taking the national college entrance examination (gaokao) in three different cities across the country. One is my son, one is my nephew, and the other two are students who have studied medicine with me since childhood.

I have previously written about the Chinese medicine treatment of chemotherapy-induced vomiting. In most cases I recommend starting with a Chinese patent medicine to control chemotherapy-induced vomiting; if a patent medicine does not work, then consider a decoction. Most patients with chemotherapy-induced vomiting obtain significant…

Dr. Pu Fuzhou had an empirical formula for rapid pain relief called 'Sansheng Qutong Fang' (Three-Raw Pain-Dispelling Formula). It consists of equal parts raw Wutou (Aconiti Radix; Caowu/Aconiti Kusnezoffii Radix may also be used), raw Tiannanxing (Arisaematis Rhizoma) and raw Baifuzi (Typhonii Rhizoma). Preparation: grind…

The Chinese medicinal Difuzi is the ripe fruit of Kochia scoparia, of the Chenopodiaceae family; it is also known as Dikui, Dimai and Qiantouzi. In the countryside the whole Kochia plant is often used to make brooms, so Difuzi is also called Saozhouri (broom seed).

The Chinese medicinal Bajiaolian is the root and rhizome of Berberidaceae plants Dysosma versipellis, Dysosma pleiantha and Dysosma veitchii. Dysosma versipellis and Dysosma veitchii look similar: their leaves divide into eight parts, resembling eight angles, hence the name Bajiaolian (eight-angle lotus). Dysosma pleiantha's leaf divides…

In 1998, I came to Beijing for the first time to attend university, carrying a worn-out denim bag stuffed with a change of clothes. Standing on Beijing's streets, I was completely disoriented, unable to tell east from west, and marveled at the city's grand buildings.

The formula for Qinlian Pian (tablets/capsules) is taken from the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (Part I, 2005 edition). Its composition is: Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix) 250 g, Lianqiao (Forsythiae Fructus) 250 g, Huanglian (Coptidis Rhizoma) 100 g, Huangbai (Phellodendri Cortex) 400 g, Chishao…

Today my son’s head teacher announced that, starting tomorrow, these third-year (grade-12) students no longer need evening self-study. This is to make final preparations for the national college entrance exam (gaokao), which takes place in a week; the school wants the seniors to get adequate…

“Shaoyao Dihuang Tang” comes from the Puji Fang. It is composed of Chishao (Red Peony), Shengdi (raw Rehmannia), Huangqin (Scutellaria) and Mudanpi (Moutan), each five qian (15 g). Slice the herbs and boil them together with two bowls (about 600 ml) of water down to…