Chinese medicine vs Western medicine

[TimD]

I remember the first few days of my wifes first visit to the states. We'd go out to eat and she would order hot tea, or just hot water with her dinner. I really found this odd. Now that I am here I am the odd man out as everyone we eat with normally has a hot drink with their meals, even on hot summer days.

 

-Tim

[Mick]

The hot v. cold thing reminds me of a strange (surrealistic) conversation I had with my better 3/4 a week or so ago.  She was telling me that her mother won't let her drink too much ice water or coke because it would make her sick.  I tried to explain to her that you'd have to drink several gallons of water to get sick (several, several, several gallons) and that yes, too much coke will make your stomach hurt.. after reading these discussions, things make a little more sense..  When I was in china, drinking hot drinks with every meal started to drive me crazy (I'm from the South, I'm used to having iced tea with my meals).  She started thinking it was odd that I would drink coke with every meal (it was really tough to get any kind of cold drink).

 

I guess its going to take a little bit on both of our parts..  I've got a strong scientific background and she's got a strong common sense background.. I'm sure, if we're lucky, common sense will win

Li also experiences major problems with her throat and stomach when she eats or drinks anything that is too cold. When we first met, I thought this was strange but after living in China for five years, I saw that most folks had the same opinion. And, to this day, if Li eats or drinks anything cold her throat swells. Not sure of the reasons for this. I guess part of it is cultural and part may be biological differences.

 

By the way Bobby, where are you in the south?

 

We live in southern Tennessee, right on the Alabama border. Robert S. is also a southerner.

[tonado]

The hot v. cold thing reminds me of a strange (surrealistic) conversation I had with my better 3/4 a week or so ago.  She was telling me that her mother won't let her drink too much ice water or coke because it would make her sick.  I tried to explain to her that you'd have to drink several gallons of water to get sick (several, several, several gallons) and that yes, too much coke will make your stomach hurt.. after reading these discussions, things make a little more sense..  When I was in china, drinking hot drinks with every meal started to drive me crazy (I'm from the South, I'm used to having iced tea with my meals).  She started thinking it was odd that I would drink coke with every meal (it was really tough to get any kind of cold drink).

 

I guess its going to take a little bit on both of our parts..  I've got a strong scientific background and she's got a strong common sense background.. I'm sure, if we're lucky, common sense will win

http://www.howtocleananything.com/hca_article_coke.htm

 

My mom said that drinking hot tea after meal absorbs the fat of the food. You must heard about green tea and black tea are good for you.

[frank1538]

I'm from the South, I'm used to having iced tea with my meals

Don't you mean iced tea with your sugar? I'm Southern born and raised, and sweet tea is sometimes more common than Coke. Can't wait to see Jingwen's expression with her first sip.

 

Also, I have always been told that drinking hot fluids on a hot day cools you better than a cold drink does. I think it has something to do with opening the pores for more sweat evaporation. Whoever came up with that bright idea has never lived in the South (US or China) where the humidity is usually higher than the temperature.

[Mick]

I'm from the South, I'm used to having iced tea with my meals

Don't you mean iced tea with your sugar? I'm Southern born and raised, and sweet tea is sometimes more common than Coke. Can't wait to see Jingwen's expression with her first sip.

 

Also, I have always been told that drinking hot fluids on a hot day cools you better than a cold drink does. I think it has something to do with opening the pores for more sweat evaporation. Whoever came up with that bright idea has never lived in the South (US or China) where the humidity is usually higher than the temperature.

I have lived all my life in the south, both in America and China. In America lived in Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee. Spent four years in Guangdong Province in China. All of these places are very hot in the summer...very hot. While in China most folks drank hot liquids even on the hottest days and, on top of that, served steaming soup at every meal. I never made the adjustment. Kept drinking the cold stuff myself. The only hot drink I could handle was a morning cup of coffee and an infrequent cup of tea.

[Bobby]

By the way Bobby, where are you in the south?

My apologies, I've been out of town for the past 4 days or so for a conference.. Currently, I live in Greenville, SC.. I was raised in Beaufort, SC.. Its funny.. I love the culture of the big cities, but I'm not a big fan of loads of people.. China was nice in that there was a lot of culture, and most of the people I met were very very nice..

[Mick]

By the way Bobby, where are you in the south?

My apologies, I've been out of town for the past 4 days or so for a conference.. Currently, I live in Greenville, SC.. I was raised in Beaufort, SC.. Its funny.. I love the culture of the big cities, but I'm not a big fan of loads of people.. China was nice in that there was a lot of culture, and most of the people I met were very very nice..

I have visited Greenville several times. Nice city and a really pretty part of the country. Does living in S.C. put you under the auspices of the Atlanta BCIS?

 

BTW: Thanks for the PM. Always good to communicate with another southerner. B)

[Bobby]

I have visited Greenville several times. Nice city and a really pretty part of the country. Does living in S.C. put you under the auspices of the Atlanta BCIS?

I'm not exactly sure.. I was assuming so.. Unfortunately, I had to go through the TSC.. I've been to knoxville, tn once.. Greenville's one of the most beautiful cities I've lived in or even seen for that matter.. the society here is a little conservative for my tastes, and the job market isn't great, but the weather's great, the hiking's great and I really like this part of the country..

 

Right now the job market isn't so great, so I may be moving soon, but I'm hoping to get the bigger parts of this process overwith before I have to deal with that..