Hospital of heaven - made in China

On Monday this week, I had the misfortune of falling ill with a Chinese cold. I'm fairly sure that it is not one of its Canadian counterparts as it is quite a different sensation. Strangely enough, it is not quite as miserable as its Canadian cousins which are always far more severe and uncomfortable. Nevertheless, it was significant enough that I decided not to head into work. One of my colleagues, who takes a great interest in my personal well being, insisted that I go to the hospital just in case my ailment was more than just a cold.

Thinking of hospitals back home, lengthy wait lines and more severe cases than my own, I insisted that I need not go. However, this was met with equal if not greater insistence and eventually agreed to go with her. We rode in a cab together to a large, marble clad edifice with a prominent sign with the inscription "TEDA Hospital". This building was certainly different from the hospitals one would initially expect to see in China. A large, artistic statue was outside, next to an expansive parking lot. Upon entering the facility, I observed that not a single surface was clad in a material inferior in quality to the marble that covered everything in sight. This had the effect making the entire inside area even fancier than even North America's top malls. The use of marble was not unusual. As its seems in China, most surfaces, from sidewalks to subways to bank headquarters are clad almost exclusively in marble. My colleague registered me with an efficient nurse in the reception lobby. This lobby was not like the ones I had become used to in Canadian hospitals. With its short lines and efficient service, it was far more like something one would expect to find in a hotel. My colleague then led me upstairs via an escalator which ascended to the second floor in front of a wall of glass that revealed a lush garden courtyard beyond the window. She led me to a room which consisted of an arcade of doorways. We tucked into one of these where a doctor attended to me right away. The doctor was a young woman, dressed in an immaculate lab coat. She gave my throat an examination and wrote some prescriptions for me on a sheet of paper. This paper we took downstairs back to the reception where a pharmacist attended to us immediately. While my medication was being gathered by the pharmacist, I noticed a very obvious foreigner behind me talking to one of the hospital staff. Fortunately for her, from what I could hear the staff member was speaking perfect english.

The overall experience was pleasant, rapid and left me completly awe struck. I find it incredible that my common cold was attended to in less than ten minutes wheras when I had a fainting spell back in Ottawa it took nearly a five hours wait before I was given any service.