Prescribing to tradition

Situated in a siheyuan courtyard amid modern mansions lies the Tongrentang Museum. Inside you can find artefacts of Chinese medical culture dating back over three centuries.

Life Pulse

Saved from extinction

Milu deer first appeared about 3 million years ago in the warm and wet areas of middle and eastern China. After the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC), the number of milu declined dramatically because of extensive hunting and reclamation of wetlands. Only l20 milu were left in Nanhaizi, the royal hunting park in southeastern Beijing, by the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Puffing smoke rings through hoop dreams

I had just finished coughing up a lung on the sideline of a baking indoor Beijing basketball court when the smell of cigarette smoke wafted into my nostrils. With a mouth as barren as the Taklimakan desert I reached for a bottle of water that had gone lukewarm and looked up to see who was disobeying the conspicuous "No Smoking" signs located next to all the exits.

Holding on to deer life

Ding Yuhua vividly remembers the day when his old lost friends came back from the dead. It was a sweltering summer day in 1986 and the young student heard the cries of his mentor Ma Jianzhang, an established expert on wildlife protection: "The milu deer have come back!"

Reviews

DVD

Life Expat

Survival of the fittest

When you're a stranger in a strange land, networks provide an essential social lifeline. Sport is a big one for expats. For some, the China move is relatively smooth. For others there's home country separation issues and the stress of adapting to a new work environment. Adjusting to a bustling city like Beijing or Shanghai, where nearly everything overwhelms, can be a challenge.

Escaping my work frustrations is par for the course

My $100 golf game in Yunnan Province was one of my best buys of the year. I work hard in Beijing and I find it frustrating sometimes because of the culture clashes.

The art of opening doors of understanding

Moving to another country can be a bewildering experience, not least for working expats' partners, who often feel cast adrift and unable to find solace in the foreign place.

Global village

Beijing

Life Pulse