The Summer Palace!

Today we visited the Summer Palace. It was really beautiful. We left our dormitory at 8:30 in the morning. The Summer Palace is really close to PKU so it didn't take long to get there. Once we arrived we all split up into smaller groups and began to explore the grounds. It was an excellent day for this trip. The weather was beautiful; it wasn't too hot or too cold and there was a beautiful blue sky.

The Summer Palace is where the emperor would spend the summer in ancient times. There is a giant lake in the middle of the grounds surrounded by gardens and temples scattered throughout the area. We walked around the entire lake and saw a lot of temples and ancient buildings. There is also a marble boat! Ana's guide book sort of ruined the wonder of it by telling us it is made of wood and just painted to look like marble but it was still really cool.

Susan, Wenisa and I looking out at the lake at the Summer Palace

The lake is surrounded on all sides by very large hills. There was one point when we climbed to the top. It was beautiful. On one side we saw the view of the lake and the summer palace whith all the classic Chinese architecture and on the other side of the hill we saw the skyline of Beijing filled with bustling traffic and modern skyscrapers. It was a very interesting contrast showing China's rich cultural history and also their modern present and future. This was an awesome trip and definitely a must see for anyone who is visiting Beijing.

The view of Beijing from the top of the hill

Zai jian!

Visit to Beijing Shijitan Hospital!!

Today we had our last hospital visit. This time it was to Beijing Shijitan Hospital. It was a very interesting tour. We began with a short introduction presentation from the hospital director about the hospital. It was interesting to learn the history of the hospital. It began as a health care facility that was strictly for the workers of the Chinese Railway system and their families and slowly evolved into a more extensive hospital. It was then brought under control of the Beijing local government and it now serves as a public hospital in Beijing.

The hospital director and a doctor at Shijitan Hospital giving and introduction about the hospital

It was interesting to also learn a little bit about the hospital health care system in China. The director told us that most (about 95%) of the hospitals in China are public and funded and supported by the Chinese government. Also, every hospital in China is required to have a full TCM department within the hospital. Shijitan Hospital focuses mostly on western medicine, yet it still has a full TCM department and pharmacy.

After the discussion we took a tour of the hospital. We saw some of the modern facilities and departments and also the TCM departments within the hospital. We also took a tour of the TCM pharmacy and saw the pharmacists preparing TCM prescriptions. Some of us even tried some herbal medicine. The pharmacist gave us a very bitter herb. It was the most bitter thing I have ever tasted. The taste stayed in my mouth for hours! This was a really neat tour and very interesting to see yet another hospital in Beijing and also learn more about the Chinese hospital system.

The group with a nurse and the director of the hospital at a nurses station on our tour

Zai jian!

Peking University Third Hospital

Today we had our second field trip to a hospital to view the pharmacy department, this time to Peking University Third Hospital. This was a very neat experience. We began with a brief introduction from one of the pharmacists about the hospital and the pharmacy. She discussed to various departments in the pharmacy at the hospital and also the way in which the pharmacy was structured and organized. It was very interesting because I anticipated there to be a stark difference between the American pharmacy profession and the Chinese pharmacy profession but there was not. The only major difference is that a large portion of the pharmacy is dedicated to TCM (about 40% of the prescriptions are for TCM). The pharmacy department has inpatient and outpatient services that are similar to what one would find in an American hospital and also a strong clinical pharmacy program.

The group outside Third Hospital with some of the pharmacists

After the brief introduction to the hospital we were given a tour. We saw a drug information room where hundreds of journals are kept. We also saw a lab that analyzes data collected during some Phase I clinical trials conducted in the hospital. Then we moved to an area where medicines were compounded in the hospital. This was a sterile area so we had to put on lab coats, hair nets and plastic shoe covers. We all looked pretty ridiculous.

After this we moved to the TCM warehouse where all the imported TCM drugs were imported. It was a huge room filled with boxes and cabinets containing various herbs and other medicines. Then we moved to a TCM pharmacy where they filled TCM prescriptions. There was huge cabinets with many drawers filled with medicines and a pharmacist who puts together the various herbs and other medicines prescribed by the physician.

The TCM pharmacist preparing the prescriptions

Finally we visited the inpatient pharmacy within the hospital. This looked very familiar. There were racks all around stocked with medicines we all recognized. We saw how the prescriptions were filled and the system used for the nurses to pick them up and deliver the medicines to the patients. This was a great experience to learn and experience the pharmacy system in China. It was interesting to see how similar it is to the pharmacy profession in America.

Zai jian!

Weekend in Beijing

We just had our very first weekend in Beijing! Since this is one of our only completely free weekends, with no scheduled events, some students decided to go to Shanghai for the weekend!. Katie, Lena, Greg, Ana and Wenjie all took the overnight train to Shanghai. They are working on a blog post so hopefully that will be up soon! The rest of us who stayed behind had an awesome weekend!

On Saturday we had a long day of walking and sightseeing. We went to see Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace). It was amazing. There were gardens upon gardens all over the area and also an area of ruins of the Old Summer Palace that were destroyed in the Opium Wars. It was amazing to see the beautiful landscape that is so deep in history. After Yuanmingyuan, we visited the main campus of Peking University. It is a gorgeous campus with many beautiful buildings and sites to see. We also bought PKU t-shirts! It was a fun day filled with LOTS of walking.

The group on a bridge over a lake at Yuanmingyuan

Saturday night was also fun. The next day was the birthday of one of the PKU students , Monica, who had been helping us out a lot. We decided to take her out for dinner to celebrate. It was and excellent time and she was able to order us a lot of good food.

Anh, Laura, Dr. Burgess, Wenisa and Susan pose for a picture at PKU's main campus

After a long day on Saturday we were all ready to sleep in on Sunday. So we did! Then once we woke up we decided to go downtown to wander around and get lunch. We took a taxi to the subway station about a mile down the street. This was an adventure. We had to take three taxis and only one made it directly to the subway station. Another was dropped off miles away the station and had to take another taxi to the correct station. The taxi that I was in dropped us off far away and we took another taxi that drove around the street and dropped us off in the same spot we were dropped off before. These taxi drivers need sharpen up. So after about 2 hours of wandering we finally made it to the subway station about 1 mile down the road from our dorm.

We were all very hungry after this adventure so we ate at the first restaurant we saw. Then we walked around downtown for a while and came back to our dorm. It was a very fun weekend and we all enjoyed getting to know each other better!

Zai jian!

Meeting the Students of PKU!!

Today as part of the program we had the first of three discussion section with students of Peking University (PKU) about the differences between our cultures, universities and pharmacy systems. Today's was more focused on campus life at each university and getting to know our peers at PKU. We all sat around a large table and each UConn student sat next to a PKU student. Once the discussion got going there was an eruption of conversation as each student began speaking with their neighboring student about differences between the two universities and the two countries' cultures.

It was an amazing experience to be able to have an intimate discussion with a college student at your same level at a Chinese university. We discussed everything from the differences in curriculum at the two universities all the way to the cultural norms of public displays of affection! It was a great part of the program and wonderful to connect so well with the PKU students. I know we all are looking to building stronger bonds with our Chinese peers. The two coming discussions promise to be just as interesting as we will discuss differences in the two countries' takes on the profession of pharmacy and the laws and regulations of pharmacy in each country!

The students of PKU and UConn

Zai jian!

The Great Wall of China!!

We left our dorm at 8:30 this morning for the wall. We drove about 1.5 hours to reach the site. We could have gone to a stretch of wall closer to Beijing but we wanted to go to a less "touristy" and crowded section. We traveled through a few smaller villages on our way. These were very interesting to see with some of them having traditional Chinese architecture.

Once we got to the wall we began climbing. We were all anxious to get to the top. About 1,000 steps later we made it to the wall! It was amazing. Being on top of a structure that has so much history was such a cool experience.

The Great Wall of China

On the wall we all split up into three groups. Susan, Greg and Dr. Burgess went ahead and ran the farthest along the Great Wall all the way until they couldn't go any further because the wall was crumbling. Then most of us (Lena, Wenjie, Justin, Ana, Wenisa, Katie, Laura and I accompanied by the three students from Peking University, Monica, Chin and Alice) went at a moderate pace along the wall. And Anh, Manas and Alex took their time along the wall. We all had an amazing experience.

Wenjie on the wall

Wow!

If one word could sum it up this would be it. This was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. It is amazing to me how the ancient Chinese built this huge beautiful wall along the top of a mountain!

On the way down some of us decided to take the tobaggon down. This was so cool. It was a metal slide down the mountain side. And we sat on plastic sleds with a handle for a brake and just slid down the mountain side. It was so much fun.

Dr. Burgess followed by Wenisa preparing to take the toboggan ride

Zai jian!

Acupunture

As part of our TCM class today we went to Peking University First Hospital in Beijing to watch our teacher perform acupuncture on his patients (and us!). Walking through the hospital was very interesting. There was all the departments and technology that are present in American hospitals, such as pediatrics and oncology and EEG, but there was also the TCM departments of acupuncture and moxibustion. It was very neat to see TCM practicing right along side the modern Western medicine.

We watched our TCM teacher perform acupuncture to a couple of his patients and also give a therapeutic massage to another woman. One of the patients given acupuncture was being treated for disturbances in her menstrual cycle but was having acupuncture on her legs and on her head. This is because acupuncture uses channels that run through the body and stimulating the acupoints at one area can affect different areas of the body along that channel. Once to acupuncture needles are inserted they are hooked up to electrodes to further stimulate the acupoint.

One of our teacher's patients

After our teacher treated his patients he treated us! The ear is very unique because it has acupoints that relate to the entire body. Our teacher inspected all of our ears and determined where our Qi (energy) was disrupted. He was very accurate. He pinpointed someone's head problems and they said they experience headaches almost daily! After he noted the area that needed work he would apply a tiny ball of Chinese herbs to the spot with some medical tape and push it on our ear to stimulate the acupoint. Some of us even got an acupuncture needle inserted into one acupoint. This was a very cool experience.

Susan experiencing TCM first hand!

Zai jian!

Downtown!

Tonight the 13 of us ventured to downtown Beijing for the first time! It was a very interesting trip. We walked from Peking University campus to the bus stop and got on the bus to downtown. It was crazy! The bus was sooo crowded and people in Beijing drive the craziest I've ever seen so we were all bumping around and hanging on for dear life. The bus trip cost 1 yuan so about 1/7 an American dollar. Very cheap.

The packed Beijing public bus

After about a 30 minute bus ride we got off in downtown Beijing. Now we had to get onto the subway, another very crowded mode of transportation, to get to our destination downtown. The subway cost 2 Yuan one way, again very cheap. We got off the subway after about 20 minutes and began walking the streets of Beijing. We walked only 3 Beijing blocks in about 40 minutes. Beijing blocks are nothing like American city blocks. They are huge blocks. We saw some interesting sights along the way.

The group (minus me) on a spiral staircase in downtown Beijing

After dinner it was getting late so we walked back to the subway station and took it back to where we got on. The buses to our area of Beijing stopped running so we had to take a taxi. This was an experience because only Wenjie, the only one that speaks Mandarin, could communicate with the driver. She had to take the last taxi so she could explain to them where to take us. This was the most expensive transportation of the night at about 4 Yuan per person (still much less than 1 US dollar!). Overall it was a very fun experience.

Zai jian!

Welcome to Beijing!!!!

Welcome to the first entry of the UConn Pharmacy in Beijing Blog!!!! On May 17, 2008 13 lucky students from the University of Connecticut left the United States to participate in their study abroad program studying Traditional Chinese Medicine at Peking University in Beijing, China! The students are Wenjie Chen, Grzegorz (Greg) Rdzak, Andrew Straznitskas, Katie Boynton, Manas Prasad, Justin Maher, Susan Dang, Ana Charalambides, Lena O'Keefe, Anh Nguyen, Alexandra Mooney, Laura Tuttle, and Wenisa Tran accompanied by our professor Dr. Diane Burgess. Now that the introductions are over let's catch up on the last few days.

The journey started out at Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT where we caught a 10:14 am flight to Washington Dulles Airport in DC. From there we were scheduled to take a 12:30 pm flight straight to Beijing but this flight was delayed 5 hours for mechanical issues. Its a good thing they noticed these issues before we took off! So we spent a good 6 hours in the Washington airport. Despite the long layover it was nice to have some time to bond as a group and get to know each other better.

Our flight to Beijing took off from Washington around 5:30 pm on May 17. This was the longest flight ever! It was about 12.5 hours in the most cramped and uncomfortable seats that made it nearly impossible to sleep but we all made it safe and sound to the other side of the world!

We got off the plane in Beijing around 6:00 pm on May 18 (so, not taking into account the time change, we were flying for more than a whole day!). So now we had to make our way through customs and baggage claim in the Beijing airport. This proved to be no problem as we all speedily got through and no one lost their luggage!

When we exited to the unsecured area of the airport we were greeted by two students of Peking University. They led us out of the airport and to the van that would take us to our new home for the next five weeks. It was about a 30 minute drive from the airport to Peking University. We were taken to the international student dorms and checked into our rooms. Our accommodations were nicer than expected. We all have our own sizable rooms with our own bathrooms. The beds are firm (as most Chinese beds are) but not uncomfortable. The bathroom is...interesting. There is a toilet and sink with running water. The shower is the interesting part. It is just a shower head sticking out of the wall of the bathroom and just sprays all over and the entire room gets wet. It is different.

The group on our way from the airport to Peking University

After we saw our rooms and dropped off our luggage we went back to the lobby of our building and met Dr. Burgess who gave us a welcome gift (bath and hand towels, some toilet paper, and bottled water). We discussed the schedule for the next day and how our trip was. After our brief meeting we were all exhausted from our journey, so made our way to our rooms and went to bed.

May 19

This was a busy day. We met in the lobby of our dorm at 8:40 am and walked to the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences building where we had an opening ceremony and orientation to the program. Next our professor of Mandarin came to assess our knowledge of the language...or lack thereof. She had us attempt to read some Mandarin words and aside from Wenjie (who reads, writes and speaks fluently) we all were deemed beginners.

We then went to eat at Peking University's Student Restaurant, what we would call at UConn a dining hall with the only difference between the two is that the Student Restaurant has good food. Since we don't know the language it was interesting trying to ask for what you wanted. We realized you just have to point to what you want. The food was very good and the best part about it was the price. Like most things in China it was very cheap! We all ate lunch for no more than 2 American dollars!

After lunch we had our first Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) class. It was very interesting. We learned about the history of TCM and the philosophical theories behind it such as the Yin-Yang Theory, the Five Phases Theory and the Qi Theory. We can't wait to learn more about TCM.

After class some of us who brought our computers went to set up our internet accounts. We were all excited to get access to the internet after being cut off for two whole days! We were starting to go experience withdrawal symptoms.

Dr. Burgess treated us to a dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant. Since we have such a large group they sat us in our own dining room! We were accompanied by a Peking University student who ordered us traditional Chinese food for us to all try. I'm not sure what we were eating for some of it but it was all good. One thing is for sure, it is nothing like America's version of Chinese food.

Dr. Burgess was nice enough to buy us Chinese cell phones so we can all stay in contact while were here (seems like shes spoiling us a little bit, but none of us are complaining!) so after dinner we went to purchase the minutes for the phones. After another long day in Beijing we were all exhausted again and went to bed early.

All of us in front of Peking University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Building

May 20

Today has also been eventful so far. We had our first actual Mandarin class. It was...interesting. We began with learning the pronunciation of letters and letter combinations and then moved to a little bit of vocabulary and some sentences. Hanyu you yi si ke shi hen nan. That means Chinese is interesting buy very difficult. A very true statement. I feel bad for our professor because we butchered the Mandarin language. It is going to be a rough class.

We also had our second TCM class. This class focused on acupuncture. It was extremely interesting. We perfected our techniques and practiced on each other. Just kidding! We didn't get to acupuncture each other, we just learned about it. We found the four most important acupoints and learned what they were used for as well as the various techniques for acupuncture. TCM is proving to be a very interesting field.

So that has been a brief summary of the trip so far. I'm sure there will be much more to come. We're about to go to downtown Beijing for the first time in about 10 minutes so I gotta run!

Zai jian!