Saddle Bag First Aid

Cathedral Lake and peak

The Chinese adage says “Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness.”  This is one of my favorite Chinese sayings. For me that means having a plan - being prepared. I have long kept a small Chinese herbal first aid kit in my purse, car and horse trailer “just in case” and have had many opportunities to use it. Folks comment when I pull it out - Wow! It is lucky - you have that! No, not really, I’m simply prepared. If I win the lottery - that’s lucky!!!!

As luck would have it I did have the opportunity to use my herbal first aid kit this summer, several times, during a fantastic horse camping week in Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park.  

Tuolumne Meadows sits at 8600 feet elevation and offers breathtaking views of granite domes, waterfalls, lakes and clouds. It is an incredible place to ride but camping and travel in the high country can have its challenges. Trails can be steep and rocky and our horses experienced the inevitable bumps, cuts and bruised soles. One mare sustained rope burns on her legs when a bear visited camp in the early morning. She became cast between two trees and tangled in the high line.  

Roco receives a topical 

application 

of Yunnan Bai Yao

powder to stop bleeding 

on the trail

My Whole Horse herbal first aid kit certainly came in handy and like the Boy Scout motto I was prepared. Poultices were made for the bruised soles, and rope burns and Yunnan bai yao was applied to bleeding cuts and liniment soothed sore muscles. 

Traditional uses of formulas like the ones in my first aid kit go back to the wars and conflicts of ancient China. They evolved out of triage on the battlefield.  Battlefield medicine consisted of plasters, pills, powders, liniments and salves for stopping hemorrhaging, bleeding, preventing infections and healing wounds.  These time-tested formulas and now directly benefit modern horses and riders. 

Chinese first aid formulas can help you solve some simple problems on your own, help you buy some time while you get to a veterinarian or save a life if you can’t get to the help you need.

Post card from China - The quest for tampons

Caution: This story contains references to feminine hygiene products.

Every now and again a gal on the road finds herself in need of a tampon. Such was the case in Beijing.  I started my tampon quest looking for a pharmacy. Chinese pharmacies are identified by a large green cross on their signs. They differ from American pharmacies in that they are smaller stores and the products are behind locked, glass doors.  You have to ask a clerk to retrieve the items you want.

I approached two younger women clerks, in white coats, behind the counter and in my best mandarin said “nihao, wo xuyao” (Hello, I need a…..) and held up a wrapped tampon from my backpack.  They both gave me a quizzical look and motioned for me to hand them the tampon - which I did. They both examined the tampon with great care turning it over, holding it up to the light and viewing it from all angles as if it was a precious and exotic art object.  This struck me as a bit strange  - it was just a tampon after all.  I had expected them to simply take me to the feminine hygiene products isle. There was a lot of discussion between the two ladies - none of which I understood. They handed me back the tampon looking a little perplexed. I pointed at my abdomen saying “yue jing” (or something like it) which means menstruation.  One of the women jumped up and cheerfully gestured me down an isle where she handed me a large bag of cotton balls. I smiled and said “mieyou” (no). She then handed me a sanitary napkin the size of a brick - I smiled, shook my head and and said “mieyou” again. I thanked them and left, walking back to my little hutong (neighborhood) hotel. I just assumed I hadn’t been clear with my question.

I wanted to be ready for my next tampon request so once back in my room I looked up the mandarin word for tampon - which is “miantiao”.  One of the young women at the hotel spoke fluent English and I asked her where I could purchase tampons.  She said that they had those downstairs at the front desk and she would call down and get some for me. I went down stairs to the front desk where another young woman, also fluent in English, handed me a box of Q-tips. At this point I was beginning to wonder if there even was such a thing as Chinese tampons! In my very best mandarin I said “miantiao” to which the desk clerk said “Yes! Noodles! How would you like them cooked?  I’ll get them for you”. 

I simply could not help myself and broke out giggling.  “Miantiao” is the same word for noodle and tampon.  While spelled the same, the pronunciation and inflection is completely different.  When I pointed out the words in my phrase book we both had a good laugh. So much for my Mandarin!!!!

I finally did find tampons - there were only a couple of boxes at the local grocery store. They are not a popular product with Chinese women.  

Ladies - if you are planning to visit China – bring your own tampons or be prepared to eat noodles!

Post Card from China - Tui Na Training

While in China I had the opportunity to do some advanced Tui na training in the Orthopedics’ department at Wangjing TCM Hospital in Beijing. Chinese massage is called Tui na and literally means push and grasp in Chinese.  Tui na is taught in hospitals, medical schools and is widely practiced in Chinese households. As I observed - it is an essential part of China’s primary healthcare.  This is a typical treatment room in Wangjing hospital - not a lot of privacy in a 15x15 room packed with patients, the director (left), assistants, med students and four visiting acupuncturists. Despite the tight quarters patients and doctors happily chatted and visited during the treatment.

Tui na is related to acupuncture in its use of meridian pathways to restore the balance of yin and yang, stimulate qi and blood flow, remove blockages, reduce inflammation and pain. It is useful in treating injuries, joint and muscle problems and internal disorders. In the above photo cervical and lumbar spondalosis are being treated.

An interesting side note: many Chinese tui na practitioners (outside of the hospital setting) are blind, relying on their fingers and senses to guide them. In this picture I had just received a tui na treatment with cupping therapy (the reddish circles) from a blind therapist. It was intense, vigorous and I felt great the next day.  

Tui na can be applied to both horses and riders. Read more 

May 5 - Valley Public Radio on the Wall!

When I left California Jon said; "You should take a hat." 

 "Can I fit it in my pack?" I wondered.   

Jon said; "We have a bunch of baseball caps, pick one!" 

 I said; "I'll take our VPR hat, and I'll wear it on the Great Wall, and take a picture!" 

Well I made it!  It was windy, cold, and raining.  My legs are like jello due to some serious elevation gain on the stair master from hell - but it was worth it! 

From the Great Wall to the Central Valley...Thank you KVPR for all you do!

May 2 - Eating Well in Beijing

It’s easy to eat well (and healthy) here in China especially in Beijing.

There is a wonderful array of foods from tasty street snacks to international cuisine. Here are a few more “interesting” menu offerings, DoorDingpatty, Fry Meat on Paper, Red Bum Chicken, and of course....Moo Meat.

My most recent favorite (I really did eat this one) is exploding duck breast with vegetables. Yummmmo!!!

May 1 - Subway Confessions

I have a confession. I have never ridden on the subway…at least until I came to China.

Growing up in California (the land of the free...way) the opportunity never presented itself AND my notion of the subway was strongly influenced by Hollywood. My impression was that subways are hot, dirty, graffiti- painted, scary places frequented by gang bangers, perverts and somebody usually gets shot.

Well that has all changed and I’m a subway frequent flyer! Beijing’s subway is clean, air conditioned and remarkably easy to use. Signs are in both English, pin yin (phonetic Chinese) and Chinese. People are helpful and polite. For 2Y (about 31 cents) you can ride all over the city. While it can be a bit crowed at times everybody just moves over and makes space on the car for one more.

May 1 - Chinese Medicine Museum - Happy May Day!

The Chinese medicine museum near Anguo is a delightful place! This small, well designed space is full of old medical texts, medical devices and antique herbal processing equipment. You defiantly get a feel for the “di dao” (the authentic medicine) it’s history and roots (no pun intended) even as it is practiced today in modern settings.

Here is a bronze man. Life-sized models like this one were used to teach and test students on the correct location of acupuncture points.  Some models had tiny cavities drilled at acupuncture points and a dot of pigment inserted into them. For student testing models were covered in a thin layer of paper mache-like rice paper.

In order to pass yearly exams, medical students would be assigned a number of points and an equal number of needles. Students had only one opportunity to correctly locate and needle all the points. If a point was correctly located and needle inserted, the pigment would bleed to the surface of the paper. If not…… too bad! Better luck next year.

This portrait is Dr. Huato.  It is said that Dr. Huato’s skill as an acupuncturist was so accurate that he could pass nine long needles through a live chicken without injury to the chicken. (Kids - Don’t try this at home!)

These are some early wooden and bamboo acupuncture needles. Thank goodness we have modern stainless steel today!  I don’t think my patients would tolerate these.

April 30 - At the Herb Market

Outside of the larger Chinese cities “Western Foreigners” aka “Big Noses” ... are something of an oddity.  I certainly discovered this when I visited the Ja Jin herb market outside of Anguo.

Clearly, I fit the profile. As red headed foreigner with an ample snout, I received a lot of stares and looks.  Getting through the noisy, busy market was a bit of a challenge. I just smiled, waved and kept on moving down the rows, and all told everything went very well.    

Ja Jin herb market is a busy (and aromatic) place with 400 vendors from all regions of China. There is a lot of chatting, visiting and a fair amount of high volume haggling going on (along with card games and smoking)  In addition to plant materials stalls feature exotic substances, minerals and animal products.   

April 30 - Dog Talk - Not just for breakfast anymore!

Dog is the universal language!  Dogs may well be the good will ambassadors to the world.

I was walking down the street and passed a woman out walking her three dogs. There are an abundance of small spaniels, pekinese and pomeranian type compact pooches here.  Considering the small living quarters and tiny court yards in the hutongs (older Chinese neighborhoods) it makes perfect sense and evening dog walking is a common site. 

I stopped to take a photo and pet the dogs and I managed to blurt out “wo you er gou” pointing at myself, holding up two fingers and then pointing to the dogs. Which is something like “I have two dogs” This broke the ice and the woman and I started an animated “conversation” consisting of pantomime and gestures describing our dogs in detail.

April 29 - Suit Up! - Inside May Way.

During our Herbal tour we had a rare opportunity to go inside the May Way Anguo processing facility. We all had to suit up in GMP (good manufacturing practices) clothing. May Way manufactures herbs and herbal extract powders for Chinese hospitals and for export so cleanliness is vital. Depending on the part of the plant workers and visitors are required to don the appropriate protective clothing to prevent contamination. 

 Here we are preparing to tour the extraction and spray drying facility.  Here we are in our protective gear resembling teletubbies in masks. Along with me are a couple of great gals.  Misha Cohen from Oakland, CA. she is a practitioner, author and known for her innovate work with Hepatitis C and HIV herbal protocols http://www.docmisha.com/  and Pamela Gregg –Flax the herb buyer for the Southwest Acupuncture school.

April 28 - Cool Hotel Stuff - Self Saving Breather!

The best complimentary  hotel room  item ever has got to be the SKL  fire fighting filter type self-saving breather in a pop top can!

Instructions read:

1 Take out the fire fighting filter type self-saving breather

2 Tear at the packaging bag of the fire fighting filter type self-saving breather

3 Wear helmet and pull belt fast

4 Choose way and flee for your life decidedly

April 28 - Medicine God Temple

Anguo is a mecca for herbalists, and the herbal trading center of northern China.  No trip to Anguo would be complete without a visit to the Medicine God temple.

April 28^th is the day to celebrate and make incense offerings to Pi Tong. Herbal farmers, processers and just about everybody involved in the herbal trade visit the temple during this week and have been doing so for generations. Some amazing doctors have walked through these same doors. Pi Tong’s remains are buried here in the center court yard. It is the oldest medicine god temple in China and the original structure dates back to the Han Dynasty.

Legend states that Pi Tong, a shoe maker/herbal doctor and former military man saved the life of a sick princess with a special herbal formula.  Because of his assistance he was bestowed the title “General of Medicine”.

This is still an active place of worship and the caretaker requested that no photos be taken inside the shrine. I was however allowed to shoot outside the temple and got a shot of the incense burner in the center court yard.

April 27 - Chinese Family Coop Herb Farm

We visited an herbal farm run by a clan/family cooperative while learning about China’s GAPs (good agricultural practices). They specialize in medicinal herbs. The planting season is just beginning in Anguo – it is a northern climate and still quite cool here. 

This is a farmer harvesting Tian hua fen (Radix Trichosanthis) It is a handy root with anti-tumor and antibacterial properties. It dissolves phlegm - making it useful for cough with thick phlegm and is being used in the treatment of HIV.

April 25 - Herbs and Food

Herbs and food – Postcard from China

“Let your food be you medicine and let your medicine be your food” is an old adage. Certainly this is a concept widely practiced in China.

In China herbs are not only used for medicinal purposes but they are consumed as food as well.  Chinese herbs are found in everyday dishes just as we would include potatoes, onions and bay leaves in our stews. Tonic herbs like Shan yao (mountain potato) Dao zao (Red dates) and Dang gui (Angelica) are part of Chinese daily fare. It makes dining both therapeutic and tasty!!

According to Chinese dietary concepts, all foods like herbs have certain properties, therapeutic actions and can be consumed for particular health issues.  During my trek to Anguo our group feasted on special herbal dishes prepared by a well-known chief in Anguo. (All in the spirit of education and research – of course)

Our lunches were absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. A few examples included:

Spicy Gingko Nut chicken - good for lung problems like wheezing and coughing

Gou qi zi leaf salad – good for vision problems

Lamb, dang gui and daikon radish stew - builds blood

Fish with Ham, Mushroom and Tain Ma – good for painful joints

April 22 - May Way, Heibei factory

In addition to the serious educational aspects of the trip, We had the opportunity to visit the Medicine God Temple, and to sample the local foods (prepared with regional herbs and produce – Yummmmy) and to tour the Anguo herbal medicine museum. Wonderful!

April 22 - Anguo City Gate

Anguo is known as the “1000 Year Herb Capital” and is one of three major herbal trading centers in China. You enter town through a massive gate.  We were here as the guests of May Way Corporation to tour their herb processing facilities, visit herb farms and attend workshops on cultivation, processing and extraction.

April 22 - Bus ride to Anguo

Just spent an amazing three days with a group of Chinese medicine professionals, in the town of Anguo in Hebei (pronounced Hey Bee) province.

Our group included biochemists, a botanist from Kew Gardens in Britain, researchers, educators, authors, innovative clinicians and  an agronomist (PRC) from the field of Chinese medicine. I found myself on a bus packed with amazing minds!  

I’m very blessed to have been included on the guest list.  We had some incredible conversations – my mind is still soaking it all in and I’m sure I’ll be processing for days to come.

April 21 - A note to my readership RE blogging from China

Why all these posts in one day?

It seems that big brother is preventing me from updating my blog and from using facebook.  However, my emails (so far) are getting through.

I wrote Jon for help.  Not being an avid blogger, he grumbled at first, but seems to have gotten control of himself and is now posting like an old hand.  Thanks Jon ;)

I’m in a town called Baling north of Beijing at the worlds largest all solar hotel. Just finished up dinner and am on the way to bed.  The second half of the herb tour starts in the AM.

April 21 - Significant Firsts!

I have had a few significant firsts over the last few days…. I have been riding the subway, which is a breeze (except for when I made a wrong exit and ended up at the Beijing military museum amongst a group of soldiers)

I used the public squat toilet – no privacy, TP, soap or water...and I took the bus to Tiananmen square.  (the Chairman says hi!)

I have eaten a lot of new foods including snail noodle soup, deer tendons cooked in herbs and date sauce. I could not however, eat the chicken head that ended up in my soup bowl (beak and all) during the May Way banquet.

April 18 - Getting the hang of local transportation

My trusty bike and the Beijing bell tower. The sign reads “the most heaviest and biggest ancient bell in China” ...and it is a huge bronze bell -  I’m riding my bike like a Beijing citizen – a little scary at first but I’m getting it down – just ignore the honking and peddle.

April 17 - The REAL Chinese Food

Nothing says yummy lunch like donkey meat!

April 16 - exploring Beijing

My adventure for the day: Find the Lama temple and return to the hotel. … Mission accomplished!  I walked and took a bunch of shots.  The hazy sky is a real problem.  Difficult contrast on the photos… Any thoughts??

This is one of the interior shots before a monk admonished me for shooting inside the temple.  There is a three story tall Buddha carved of sandal wood covered in gold here.  Very cool!!

April 15 - I Made it!

Well…..I’m sitting in the lounge of the hutong Inn sipping a complimentary beer and eating figs from Sam’s deli (Fresno). It is 10:30 pm and it has been a long day!!! Lucky for me many signs are in both English and Chinese. 

My Taxi driver didn’t speak English and had trouble finding the hotel.  After a couple of calls he suddenly stopped in front of a narrow and dark alley and said “you go” and pointed.

I wasn’t sure if he knew where he was or if he was just dumping me some place. So I just started walking!

After passing some alleys and tiny store fronts I found a coffee bar with a bunch of college kids and I showed them my printout and they pointed me up another alley. Then I was there….. it is a funky hotel/hostel with an international crowd of all ages hanging out.   

April 16 - This is what my place looks like in the day light. Notice the wacky bike sculpture items in the front.

April 13 - Day 1 - The First Step

Jon dropped me off at the Fresno Amtrak station on Wednesday 4/13.  From there I caught the BART in Richmond ( after overshooting my stop - they don't leave the doors open very long ) to the San Francisco Airport. After weeks of preparation I cannot believe my journey has begun!

On the road to China

On the Road to China - The office will be closed 4/14/2001 to 5/10/11

Whole Horse Herbs has seen invited on a tour of herbal farms and production facilities in China. I'll be studying updated farming methods, sustainability, wild crafting, and observing how new methods are and blending with traditional herbal production. I'm sure there will be a wealth of information to share in future posts.

Please order any products you may need prior to April 1^st. Any orders received after April 1^st will be shipped after May 10^th.

Be well!

Gloria