[Singapore] Yuen Zi Lang, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine
In 2012, I left Singapore for Guangzhou, the thousand-year-old commercial capital of Lingnan, to pursue my dream of studying traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Once I left the airport, I saw the unfamiliar land, heard the exchange of Cantonese and Putonghua around me, and felt the familiar and strange cultural shock. I couldn’t help but sigh, “Shengdi,” which literally means new land. I was brought up with a strong interest in TCM by my family and influenced by Cantonese culture since I was a child. Both the climate and life in Guangdong are more similar to Singapore, so I chose to study the most authentic, professional and clinically effective TCM at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.
I have heard that Guangzhou is not only a city with developed business, but also a metropolis full of big and small cuisines. A saying goes that “Eating in Guangzhou”, which perfectly suits me – a fervent foodie from Singapore. During my undergraduate studies, I met many local students from Guangdong, who took me to eat in “Chan Tim Kee”, “Chaoji”, “To To Kui”, “Wisca Restaurant” and so on after class. We ate various morning dim sum, steamed vermicelli roll, clay pot rice, juejue pot among many other cuisines. In Guangzhou, you can see many herbal tea stores and stores selling herbs in the streets and alleys.
As a TCM student, I was always fascinated to smell and taste the various herbs in these stores and to imagine how they run through the human body. I also participated in different school clubs and competitions, and met many friends from all over the world. I learned about the different cultures and customs of China, and therefore had the desire to explore all over the country. When traveling around the nation, there happened a lot of anecdotes. In Kunming, Yunnan Province, I lost a piece of luggage at a taxi. In addition to my classmates’ assistance, local police officers were so kind to help me check the surveillance video to look for the cab and get my luggage back soon. At that time my heart felt so warm.
During my undergraduate years, I found that cell phones are becoming more and more important in daily life. I was particularly impressed by the fact that WeChat was just a chat software when I was a freshman. But after my junior year, it became an indispensable mobile payment tool for food, clothing, housing and transportation. When my friends from Singapore came to visit me in China, they were surprised by my sweeping of QR codes. At first, they thought those codes represented discounts.
But in fact, I was making payments, which made them feel like “country bumpkins”. “China is the most advanced country in the world in terms of mobile payments.” Said Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day mass gathering. There are so much to learn in China, so I decided to continue my master’s and doctor’s study in Guangzhou to deepen my theoretical knowledge and clinical skills. By doing so, I wanted to have more time to know China and broaden my vision.
Five years have passed rapidly, and I became familiar with every corner of the campus. On the way to and from classes, I noticed fallen mangos on the ground, familiar faces greeting each other. One by one such image flashed in my mind, I feel that I am slowly getting used to it, and Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine has become another home of mine.
During my graduate studies, I devoted more time to the improvement of professional knowledge and clinical ability. Following my tutor for three years, not only did I learn knowledge and techniques from him, but I was also influenced by his noble moral character. I became to understand that when we treat patients and examine diseases, what we may obtain is the information of internal organs, anatomy and pathophysiology.
When we treat and examine people, we get knowledge of his life and spirit. Most of the patients I come in contact with are Cantonese. Because Singapore is a multilingual country and Cantonese is spoken in my home, so there is still no difficulty in communication, which allows me to get closer to my patients.
From the processing of TCM, we know that Shengdi, the raw Rehmannia Glutinosa, needs to be steamed and dried for nine times before it can become Shudi, the dry Rehmannia Glutinosa. This year is also my ninth year in Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. After these years of study, Guangzhou has become a Shudi, or familiar place, from Shengdi, new land. I am very grateful to this land for nourishing my blood and spirit, so that I can walk so solidly on the long road of life.
The story is from "My Beautiful Encounter with China" Essay Competition organized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges (CSCSE).
