NANJINGNOW

It took a while before I understood how to see a chinese doctor here in Nanjing. Here is a gist of what to expect if you want to see a doctor at Guoyitang 国医堂 [guo2yi1tang2]. This is the place right outside of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 南京中医药大学 [nan2jing1zhong1yi1yao4dao4xue2] along Hanzhong Road 汉中路 [han4zhong1lu4]. This is how it looks from the opposite side of Hanzhong Road (where KFC is)…

This is my best rendition of what the first floor looks like…

Services provided:
1. You can see a herbal doctor 中医 [zhong1yi1]
2. You can see an acupuncturist 针灸师 [zhen1jiu1shi1], massage therapist 按摩师 [an4mo2shi1] etc.

The counter:

If you walk in from the main entrance and you want to see a herbal doctor, go to straight ahead to the counter right in front of you. Further in the article, I’ll tell you what to do if you’re looking for other services.

At the clinic, there’s the morning or afternoon shift. A doctor will see patients, usually a fixed number of 20 patients, during his shift. Sometimes, a popular doctor will see more than 20 patients, so patient 21 will take an “additional” number 加号 [jia1hao4], i.e. a number after 20. Some popular doctors start at 8am and end at 2pm. That’s really tiring if you think about it.

You pay for the consultation fee at the counter. The fee is more for a better-known doctor. It’s also here that you can buy a book for the doctor (and any other doctors) to write his diagnosis or your situation and his herbal formula. Remember that the clinic or hospital here does not keep the book for you. You bring it everytime you see the doc.

Waiting & Consulting:

After that you make your way up the stairs and find the doctor. Once you find his room, you don’t queue up or wait in line for the doctor. Rather, your book does it for you. Put your book ‘on queue’ or ‘in line’ after the person in front of you. Wait till you get a chance to see the doctor.

When you’re done, you usually will get a prescription of herbs (an herbal formula) that you’ll pay for downstairs at the cashier’s.

The Cashier’s:

This is also the place where you pay to see the acupuncturist or massage therapist etc (who also is upstairs). You do so upon entering: Just pay here and go straight to the acupuncturist’s room, for example.

You can either pay for just the herbs (which you have to boil on your own) or you can also pay for them to boil and pack the herbs in plastic packages for you. Tell the cashier you want to them to help prepare the herbs 带煎 [dai4jian1] if that’s the case.

Getting your herbs:

After that, you’ll take the receipt she gives you and get your herbs at the herb station (below). This is where they get your herbs. If you opted for 带煎 [dai4jian1] then you’ll get one bag full of herbs that you carry to the 带煎 [dai4jian1] station (which we’ll tell you about soon.) Else, you’d get bags of herbs, one for each day, which you prepare at home.

Dai4jian1:

The daijian station is circled in pink below. Just pass the herbs to the guy (if you opted to use his services at the cashier’s) through the window and he’ll give you a time to come collect it.

That’s it, just remember to eat your herbs regularly. That usually means 2x a day.