Xinzuobiao is a vertical community just out past the Fang Zhuang exquisite food street; where the towering new China bumps up against city peasant markets, broken pavement, dust and Soviet era utilitarian boxes of concrete. The subway with its new Olympic induced lines flow new underground rivers of people as the roadways triple park themselves into an endless traffic jam of new car prestige. Xinzuobiao is where I’ve found a short term apartment while the publishing company here in Beijing and I decide if we want play together for the next 6-12 months

Traffic through out China flows according to the rules of mass and momentum where the bigger vehicle has right of way, and streams of turning cars will not be deterred by the color of the traffic light. There is,however, a curious phenomenon where the gathering mass of pedestrians will overtake that of the cars. It takes just one person, like feeling into the right location of an acupuncture point, to walk into the space of traffic that tips the balance and turns lose the human tide.

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The lingering slow autumn blew away overnight into a clear skied chill that by evening had the piecing reminder that Beijing winters are cold to the bone. Sudden and abrupt as a stubbed toe, the season turns now turns cold.

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On the fast train headed to Nanjing. Across the aisle happen to be a couple guys from Seattle. They are here with a team of Chinese and Germans working on green environmentally sustainable communities of 250,000 to one million. Stuff we talk about as being economically “unfeasible” have ALREADY been done here. Communities that are built to be BOTH environmentally green and economically sustainable; they are actually doing it here. Oh, and by the way, China is the world’s leader in manufacturing wind turbines for generating electricity. There might be a day soon, very soon, when we are buying the world’s next major energy source that is not dependent on oil. We will be buying it from the Chinese. It is a sobering thought that the inventiveness that has for so long been associated with America, is now being cultivated in the East.

Gratitude is the first thing that comes to mind.
The splash of summer flowers spilling out into a sidewalk draped in September blue sky.
The smell of vegetables off gassing fecund fields.
Travelers and locals allowing life, for a moment, to unwind outside the their usually consensual reality.
Seasons of salmon gray rain that warp time with its incessant fall, fall, falling. And storms that blow up from the Sound with an impersonal vendetta.

Three years ago I returned to a Seattle that seemed quieter and more empty than my Asian addled senses remembered it. Pike Place Market was the only part of town that reminded me of the electric vitality that is any street in Asia. I was missing it before I even got on that plane which brought me back here. The experience of Asia has been like the fish sauce of a Malaysian curry. You don’t taste the fish sauce itself, but without it the flavors of curry don’t expand to their full dimension.

Gratitude is what I notice as books that have traveled more borders than most Americans make their way back into boxes. As a younger man, departures called forth fear and hopeful excitement. At this stage of life, it is more like admiring the  texture of a well worn shirt made of quality cloth. Its history worn into the weave. There is sadness, but more there is appreciation. These past three years in Seattle, creating a gem of green quiet in the bustle of Seattle, has been a blessing to me, and hopefully for my community as well.

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Yong Kang Clinic will disappear. We all disappear. Disappear into something else. Water to vapor, wood to fire, heat and back to earth. All things cycle the wheel of being. Yong Kang Clinic at the beginning of Oct will become Ageless Acupuncture.

I will again fly west until it becomes east. Trusting the tide that pulls me back to the middle kingdom.

There is a method of telling fortunes in Taiwan. Actually, there are many methods of telling fortunes in Taiwan. 算命先生 fortune tellers in Taiwan are as numerous as psychotherapists in any trendy west coast American city, and for the most part serve the same function. Which is to help us ask the questions that get us to the right answer.

Shortly after arriving in Taipei in 2001 I found myself at one of the thousands of temples that polka-dot the island. I was drawn by the riot of color, clouds of incense, the feeling of something foreign and far off my map of the world. There, a man who spoke English asked “would you like to read your fortune?”

“Sure, why not.” After all, when in the midst of a jet lag and culture shock cocktail, any kind of sign from the divine could be of service.

I had no idea I was about to be introduced to the Taiwanese version of a Rube Goldberg Ouija board.

The first step is to hold in the mind a question. A clear question. The question that will facilitate an answer that opens the next fork in the road, the question whose answer will invite a fuller and deeper experience of life. First you need the right question. Then, from a brass canister, a stick with numbers is chosen. This is will direct you to the answer.

The question here is not “is this the right answer”, the question is “have you choose the right question for this particular stick?”

Did you get the question right?

To find out- grab a pair of wooden smile shaped blocks, hold them along with your question and drop then to the floor. Should they land one up and one down, that stick you pulled is right for your question. But, should they land both face down, or both face up, then it is your question that is not right.

Put away the stick. But, more importantly, put away that question. You are barking up the wrong tree. Pop the frame, narrow the focus, ask about something else, rethink the situation. Ask the question before or the one you thougth would come later. More important than the answer is the question. It is like building a house with the wrong set of plans. Get the question right, and a whole new set of possbilities opens up.

Dreams elude us.
Troubles dog us..
Inspiration evaporates into drudgery…

I suspect John Dane knows a thing or two about following a journey to its guiding star. He has been trying to get into the Olympics for 40 years.
He is now in Qingdao competing!

John Dane 加油啦！

Thanks to 37signals for the lead to this inspiring man’s story!

Being better likewise is a journey. There are herbs that can help, and acupuncture with its unique ability to call a balancing and healing response out of the body is of tremendous value. Ask anyone who has used it to aid in a transition between stages of life.

And due to acupuncture’s ability to heal and help us feel better, we often stop treatment just as we have gained a certain momentum.

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There is a difference between feeling better and being better.

And generally speaking, feeling better comes sooner, but to actually be better it sometimes takes a little bit more treatment to consolidate the changes.

I’m not talking here about the nitpicking endless knot of perfectionism. Nor, about a careless disregard for what does indeed require our attention and concern. The problem with OK is that it has no teeth. It is comfortable enough to allow years to slid into oblivion because it lacks the spark and agitation to demand that life be more than our compromised dreams.

OK holds things together when disintegration and change is called for. It keeps us moving along in the comfortable groove that we misread as life rewarding us for good behavior. OK keeps the wild wind from our door, and allows us a peaceful sleep when daringly dreams are our true bread.

OK is the enemy of daringly alive. It is good enough, and that is the problem!

1- Acupuncture is not just for treating pain.

2- You don’t have to “believe” in it for it to work.
Heck, the practitioner does not even need to believe in it for it to work.

3- Anxiety or depression are not simply psychological problems.

4- There are no magic cures. But, sometimes it feels that way.

5- Yes, it is common to feel profoundly relaxed after an acupuncture treatment.

6- Yes, those herbs do taste as bad as you have heard they do.

7- You don’t have to be Chinese to practice Chinese medicine.

8- No, you don’t have to know how to read or speak Chinese to practice acupuncture. But, it does help.

9- It is excellent for treating chronic conditions, but also good at preventing them in the first place.
So, get right into your acupuncturist after that car accident!

10- It makes you look ten years younger, raises your IQ, immunizes you against parking tickets, and makes you more attractive to the opposite sex.

Best of all, I don’t have to go through the extended process of making beef noodle soup, I just lay down 5 RMB (that’s about 75 cents American), and get breakfast. What a delight!

But, as winter comes breathing down our necks, I do find I crave a nice hot morning soupy breakfast, so I turn to another delight that I discovered one February day on wind-swept Shanghai street.

Black rice and red bean congee.

It is nourishing, easy to make (especially if you have a rice cooker with a double boiler), and with the addition of a few Chinese herbs, it becomes quite nourishing as well. If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, this will certainly be something you will enjoy.

Here is what it takes:

1½ cups of black rice
½ cup of brown rice
½ cup of red adzuki beans
½ cup oatmeal

3 small slices of Huang Qi
4 small slices of Ginseng
1 tablespoon of Gou Qi Zi
4 tablespoons of black sesame powder
6 red Chinese dates, or 4 American prunes (sliced)
1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar (to taste)
½ teaspoon powdered cinnamon

6 cups of water

First mix together the rice and beans, then rinse 3 times with cold water.

Add the other dry ingredients, then add the six cups of water.

Fill the bottom of the double boiler portion of the rice cooker with the appropriate amount of water. Turn it on, and let it cook through the night.

It is just that simple, and delicious as well!

But, what research does not mention, what the laboratory turns a blind eye to is that….

Tea is a joy

Shared in moments of connection and conversation. Shared with those we care about. Shared in moments of quiet or celebration it touches most deeply into life itself.

At Yong Kang clinic we are not just interested in helping you get rid of annoying health problems. We are here to help you touch most deeply into the treasure and joy of life.

One of our favorite ways of doing this is by enjoying tea with our friends. And we want to share it with you!

This month we want you to enjoy the pleasure that comes from lingering a few hours over tea. Come in for a visit, and leave with a box of “four season spring”, “iron goddess”, or “oolong” tea. Our compliments.

To your health and happiness!

Asking an acupuncturist about acupuncture can give you plenty of information about the use and curative effects of acupuncture, but to get at the experience of acupuncture, ask a patient.

Recently, I had a patient tell me this about the experience of acupuncture:

The sensation is like that of food prepared with just the right amount of spice.

Makes sense to me, acupuncture is about waking up our body and being to the vitality and enjoyment of life!