Three people die in Xiamen floods

Heavy rain overnight caused some serious flooding across South-West China, and also here in Xiamen. I did not witness any flooding myself, but just watched the rain from the comfort of my home, unaware of the flooded streets downtown.
Local news reports show images of inundated roads and underground parking garages, and people on a city bus standing on the seats because the bus itself is flooded. A mudslide at a construction site killed three people. Other parts of South-West China are also affected, with several casualties and hundreds of thousands of homes damaged or flooded.

A day at the hospital

In the less than three years I live in China, I have been in more hospitals than in the rest of my life. This is partly due to the different medical care system in China. There are no general practitioners, so if you need a doctor, you go to a hospital, even for minor ailments.
While living in Nanning, I went to hospital for a skin problem, then again in Xiamen for a similar case, and twice for stitching. This time it was a sore shoulder. Already for more than six months my left shoulder has been troubling me. When I move my left arm in a backward/upward movement, for example while putting on a tight-fitting jacket, it hurts like hell. At first I thought it was a strained muscle or tendon, and that it would silently heal by itself, but it didn't. It actually worsened slowly,  to the point that I have to avoid certain sleeping positions because it's too uncomfortable.
So, today I finally set off for the #1 hospital in Xiamen, to get a professional opinion on what might be wrong with me. We took a taxi to the Chang Gung Hospital in the Haicang district of Xiamen, which is on the mainland. It's a bit far away, about 23 km, and even by taxi it took more than half an hour to get there (65 RMB). This hospital is privately owned and run by a Taiwanese hospital group. It's as busy as any other hospital , so the procedure for registration, queuing for a doctor's appointment, and paying for it, takes as long as anywhere else. You have to decide yourself which doctor you want to see, but at the registration desk you are offered some advice. I first went to see a neurologist, because it occurred to me it could be a twisted nerve. The doctor send me to the X-ray department for a photo of my shoulder, which is what I kind of expected would happen. The photo turned out very well. A well-toned and razor-sharp image of my shoulder (this was the second X-ray I had in China, the first was a chest X-ray for my mandatory medical examination in Nanning). There was nothing wrong with it. A textbook-perfect shoulder. Unfortunately I could not obtain a copy of the high-res image I saw on the doctor's monitor, she only gave me a smallish and rather blurry print-out from her office printer.
The doctor told me it was probably the soft tissue surrounding my shoulder that caused the pain, She prescribed some medication (Methocarbamol and Diclofenac), and made an appointment for a session with a physiotherapist in the afternoon.
By now it was lunch time, so we went first to the food court in the basement. The selection of food was shockingly unhealthy, with burgers and other snack food among the offerings. We settled for a more traditional Chinese platter, which was not very good, so we followed up with an ice cream.

The charming physiotherapist had a full program lined up. She first hooked me up to a machine which was attached to a set of rubber suction cups, which she placed on my shoulder and upper arm. The suction cups were fitted with some pneumatic hammers, which pounded my skin in rhythmic patterns, while the vacuum held them in place. The sensation was quite interesting, actually not unpleasant.
After 20 minutes of automated vacuum massage, she moved me to another machine, which was a lot more scary. Two big electrodes where strapped to my shoulder and upper arm for half an hour of electro therapy. The voltage was cranked up to 45 V, making my upper arm twitch with every pulse. At two to three pulses per second for almost half an hour, my shoulder felt quite numb, and I could feel the shocks all the way down to my fingertips. This was not the kind of therapy I had in mind, so I was happy when it was over. The therapist finally wrapped a very hot towel around my shoulder, which eased the sore muscles a bit while slowly cooling off. When all was done, I did feel a bit better than before, but I don't have the feeling this session was really that necessary or helpful in healing me. I will see what the medication does, I have enough for five days. At least the cost for medical care in China is not so high. My first consultation with the neurologist, combined with the X-ray, was 96 RMB. The physiotherapy and medication was 122 RMB together, so in total 218 RMB, which is about 25 Euro.

Spring bugs

Spring is here, and so is a new generation of insects, both flying and crawling. This green moth which landed on the window frame in our kitchen late last night, is one of the less annoying varieties in the flying category. It's actually quite beautiful if you get really close.
At the same time a black relative had found a suitable spot on the tiles just under the fluorescent tube. Its graphite black wings folded, contrasting nicely with a furry orange collar. Both insects patiently let themselves be photographed. I had to reach out with my camera to get close enough, holding my breath to not induce motion blur. I cropped the images a bit to get the magnification shown, and am quite happy with the result.
By the time I entered the kitchen again this morning, both had already left.

The dolphins are back!

Today I made a solo sailing trip to Huzaiyu （虎仔屿）, a small island about 7 km off the coast of Xiamen Island. It's not much more than a large rock with some trees on it, the interesting part is that it belongs to Taiwan, like the neighbouring islands Dadandao （大胆岛） and Lesser Kinmen （小金门）.
I have sailed around the island once, with Ling Ling, so I knew more or less what to expect. The wind was East, so I could set a straight course, aiming just West of the island. When I finally got there, after about an hour of close-hauled sailing, I decided to tack East, to circle the island clockwise, instead of counter-clockwise, as I originally intended. The wind direction made it difficult to make a close circle around the island from the direction of my approach, the other way around would be with wind in the back, much easier.
The waves are much longer out here, because of deep water, and open sea (well, the Taiwan Strait) behind this string of islands. The wind was not too strong, so it was a nice ride. After circling the island I headed back on a straight course at broad reach, almost running downwind. This is a favourable angle to sail, so I had a comfortable speed, without too much spray.
When I was almost home, I spotted a white dolphin, and then another. They where not very close, but a few minutes later they came to join me. Jumping out of the water to the left and to the right of my boat, and then up front, leading the way, a terrific sight. I have not seen dolphins for quite a while. They might have gone South to escape the winter. Now spring is here again, and the dolphins too!
I only had my sailing phone with me, but managed to shoot a short video. The quality is awful, but you can see one jumping out in front of the boat at 0:30.
It's about time I invest in a GoPro camera :)