Living in Beijing can sometimes mean not being able to book an appointment at a hospital, especially at a local one. The locals use the 114 system to guahao (book hosptial appointment) but unless you can read Chinese, you’re stuck with the old school method of calling up the hospital or begging a Chinese friend to help.  But fear no more! Since the 114 health mini-program now offers a guahao feature, the Jingkids team has created a step-by-step guide to show you how to make an appointment.

The 114 provides its QR code of the WeChat account

Step 1, type “114” in the WeChat search bar or scan the above QR code to enter the account. Click the “service” button.

Step 2, click “appointment register” and jump to the hospital list page.

Step 3, search the hospital name at the top bar or slide down the list to find the hospital you want to visit. Then enter the hospital page.

Step 4, search the department name at the top bar, or slide down the list to find the department you want to visit. Then enter the schedule page.

Step 5, let’s take general surgery department as an example. Choose the date by sliding left or right, or use the calendar. The date with color blue still has empty places for registration. The gray one means all places are booked. The below part shows the available places for morning and afternoon.

Step 6, after deciding the date, we can move to registration. If you are new to the 114 system, you will need to add new patient first, and fill in some information. The 114 account is bonded to your ID card, so you’d better use your own identification. It’s okay to register for others, but a face recognition will be required.

Step 7, during the COVID period, most hospitals require patient to complete a questionnaire. If you don’t have any symptoms of fever and have no history traveling to middle or high risk area, just click “no” for all the questions.

Step 8, get a verification code from your phone, and finally, we can confirm the registration. Don’t forget to check the information again!

Step 9, registration completed. Each order has its own identification code. If you want to cancel the order, make sure to follow the cancellation policy, or you will lose the registration fee.

There is also a video containing the above process which is clearer and more coherent. Click the video to watch the whole steps!

KEEP READING: How to Book a Covid-19 Test at Chaoyang Hospital via WeChat

Images: Screenshots，Baidu Image

People’s lives have changed a lot since the COVID-19 outbreak. But oddly enough, many parents have found that their children got sick less often this year. The flu is common in the fall and winter, and this past year, parents and medical professionals have noticed fewer patients with it. In July last year, Pei Honggang, a doctor at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital, posted on his Weibo account that the number of colds, hand-foot-mouth disease, and herpetic pharyngitis had all decreased. Earlier, the Guangdong Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a questionnaire on this issue, which may give us some insight into how things are connected.

The survey result of changes in people’s incidence of illnesses

According to the results of the survey, we found some interesting things. When asked about the change in illness this year, more than half said they had had fewer colds and flu. This may have a lot to do with changes in personal hygiene habits.

The survey result of whether people have changed hygiene habits this year

In the hygiene survey, nearly 9%t of respondents said they had changed their health habits. The specific contents of the changes are as follows:

We can see that more than 90% of people chose to wear masks when going out. What’s worth noting is that nearly 85% of people wash their hands more often. Wearing a mask is a major protection against droplet-borne infections such as COVID-19, influenza, and the common cold. During the epidemic, schools required children to wear masks during activities and maintain social distancing, which not only isolated the Coronavirus, but also greatly reduced the spread of common diseases.

How do droplets spread disease?

Washing hands, opening windows for ventilation are also important ways to prevent illness. The main route of infection of a cold is droplets, and the virus often enters the body through the mouth, nose, or mucous membrane of the eyes. If you can avoid touching the above parts with dirty hands, you can increase the chances of preventing a cold. Therefore, the decline in prevalence is closely related to the formation of good hygiene habits, and in the future, it should be advocated to maintain some of these habits to keep people healthy, especially the kids.

KEEP READING: Masks Will Be Mandatory Once School Starts

Images: Pixabays, The Paper

Cai Er（采耳), also known as ear cleaning, is a traditional skill that originated from the folks in ancient China. In recent years, it has gradually become popular from Chengdu to all over China. Usually, we can see in the cai er parlors, the professional workers use various tools to stimulate the inside and outside of the ear canal and take out earwax (also called cerumen) deep in the ear. After feeling a little itchy and nervous at the beginning, the customers usually quickly relax and enjoy the experience.

Cai er is a delicate process that requires the use of nearly a dozen specialized tools and is served by professionals. Generally, it begins with a massage around the head and ears, then cleans the ear canal with feathers and cotton swabs. Finally, the acupuncture points of the ear are stimulated by the vibration of tuning forks.

A whole set of caier tools

This whole process has many advantages like soothing the spirit and regulating mood. After Cai er, most people find themselves deeply relaxed and their anxiety and tension were gone. Some popular ASMR videos, for example, simulate the process by using the sound of a special tool rubbing against the ear, since the human body finds it relaxing. Cai er can not only clean the dirt of the ear canal but also play the role of ear health care. Although the ear is small, it’s distributed with 108 acupuncture points, each of which corresponds to a different organ and system in the body. In traditional Chinese medicine, they can be professionally massaged to treat ailments such as headaches.

Of course, those who have not experienced cai er, should be careful to choose the place and frequency of visits. In fact, our ears have a certain self-cleaning ability, so frequent ear cleaning is not encouraged. If you do find that you enjoy cai er, find a place with a fully disinfection environment. Then all you need is to relax, stay as still as possible, and talk to the worker as soon as you feel uncomfortable.

Here are cai er parlors recommended in Beijing with locations all around the city:
Pu Er（蒲耳）Xiang Er Kong Jian（享耳空间）Wu Zhi Sheng（五指生）

READ: Seeing Beyond the Surface: A History of Blind Massage in Beijing

Images: Baidu Image, Zhihu