Last week when I was in the throes of an arthritic flare I googled “Beijing rheumatologist English speaking” and found out about the Beijing United Family Hospital, where most staff speaks English. I emailed them with my details asking for an appointment. I had very little hope that I’d hear back, let alone that I’d be able to make an appointment.

20 minutes later they replied with a clear and detailed email, explaining that they had the medication I needed, and offering me appointment slots on any of the days we were here. It seemed too good to be true. I made an appointment for today at 10:20, and then I realized it was a Saturday. It had to be a scam right?

I set off at 9:30 and arrived just before my appointment time. In the hospital lobby they asked me for my passport and scanned it to save all of my information. They printed me a barcode and sent me to the second floor. On the second floor I gave my paper to a nurse who immediately took me to a triage room. She took my vitals and then walked me to the doctor’s office. The doctor asked me a few questions about my health history, diagnosis, and needs. She asked me how much medication I thought I needed and then wrote me a prescription. I walked back down to the first floor, picked it up at the pharmacy, and was out of the building within 15 minutes of my appointment time. I paid for everything out of pocket and while it was somewhat expensive, it was 1/100th of what it would have been at home. That is not an exaggeration. The cost of my medication would bankrupt me if I was paying out of pocket.

Once I got over the shock of the efficiency I had a wave of sadness. In the states it took me years to get a diagnosis, and every few months I have to spend an hour or so calling either insurance, the specialty pharmacy, or the copay assistance line. It was eye opening to see and feel how much better things could be.

I took another taxi back to the hotel to put my meds in the fridge and then walked 30 minutes to meet up with Millie and Nick at Jingshan Park. They had had a breakfast date and were already sightseeing.

She was very excited to show me the “yoyo man” who was doing all sorts of tricks with this thing we had never seen. He was extremely kind and let Millie have a million turns. He was surprised we only had one child, which made me laugh. Like aren’t y’all known for that?

She was very disappointed to leave this area and get dragged to the top of the hill. She whined and cried the entire time, and then sucked her filthy thumb. When we told her not to it made her cry more. I took this selfie at the top as an attempt to capture a “real” moment. Packed and crowded and a grumpy kid giving herself dysentery.

We walked down and for ages trying to find a spot to pick up another taxi. Eventually we got one and rode south to the Temple of Heaven. This was in a large, beautiful park.

We stopped for a while to listen to some live music.

There was a large and amazing rose garden. I think these were my favorite. We stopped to smell every variety.

The various temples were all packed with people. I got pretty overwhelmed by the noise and constant vigilance to not lose my kid. nick read as much history as he could and recounted it to me amidst the chaos.

Millie was in great spirits throughout and had a ton of energy, even though it was clearly so boring for her.

There were many large groups all wearing red hats. I must have political trauma because alarm bells go off in my head when I see groups of men over 40 in red hats.

We walked out of the park and got another taxi to another recommended duck place. We got a bit lost walking through pedestrian streets. At this point I was hungry, my legs were tired, and I was completely overwhelmed by the crowds. Eventually we found it and got a ticket. We had a one hour wait.

We killed the time getting some treats. One of these sugar animals for Millie and a beer for Nick and I.

Then it was roasted duck time. We had a front row seat to the men carving them for the entire restaurant. In our overwhelmed state we ordered entirely too much. But we were so hungry that we put a very good dent in it.

We couldn’t get a taxi and walked all the way back. We have once again broken our “most steps in a day” record, clocking in at 23k. My legs are so tired and my belly is so full.