Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the procedure of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes. The word acupuncture comes from the Latin acus, “needle”, and pungere, “to prick”. In Standard Mandarin, 針砭 (zhēn biān) (a related word, 針灸 (zhēn jiǔ), refers to acupuncture together with moxibustion). The earliest written record of acupuncture is the Chinese text Huangdi Neijing (黃帝內經, English: Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon). Different types of acupuncture (Classical Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Vietnamese and Korean acupuncture) are practiced and taught throughout the world.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture points are situated on meridians along which qi (a “life energy”), flows. Modern acupuncture texts present them as ideas that are useful in clinical practice. According to the National Institutes of Health consensus statement on acupuncture, these traditional Chinese concepts “are difficult to reconcile with contemporary biomedical information but continue to play an important role in the evaluation of patients and the formulation of treatment.” There are no conventional anatomical or histological features that explain or identify either acupuncture points or energy meridians.
Acupuncture has been the subject of active scientific research since the late 20th century but it remains controversial among conventional medical researchers and clinicians. Due to the invasive nature of acupuncture treatments, it is difficult to create studies that use proper scientific controls. Some scholarly reviews have concluded that the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment can be explained largely through the placebo effect, while other studies have suggested some efficacy in the treatment of specific conditions. The World Health Organization published a review of controlled trials using acupuncture and concluded it was effective for the treatment of 28 conditions and there was evidence to suggest it may be effective for several dozen more， though this review has been criticized by several scientists for bias and a focus on studies with a poor methodology. Reports from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the American Medical Association (AMA) and various government reports have studied and commented on the efficacy (or lack thereof) of acupuncture. There is general agreement that acupuncture is safe when administered by well-trained practitioners using sterile needles, and that further research is appropriate.
History
Antiquity
Acupuncture’s origins in China are uncertain. One explanation is that some soldiers wounded in battle by arrows were cured of chronic afflictions that were otherwise untreated, and there are variations on this idea.[ In China, the practice of acupuncture can perhaps be traced as far back as the Stone Age, with the Bian shi, or sharpened stones. In 1963 a bian stone was found in Duolon County, Mongolia, pushing the origins of acupuncture into the Neolithic age.[ Heiroglyphs and pictographshave been found dating from the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 BCE) which suggest that acupuncture was practiced along with moxibustion. Despite improvements in metallurgy over centuries, it was not until the 2nd century BCE during the Han Dynasty that stone and bone needles were replaced with metal.[ The earliest Chinese medical text that first describes acupuncture is the Huangdi Neijing, the legendary Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine (History of Acupuncture)which was compiled around 305–204 B.C. However, the Mawangdui texts from the second century BC, which antedate the Huangdi Neijing, mention the use of pointed stones to open abscesses and moxibustion but not acupuncture.
In Europe, examinations of the 5,000-year-old mummified body of Ötzi the Iceman have identified 15 groups of tattoos on his body, some of which are located on what are now seen as contemporary acupuncture points. This has been cited as evidence that practices similar to acupuncture may have been practiced elsewhere in Eurasia during the early Bronze Age.
Middle history
Acupuncture spread from China to Korea, Japan and Vietnam and elsewhere in East Asia. Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century were among the first to bring reports of acupuncture to the West.
Modern era
In the 1970s, acupuncture became better known in the United States after an article appeared in The New York Times by James Reston, who underwent an emergency appendectomy while visiting China. While standard anesthesia was used for the actual surgery, Mr. Reston was treated with acupuncture for post-operative discomfort. The National Acupuncture Association (NAA), the first national association of acupuncture in the US, introduced acupuncture to the West through seminars and research presentations. The NAA created and staffed the UCLA Acupuncture Pain clinic in 1972. This was the first legal clinic in a medical school setting in the US. The first acupuncture clinic in the United States is claimed to have been opened by Dr. Yao Wu Lee in Washington, D.C. on July 9, 1972.The Internal Revenue Service allowed acupuncture to be deducted as a medical expense beginning in 1973.
All aboard China’s new bullet train
All aboard China’s new bullet train
When China’s $300 billion high-speed train system is completed, it will be the world’s largest, fastest, and most technologically sophisticated.
The high-speed rail line that will eventually connect Beijing with Shanghai is expected to cut travel time from 10 hours to four when the line opens in a couple of years. The top speed on trains that will run from Beijing to Shanghai will approach 220 miles an hour.
Holders of fake visas risk fines, deportation
EXPATRIATES who hold fake visas will be deported, Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau officials warned yesterday.
Shanghai police officers have caught more than 300 foreigners holding counterfeit visas between January and September this year, 150 percent more than in the same period last year.
“The increase has been partly caused by the financial crisis,” said an exit-entry bureau official. Many foreigners who had lost their jobs in China bought counterfeit visas from illegal agents, he said.
The bureau highlighted the case of one woman who came to China three years ago for a job with a multinational.
Her company closed in the financial crisis and she found her visa would soon expire. Not willing to leave China, she found an illegal agent through a flyer and bought a fake long-term visa for about 1,000 yuan (US$146), the official said.
However, she was caught by police in an investigation and was ordered to serve 15 days’ detention.
EXPATRIATES who hold fake visas will be deported, Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau officials warned yesterday.
Shanghai police officers have caught more than 300 foreigners holding counterfeit visas between January and September this year, 150 percent more than in the same period last year.
“The increase has been partly caused by the financial crisis,” said an exit-entry bureau official. Many foreigners who had lost their jobs in China bought counterfeit visas from illegal agents, he said.
The bureau highlighted the case of one woman who came to China three years ago for a job with a multinational.
Her company closed in the financial crisis and she found her visa would soon expire. Not willing to leave China, she found an illegal agent through a flyer and bought a fake long-term visa for about 1,000 yuan (US$146), the official said.
However, she was caught by police in an investigation and was ordered to serve 15 days’ detention.
She was deported after serving her sentence and blacklisted from China.
Officials warned foreigners that they also face a 5,000 yuan fine, detention and deportation if their visa was fake.
“Companies have to notify us of any changes to the status of their foreign employees,” the official said.
She was deported after serving her sentence and blacklisted from China.
Officials warned foreigners that they also face a 5,000 yuan fine, detention and deportation if their visa was fake.
“Companies have to notify us of any changes to the status of their foreign employees,” the official said.
Lonely Hearts Club: China’s Gender Imbalance Could Leave 30 Million Men without Wives
SHANGHAI — every weekend in Shanghai’s ‘People’s Park Number Five,’ they come — mothers, fathers, grandparents — all holding pictures and posters of young Chinese men and women who are looking for love.
Parental matchmaking isn’t easy, according to one man who tells FOX News that he’s been shopping for a wife for his 33-year-old son for six months.
His pitch to other parents is short and simple. “Got a home. Good looking. Good salary,” reads his poster.
Because of China’s one child policy to control its ever expanding population — now numbering 1.3 billion people — there has been a lopsided explosion of young boys. It’s a cavernous gender gap that is unprecedented worldwide.
The ratio is up to 130 boys to every one hundred girls in some areas of China.
Traditional preferences for a son mean that many women abort their baby if an early term sonogram shows it’s a girl.
In the next 20 years, it’s estimated that 30 million Chinese men won’t be able to find wives. For mothers and fathers who visit the “People’s Park” every weekend there’s a lot more to it than just finding love for their kids. There’s a tradition in China of the young looking after the old. The government hasn’t paid pensions and provided health care for most Chinese. So many parents’ social security is on the line.
In China’s big cities, finding Mr. or Miss Right is easier. Many women migrate from small town China to Beijing or Shanghai to find work and marriage.
And because more and more women are working, attitudes among parents who once only wanted boys are changing.
“More than 50 percent of the population will be in the cities. So that means this will be very strong change of traditions, behavior of couples, or women, including this kind of son preference,” Bernard Coquelin, from the U.N. Population Fund told FOX News
The pressure is on for moms and dads in people’s park number 5, and across the country. The Chinese lonely hearts club is the biggest world wide.
Shanghai Simply Thai
Description:
Now Simply Thai also found a place in Xintiandi, the place for tourists and nightowls.
Simpy good food and a nice atmosphere just like all their other venues.
The decoration is not over done. Simply Thai is more focusing on the food!
Simply a great place for having a romantic dinner with your
girlfriend.
For the real fans of simply thai, they also offer a catering service and not to forget a “simply club membership”.
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Maserati test drive thru the streets of Shanghai
2009 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S
By Shanghai D.D’s Club
Spring 2009
Expected Pricing: 2.6 million RMB
Maserati describes the Sport GT S, as “the ultimate expression of Maserati’s sportiness in the Quattroporte range.” In short, it’s a big, sensuous four-door that goes fast and handles sharply. Up close, this Quattroporte has the sheer presence of even more expensive cars. . It’s the most visually striking car available in this price range. Despite weighing about 4,400 pounds, the Maserati Quattroporte manages to feel like a car half its size with well-weighted steering, limited body roll and a captivating eagerness to change direction. Even though the QP is nearly 200 inches long, it drives like a vehicle half its size. Contributing to this is Maserati’s “Skyhook” adjustable suspension, controlled by a button on the dash. Skyhook can be set to the more comfortable “Normal” mode or the noticeably firmer “Sport” setting
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Shanghai M1nt nightclub review May 2009
O.k., its Saturday night and I get a call to go clubbing at M1nt. I just got back from New York and have not seen the club in almost 3 months in Shanghai. I take a cab towards the bund and then find the club is actually off of the bund by 4 blocks. I walk to front door and see lots of people outside. That usually is a good sign for a club in New York. In Shanghai, it usually means the there is a door charge or some reason they want money to get in.
First a little back ground on the Club M1nt. It’s a member’s only club. Yes, members only. That usually works in H.K. and Singapore but does not work in Shanghai. Hey maybe I’m wrong. It did work for me ah ha-ha! For those interested in the web site it’s http://www.m1nt.com.cn/ for those who are to lazy to go to the site!
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Funny Married jokes
The 5th Affair:
Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside.
He looked up and said weakly, “I have something I must confess.”
“There’s no need to,” his wife replied.
“No,” he insisted, “I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!”
“I know, I know,” she replied. “Now just rest and let the poison work.”
as seen by: Shanghai D.D’s Club
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Marriage jokes
A man walked into a cafe, went to the bar and ordered a beer.
“Certainly, Sir, that’ll be one cent.”
“One Cent?” the man thought.
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jokes going around Shanghai
A middle-aged couple had two beautiful daughters but always talked about having a son.
They decided to try one last time for the son they always wanted.
The wife got pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy.
The joyful father rushed to the nursery to see his new son.
He was horrified at the ugliest child he had ever seen.
He told his wife, “There’s no way I can be the father of this baby. Look at the two beautiful daughters I fathered! Have you been fooling around behind my back?”
The wife smiled sweetly and replied, “Not this time!”
