Now and then we all get ill. Then we usually go to see a doctor. Doctors know a lot about what makes us ill. They may give us something to take. The medicine often makes us well again.

But sometimes the doctor’s medicine doesn’t work. A sick person does not get well. The pain will not go away. This happened to one man. He was in hospital, but he was not getting well. Then he found a new “doctor” inside himself. This “doctor” was his own sense of humor(幽默感). He saw funny films. He read funny books. And something wonderful happened. Laughing took away his pain. Then he was able to sleep and rest. His own happy feeling was his best “medicine”. His doctor thought so, too.

Another man was ill, and he had a terrible pain in his back. The doctors could not stop it from hurting. So the man began to “picture” his pain. In his head he “drew” a picture of a dog. He imagined it as a real dog. And he made friends with the dog. And his pain went away!

These stories may surprise you. But more and more people are getting well in this way. So visit the “doctor” inside you and you can stay happy and well.

TCM wins the hearts of young people for its effectiveness.

Jin Ying, 25, is a lover of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). She took part in a three-month training course on acupuncture and tuina (针灸推拿) in the winter of 2023 at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.

Jin’s life has been different since the training. She changed her life habits after learning the Five Elements theory (五行学说). For example, she avoided sweating too much during exercise in winter because the cold of winter means people should slow down, according to TCM. For her, learning these skills and theories was not about becoming a TCM doctor but rather about accepting a new lifestyle.

She is not an unusual example of young people loving TCM. A survey by China Youth Daily showed that 93.3 percent of the 1,000 young people had tried different TCM treatments.

“I have seen a rising number of young people come to me for neck and back pains, which are usually related to the elderly,” said Ma Huifang, a TCM doctor at Guoyitang, a TCM hospital affiliated with Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.

Between Western medicine and TCM, young people often choose TCM “due to its effectiveness,” according to Ma.

Some people question why TCM treats the same illnesses with different prescriptions (处方). “This is actually an advantage of TCM, rather than a shortcoming, as it can be a more accurate treatment for different patients,” Ma explained.

Younger age groups are welcoming TCM, and, at the same time, TCM is also benefiting young people. As Jin noted, “It helps young people understand Chinese medicine and learn why it is believed to be a treasure of our Chinese culture.”

One day, a 7-year-old boy held a dollar coin in his hand and asked the shop owners along the street, “Excuse me, do you sell God?”

All the day, the boy who had a strong will went in and out of many stores, asking the same question, but each time he was refused.

Then, at the sixty-ninth store, a 60-year-old grandpa smiled and asked the little boy, “Why do you want to buy God?”

The boy told him that his parents had died when he was still a baby and his uncle was now raising him. But several days before, his uncle fell off stairs and was seriously ill in hospital. The doctor told the boy that only God could save his uncle.

“How much do you have?” the old man asked.

“One dollar,” replied the child.

“My boy, God’s price is exactly one dollar,” said the old man.

Then the storekeeper took a bottle of “God” from the shelf. “Take it, boy! When your uncle drinks it, he will get well soon”.

The little boy rushed to the hospital and shouted happily to his uncle, “Uncle, I bought God back and you will get well soon.”

The next day, a medical team made up of the world’s top medical experts came to the hospital. The operation was very successful.

When the little boy’s uncle saw the large medical bill, he almost passed out. However, the hospital told him the bill had already been paid by a rich elderly man.

The little boy’s uncle went to the store to thank the old man. But he was away on holiday, leaving a letter.

“You don’t need to thank me. The bill has been paid by your nephew. To save you, he brought a dollar and went into every store to buy God. Thank God, he was the one that saved you!”