Liuzhou Laowai

Random thoughts on life in Liuzhou, Guangxi, China



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Liuzhou weather forecasting and health authorities have issued warnings regarding the weather over the next few days.

They are forecasting a dramatic drop in temperatures in the next day or two. Falls of 10ºC are likely. It will also be wet.

Sadly, there are no indications that this will be short lived. It looks like winter has finally decided to visit for a while.

The authorities are doling out the usual advice and misinformation – particularly advising people to “wear more clothes”, that Chinese mantra.

What is it in the Chinese psyche that they are utterly convinced that the common cold is caused by being cold, despite almost everyone having suffered summer colds at some time? The common cold is caused by a variety of viruses, which actually like warmer conditions. Drinking warm water does absolutely nothing to prevent colds. Yet all my otherwise intelligent friends amaze me by rushing off to the hospital demanding antibiotic drips. Antibiotics do not kill viruses. End of story. They are worse than useless against the common cold. Yet the doctors go along with this. The Chinese  health service is notoriously corrupt and cash is king. But the overuse and misapplication of antibiotics is a major health problem. Bacteria build up resistance to the over-prescribed drips, rendering them ineffective when really needed.


By all means try to keep warm, but be sensible.

. This entry was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2016 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Health, Liuzhou Weather, Stupidity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “Brrrr!”

  1. Garry Kennedy Says:

    Too true! The overuse of antibiotics in China is a worldwide concern. My wife’s family in Liuzhou are great believers in going to a hospital and getting intravenous drips at the first sign of the sniffles. Fortunately, the concoction administered is not always an antibiotic. The last time they took my seven year old niece to get intravenous, the hospital staff told me they were injecting vitamins. She was coughing but had no fever at the time. I think she was recovering from a cold and was coughing because she had scar tissue in her ‘bronchial tubes’. Doctors in Canada have given that explanation to me when I kept wanting to cough after a cold. I offered that theory to the girl’s father (my brother-in-law) along with the suggestion that my niece just rest at home but he basically said, “Thanks, but you’re not a doctor.”

  2. Pu Li Says:

    Do you know why Chinese people never cover their mouth or nose when they sneeze or cough?

    It’s because it gets the new strain of virus out there and helps update the immune system. The common cold is permanently mutating so no drug can help. Neither does sneezing loudly in public but it is at least a token effort.

  3. Liuzhou Laowai Says:

    Amusing but complete bullshit.

  4. Robert Says:

    I apologise Pu Li. I thought that was just because people here are ill mannered.



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