It is simply a common, head cold but the trouble you have to go through to get medicine would be the same as if you were dying of malaria…. well ..kind of….. Let me explain. I am prone to getting a cold when the seasons change…. summer to fall, winter to spring, and spring to summer…. I guess my body just doesn’t change to fit the seasons like it used to. Anyway, I got a cold the other day… a pretty bad one … and although most Chinese people would tell me to “Just Drink Hot Water” …. I would prefer to have some kind of medicine to make me feel better.
Most of the time I buy this medicine called “Quike” (pronounced “Qai – Ker”) … and it is a kind of Sudafed type medicine. However, for some reason it wasn’t working this time… I was still feeling like crap and I could feel I was getting a fever….. so I asked my husband to bring me some of this brown stuff…..I don’t know the name.. I just know it taste like dirty, toilet water smells…. and has a very bitter after taste. However, it usually stops a cough and a sore throat. I did take that nasty stuff… and thought it did stop my sore throat .. my cough, runny nose, and fever were still there……. as my husband kept forcing me to drink hot water….. I began to wish I had some Nyquil…. yeah.. good old Nyquil… that shot of medicine that taste like Jägermeister…. but makes you feel so good and sleep all through the night…. I miss that stuff….
However, China doesn’t sell Nyquil… although they do sell Jägermeister…hum… anyway… I decided to contact my girl.. that sells American food products…. to see if she had a hook up for the nighttime cold medicine…. after sending a message via wechat…
I got a prompt reply.. that stated… “I have it”….. that was like music to my clogged up ears. I quickly asked her how much and can you over night it to me?
She actually sent me a photo of Nyquil and Dayquil…… whatttt?? she had both..? My lucky day… I said… send me one of both…. over night…..it was a little pricy… but all imported goods are…. but she said.. okay.
I went to bed a happy camper…. so funny what small things make you happy when you live in China. At, 9 am the next morning….. a guy knocked on the door… with my Nyquil……. I was told the Dayquil will come later because it was Gel-caps and they cant be expressed. I have never been so excited to receive something in my life I think.
All this fuss over some OTC meds that most Americans take for granted. I know.. I know…. I calmed myself down because I didn’t want to overdose…. and took two with a glass of water….. and laid down with a smiling waiting for something to happen. Now that I think about it… I probably looked pretty stupid…. I know my husband was looking at me crazy.
The next thing I knew I was waking up very thirsty and having to go to the bathroom…… and a bit weak…. Now I remember… Nyquil gives you that weird hangover-ish feeling after you wake up…. but … I was feeling better and I was breathing. I could move around in slow motion… and I wasn’t coughing and fever was gone.
Yes….. Nyquil had put me on the road to recovery….. I am proud to say…. three days I was almost 100% back to my old self again. Only missed one day of work, due to the inability to speak because of the sore throat. Now, my husband claims it was all due to the fact that I drank his hot water … but little does he know .. my secret weapon…. Nyquil was on the job…
until next time…..
Life Behind The Wall 
I enjoyed it and it helped me a lot. My daughter is currently living in shanghai and has a cold She’s only been there two weeks tried to send her a care package but it was gonna cost 330.00 plus any taxes or tariffs she might have to pay. I could sure use some assistance in helping her to find what she needs. i will tell her about this article
If you send me her wechat. I can forward her a list of medicines that are western and their chinese names.
Always fabulous!
So sorry you was feeling sick but glad you are feeling better! What is the concept behind hot water? I heard of hot/cold concepts in china when people are sick or recovering but I still don’t understand it.
If you have a fever and drink something hot won’t that make your temperature go up even more?
Very interesting but yes we do take a lot of things for granted here. We are spoiled. We need to be reminded that most of our problems are nothing compared to how it could be.
Oh yeah the good old NyQuil. It is really interesting how also Chinese are crazy for “Western” medications are. For example tons of our customers (my wife and I have a Exporting Business) are buying Wick Medinait (the German/ European version of Vicks NyQuil) and many other medication which you can get here in Germany without prescription.
As for myself I get the cold each time we visit China and then my in-laws bring me all kind of medications so I end up with 15 different pills to take. Well all what matters for me is that they somehow work