Eric's Beijing Diary

Well, I just had my last visit to the dentist. An old crown fell out a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure what to do about a dentist. There is an American dentist out at Beijing United Hospital, but they charge American rates, so that was out of the question. I thought about just finding one locally, but I don't speak Chinese, so that could be a bit of a challenge. I asked around and heard about one not too far from here--recommended to me by an Australian English teacher. This place was probably somewhere in the mid range, because the students who showed me how to get there said, "only rich people go here." And I never had to wait more than five minutes for an appointment. Its part of a chain called "Arrail Dental." I found the place in a new office building about ten minutes from the north gate by bicycle. The soft-spoken dentist, Dr. Christina Wu, was very professional, and spoke impeccable English. Sixteen hundred for the porcelain crown, six hundred for the post...some xrays...it came to about 2300RMB. That's about 275 US dollars.