Life Lessons from David’s Chinese Uncle
“He that takes medicine and neglects diet wastes the skills of the physician.” -Chinese proverb
Image courtesy of Unsplash
On December 6, 2019, I purchased two round-trip tickets to San Francisco and booked a lovely AirBnB in Berkeley, California. I had visions of riding cable cars down hilly streets; watching the barking sea lions on Pier 35; eating clam chowder in sourdough bowls; and watching hippies in Haight-Ashbury. No trip could have ever lived up to the romanticized version I had built up in my mind, but I was sure going to give it a try.
Our flight was scheduled to depart April 3, 2020. What could possibly go wrong?
Three years after COVID shut down the world, we finally headed west. The city by the bay did not disappoint!
After a waterfront seafood lunch at the iconic Scoma’s restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf, we decided to take a taxi back to the Beacon Grand.
We found a taxi driver, gave him the name of our hotel and waited. And waited. We told him the hotel’s previous name, and we waited some more.
I was beginning to think we had an insurmountable language barrier, but then out of the blue he asked for the address. We gave it to him, recognition dawned on his face, and we were off.
David sat in the front seat with the taxi driver, and it didn’t take long for things to get interesting.
Our elderly Chinese driver turned out to be spry, kind, and funny. He made some small talk about the city and then told us he had been driving the streets of San Francisco for 40 years. David, a wonderful and encouraging listener, discovered that the driver was 76 years old, his wife, 81, and they were still active and extremely healthy. At the next stoplight, he showed us pictures of his family (grandkids and all), and then he slapped David on the back and said, “You’re a good boy! You call me ‘Uncle’!”
Now that they were officially family, he had some words of advice for his younger nephew. The rest of our trip back to Union Square was filled with advice and words of wisdom from a lifetime of experience.
Image courtesy of Unsplash
Life Lessons from David’s 76-Year-Old Chinese Uncle:
Drink warm water (at least 70 degrees) every day. It breaks down fat and toxins and flushes them out of your body.
Eat a diet of 80% vegetables and only 20% meat. Today, eat some beef, tomorrow, pork chop, next day, fish.
Steam your vegetables so they don’t lose too many vitamins.
Use corn oil to cook. It helps clear out your system.
Eat at home. Don’t eat out. That food is bad for you.
Never yell at your honey. Never. What is there to get so mad about? Don’t get angry and don’t stay angry.
Take a picture of your honey today and keep it. Exactly one year from today, take another picture of your honey and tell her, “You look even younger this year than last year! This is how to keep her happy!”
By the time the ride was over, he really did feel like family. His optimism and happiness were infectious, and we all felt changed in ways both small and large.
We couldn’t stop talking about him when we got back to our room. I decided to Google the Chinese diet and lifestyle. A quick search told me that the Chinese diet is one of the healthiest in the world and leads to many positive results, including increased longevity.
Everything David’s uncle said lined up with the tenets of the Chinese diet. All of it. Drinking warm water, consuming 80/20 vegetables to meat, using corn oil. Chinese medicine suggests that “dampness” in the body contributes to a host of illnesses, poor digestion, and overall bad health. Western diets lend themselves to “dampness” with an overreliance on dairy and fats. Consuming rice (because it’s gluten free) and lightly cooked vegetables is an excellent way to restore internal balance. Exposure to sunlight and exercise also help dry out the “dampness.”
At that moment, I thought I might be listening to some old wives’ tales about nutrition. It didn’t negate the value of the uncle’s advice, but I sure wasn’t expecting his life lessons to be backed by centuries of practice and multiple health sources.
Weeks after our trip we’re still talking about our experiences in California and our taxi ride. People say travel changes you, expands your outlook, and causes you to grow. I believe that’s true on so many levels. I’m starting to embrace some of the uncle’s advice. I just bought a rice cooker and a steamer basket. And I’m trying to make sure I don’t take “my honey” for granted!
