I started applying small amounts of medicinal paste on several acupuncture points on my chest and back from day one of the first 10 hottest days of the lunar calendar. The paste is supposed to help cure some chronic diseases if you apply it on the exact acupuncture points during the first, second and third hottest periods, each of which usually lasts for 10 days, from July to early August.

I have no idea whether it works or not. Yet I respect the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine, which sees the human body as a whole system, and considers the unrestricted flow of both blood and qi (the invisible but vital force inherent in all things) throughout the body vital to a person's health.

Based on the relationship between the flow of blood and qi in a person's body and his or her health, TCM insists that an illness should never be considered a disorder of a specific part or organ but a disorder of the whole system. Being holistic in nature, TCM works to fix the dysfunctional operation of a person's system even as it treats a specific problem.