While rescue workers were searching for a group of Chinese tourists missing in eastern Taiwan, another group of Chinese nationals enjoyed a leisurely checkup in the serenity of a hospital in Taipei.
The group of 25 tourists, mostly middle-aged women in the beauty and cosmetics business, completed their detailed health exams on Monday at Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital.
Some members of the group even canceled the sightseeing part of their trip to squeeze in more health tests yesterday, Shin Kong Medical Club president Alex Hung (洪子仁) said.
“In China, a hospital is a place for sick people,” one of the women said, identifying herself only by her surname, Qian (錢).
She described the Taiwanese hospital as being more like home, with the strong aroma of coffee replacing the usual smell of disinfectant.
STRANDED
The group of medical tourists from Nanjing arrived in Taiwan on Friday, a day after nearly 300 Chinese nationals were stranded on the east coast’s scenic Suhua Highway as a result of landslides triggered by Typhoon Megi.
When asked whether the incident had any impact on her plan to come to Taiwan, Qian replied that initially her family had been worried about her trip, but once a visit to the eastern part of Taiwan was scrapped, she jumped at the opportunity.
TICKET COST
The Chinese visitors would not reveal how much they paid for their tours, but each had to first pay a membership fee of NT$177,890 to join the Taiwanese-invested, Guangzhou-based Zion Health Control and Youth Rejuvenation Center (ZION).
ZION’s stated purpose is to promote medical tourism in Taiwan to upscale consumers in China, offering them medical services at centers in China and bringing them to Taiwan for more thorough checkups once a year.
Taipei Times