Shen Mingli

An introduction

He opens the room. He is at the desk by seven and takes the first eight people before most of us have arrived, because the ones who come early are usually the ones who could not sleep. He writes the fewest words of any of us and is the hardest to argue with.

My father made me weigh out roots for two years before he let me ask anyone a question. I have never resented it.

Areas of focus

• Sleep that breaks at three in the morning and will not close again
• Long-standing digestive complaints where the tests came back normal
• Cold hands and feet that do not warm with the season
• The long flat months after an illness has passed

Background & training

38 years · since 1988

• Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou — five years, graduated 1988
• Eleven years at his father’s counter before he was allowed his own desk

Qualifications

Licensed to practise Chinese medicine in the People’s Republic of China.