Expat health checkup makes my heart race

The health check: a process nearly every non-Chinese person staying here for a protracted period must endure. A series of tests are done to rigorously assess your potential lifespan and to make certain your impending death won't take place on Chinese soil.

Well, that's exaggerating somewhat. Rumor has it that to fail the health check requires the distinct lack of a pulse, but that doesn't prevent past ailments from running through your mind and previous transgressions being recalled from the darkest recesses of memory as blood is drawn for testing.

Marching through the hallway among various rooms allows the tests to be completed swiftly, providing the place isn't teeming with people. The entire procedure is quite efficient.