If I only speak English, how difficult it is to visit the hospital in China by myself?

I would assume that most people are considering the major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, so I’ll just talk about the situations in these cities. 


First, if you’re going to a premier private hospital such as the United Family, then it should be pretty easy. Guidelines and reports are presented in both Chinese and English, and doctors can communicate in English well.


Second, if you’re going to an international center in a top hospital, the only difficult part is finding the center, since top hospitals usually have large campuses; you’ll need to navigate in the hospital to locate the international center. But other things should be as easy as in the premier private hospitals.


Third, if you’re going to a standard clinic, things will get harder. The most difficult part is not talking with doctors. Doctors usually have ok English level for two reasons. First, in China, people learn English since primary school, and it’s one of the major subjects in the university entrance exam. Second, medical schools only accept top students, especially in major cities. Many good hospitals have very high academic requirements for doctors, and some top hospitals even prefer doctors with overseas education or research backgrounds in recent years. That means, in these cities, the doctors' English couldn’t be bad, especially the younger generation.


But since the doctors mainly use English for research purposes, most of them are strong in reading and writing, not in spoken English. Also, because medical English vocabulary is extremely complex, in most standard outpatient clinics many doctors may not feel comfortable explaining medical details entirely in spoken English. With the help of a translation app, you can do basic communication with doctors without many problems.


However, before you can actually talk to a doctor, navigating the campus and figuring out the overall process will be the most difficult part. Besides the doctors, other staff’s English level could be very low, and English signs are not very prevalent in hospitals, nor can they compare to the signs in that city’s airport. And of course, reports are usually only in Chinese.


Therefore, if you’re going to the standard clinic, my suggestion will be one: do some homework, search online in advance so you’ll have some basic idea about how Chinese hospitals work and won’t be really panicked when you arrive. With the help of a translator, body language, and patience, you should be able to figure it out. If you want to ease yourself, find an accompaniment with someone who can speak both Chinese and your language to help you through everything.


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