On the afternoon of 1 September, Tai-wanese businessman Wang Hui-hsiung dragged his exhausted body to the Minhang District Central Hospital. He had just returned to Shanghai from a business trip to Zhejiang Province on which he had barely slept in days. Now he had severe chest pains. He had registered at the hospital and was waiting to undergo blood tests when everything went black and he collapsed to the floor. An emergency room doctor and a cardiologist scrambled to his side and began applying first aid. Their preliminary diagnosis--myocardial infarction shock.

Wang's heart had stopped. The doctors immediately commenced defibrillating--once, twice, three times, four times--and Wang's heart finally began pumping again. They sent him into surgery, and inserted a stent. They performed a tracheotomy and put him on a breathing machine. Wang's body was bristling with tubes and his situation was touch and go. Time slowed to a crawl.

The Minhang District Taiwan Affairs Office promptly notified Wang's sister in Taipei. Wang's brother, a businessman in Kunshan, rushed to his side. Two days later, Wang gradually came to. When he could talk again, he asked what had happened. He couldn't remember a thing. The doctors explained to family members that Wang's partial memory loss was due to the lack of oxygen his brain experienced when his heart stopped. He would need some time to recover.

We saw Wang on 13 September. His collapse broke three front teeth and his right arm, which was in a cast. Tall, strong, and sporting a crew cut, Wang spoke lucidly. A black bruise on his throat testified to the tracheotomy given to him. After convalescing, Wang was sitting up and telling visitors of his scrape with death. Content, relaxed, and witty, he left out no details.

Wang, 50, is assistant general manager for The Cap Factory, which designs and sells clothing and headwear. He is responsible for samples, orders, and receiving American customers. An American national who worked in Houston, Texas for many years, he lived alone after his divorce. He had recently arrived in Shanghai in 2000 to help a friend with his business. His parents, both getting along in years, were an important consideration in this decision. After all, China is much closer to home than America. What's more, China's booming economy made working there all the more attractive.

"The hospital saved my life," said Wang, indicating a group of visitors which included his heart specialist and representatives from the Minhang District Taiwan Affairs Office. According to his rudimentary knowledge of medicine, most hospitals would have given up after two attempts at defibrillation failed to revive him. Their making four attempts was nothing short of a miracle.

"I have high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia. I had an attack in the States and another episode was in the cards," explains Wang. He underwent a complete medical checkup in Tzu Chi Hospital when visiting his father in Hualien, Taiwan last year. The doctors warned him then, but as he put it, "You never take them seriously until they place you in a casket. This time I jumped back out."

His doctor told us that the cast on Wang's right arm won't be removed for at least another two months. "I can't lift anything with my right arm and flying is out of the question for the time being; otherwise, I would be on the next flight to Taiwan to get another thorough checkup."

Wang was discharged after 20 days in the hospital. He has commercial insurance and National Health Insurance in Taiwan. He wonders how much of his RMB60,000 in medical bills will be reimbursed. His physician explains that he received their best heart stent and a tracheotomy. He was hooked up to life support, received emergency first aid, and was in the ICU for eight days. As he sees it, all things considered, his medical expenses weren't really that high.

After leaving the hospital, Wang stayed with his brother in Kunshan to recuperate and rethink his future.

Wang explains that the health care of the vast majority of Taiwanese businesspeople in mainland China is hit and miss. They are too busy with their work and are unfamiliar with the PRC's medical system. More often than not, they don't go to the hospital when they should. They opt, rather, to grin and bear it until they get back to Taiwan, putting themselves through torture and damaging their health.

Wang had been making preparations to expand his company's business at the end of the year, but with the current state of his health, he wouldn't be able to handle it physically.

"Fifty isn't really all that old and I've accumulated some experience in the work force, but I can't deny that my health is holding me back. How do you go about striking a balance?" an undecided Wang asks himself.