My medical experience...

I called Qi, who is the head of marketing at our company and just generally the sweetest woman you'll ever meet (she is sort of the go-to for all questions and advice) and she knew about a place nearby (10 minute cab ride). It looked like a university hospital, or at least one attached to a university, and there was a small upstairs area that was an 'international hospital'. Qi was actually slightly concerned making sure that the place I went would treat foreigners. At the international hospital the people who spoke english were the receptionist, pharmacist, and one nurse (not the other! though it meant i did a spectacular pantomime to tell the woman taking blood 'I faint sometimes with shots'...hooray for nonverbal communication, she took me to a big recliner right away, though I didn't faint in the end). The doctor was a much older woman who spoke very broken English--I understood her well but I often had to ask questions several times. The man who took me down to get x-rays and the x-ray people spoke no English. I paid at the end. Interestingly, at the beginning they did say 'the doctor fee is rmb500' but I wasn't told a price tag for any of the other tests or medication until the end...they just assumed, I guess, that I would have the money? When I paid, they presented me the entire bill at the pharmacy (the special little 'international' pharmacy) rather than paying just for medicine there. Because of the 'international pharmacy' I'm sure I got 'international prices'--seeing the doctor was 1/2 of the bill, and I'm sure if I'd gone downstairs the doctor visit would've been much cheaper. The staff were overall helpful and friendly, though, and I was pleased with pretty much everything, though a bit disappointed that the doctor didn't actually speak much English.