Figure ①: Doctors in Mianyang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital are dispensing Chinese medicine slices. Photo taken by Sun Tingting ②: Zhang Hong (the first from the right), deputy chief physician of Sichuan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is on ward rounds. Photo by Yang Yanfan In 2010, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine set up the first "classic ward of traditional Chinese medicine" in China. Over the past 10 years, many traditional Chinese medicine hospitals around the country have established traditional Chinese medicine wards, and the pace of exploration has not stopped. What are the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine wards? Take traditional Chinese medicine as the leading factor, focusing on critical and difficult diseases; Solve problems with TCM thinking. Traditional Chinese medicine classic wards give full play to the characteristics and advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, actively explore and use the methods and technologies led by traditional Chinese medicine, and carry out the diagnosis and treatment of various acute, critical and complex diseases by applying the classical theories of traditional Chinese medicine and the experience of famous and old Chinese medicine to guide the clinical practice. A few days ago, the reporter visited three classic wards of traditional Chinese medicine: Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Mianyang Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Practice and give full play to the ability of traditional Chinese medicine to treat acute, critical and difficult diseases. "The infection is difficult to recover after more than one month in the hospital, and it is amazing to be treated here by traditional Chinese medicine and unplugged in five days." In the classic ward of traditional Chinese medicine in Fangcun Hospital of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the 65-year-old Uncle Wen is getting better and better day by day, and his family is very happy. In December last year, Uncle Wen developed shock after being infected with COVID-19, and was immediately sent to the nearest hospital ICU. After treatment, he was transferred to the general ward. However, Uncle Wen always had a lot of sputum in his throat, causing repeated fever. A tracheotomy was performed, but repeated lung infection resulted in acute left heart failure and gastrointestinal bleeding. The family was very anxious. On February 8, they transferred Uncle Wen to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Classics Ward of Fangcun Hospital of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. "After admission, through pure traditional Chinese medicine treatment, sputum decreased rapidly and the spirit improved significantly," said Yan Fang, director of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine Classics, Fangcun Hospital, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In March 2010, the first classic ward of traditional Chinese medicine in the country was opened in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which mainly treated diseases through traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions supplemented by acupuncture, moxibustion, collateral puncture, application and other appropriate technologies of traditional Chinese medicine. It is the characteristic of diagnosis and treatment in the classic wards of traditional Chinese medicine to treat acute, critical and difficult diseases with the leading role of traditional Chinese medicine. Based on the actual situation of the hospital, traditional Chinese medicine wards around the country have gradually explored a distinctive path. After entering the classic ward of traditional Chinese medicine in Sichuan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhang Hong, the deputy chief physician, began to shuttle between the beds. "There was a lot of pressure when the department was initially established." Zhang Hong recalled, as a new department name, could the common people accept it? Can peers accept it? There are many different opinions and voices. During the trial operation, the department is expected to open half of the beds first, but within a week, a total of 48 beds are fully occupied. From the initial treatment of patients who were difficult to deal with in many brother departments, such as repeated fever, drug-resistant bacterial infection and multiple organ dysfunction, to the gradual identification of their main diseases, Sichuan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has identified four directions: stroke, pulmonary fibrosis, coronary heart disease, and cor pulmonale. "Traditional Chinese medicine is not a slow doctor!" Yan Fang sighed. "Years of practice have made us confident in the treatment of difficult and severe diseases by traditional Chinese medicine. At the same time, we do not reject western medicine and will make good use of modern technology of western medicine."