It's a crazy dream! Riding from Shanghai to London! Starting on March 5, Zheng Sheng spent 136 days travelling eleven countries and finally arrived in London on July 18.

    Having studied maps for four months and borrowed（借） some money from friends, he left the company（公司） in Shanghai where he had worked for just a few months "I was very confident at the beginning, but after I left China, I felt a little worried that I might meet bad men," he said. Luckily, the trip was a safe one. Zheng believes that the safest place to sleep is somewhere people don't know about, so most of the time he slept in forests（森林）. He rode more than 100 km every day, but most of his food was just bread, as the food in Europe was too expensive. Later he learnt to add some cheese to the bread. Zheng didn't tell his parents about the trip before he left for London, as he didn't want them to worry. After he arrived home in Yunnan Province at the end of July, he finally told his mum about it.

    "I'm very confident for the future," he said, "because I know very well that everyone can do what they decide to do."

    I'm Lin Min. My sister Lin Li is a teacher, but she isn't in Beijing with us. She works in a small school in Yushu in Qinghai. She works very hard. Every morning after breakfast, she goes to four of her students' homes and brings them to school. At eight o'clock, the students have the first morning class. After four classes, they have lunch at school. During the lunch time, Lin Li tells some stories to them. The students like listening to her stories. The afternoon classes start at 13: 00 and finish at 16: 00. After school, Lin Li sends the four students back to their homes and gets home at 17: 00. In the evening, she doesn't watch TV or play computer games. She usually checks her students' homework. Then she goes to bed at 22:00

    Lin Li wants to do more things for her students. She is a great teacher, isn't she?

    Studies have shown it takes a doctor about 18 seconds to stop a patient after he begins talking.

    It was Sunday. I had one last patient to see. I came close to her room in a hurry and stood at the doorway. She was an older woman, sitting at the edge of the bed, trying to put socks on her swollen feet. I spoke quickly to the nurse, saw her chart saying she was in stable condition. I was almost in the clear.

    She asked if I could help put on her socks. Instead, I began a long speech that went something like this: "How are you feeling? Your blood sugar and blood pressure were high but they're better today. The nurse said you can't wait to see your son who's visiting you today. It's nice to have family visit from far away. I'm sure you really look forward to seeing him."

    She stopped me with a serious voice. "Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not your story."

    I was surprised and ashamed. I sat down. I helped her with the socks. She began to tell me that her only son lived around the corner from her, but she had not seen him in five years. She believed that the pressure of this caused greatly to her health problems. After hearing her story and putting on her socks, I asked if there was anything else I could do for her. She shook her head and smiled. All she wanted me to do was to listen.

    Listening to someone's story costs less than expensive diagnostic testing but is key to healing. I often thought of what that woman taught me—the importance of stopping, sitting down and truly listening. And, not long after, unexpectedly, I became the patient, with a diagnosis of sclerosis at age 31. Now, 20 years later, I sit all the time—in a wheelchair.

    For as long as I could, I continued to see patients from my chair, but I had to give up my job when my hands were influenced. I still teach medical students and other health care professionals, but now from the view of doctor and patient.

    I tell them I believe in the power of listening. I tell them I know firsthand that huge healing takes place within me when someone stops, sits down and listens to my story.