“He saved me and the show” – experienced Chinese doctor fishes bones out of an opera singer’s throat

In mid-July, a fish bone got stuck in his throat while eating river fish, a common dish in China.

According to Shanghai TV, Ban rushed to the city’s Ruijin Hospital for emergency treatment.

There, the hospital’s assistant doctor Chen Yongxuan helped to remove the offending bone.

“It is a luxury to receive your help, doctor. I am the opera singer and actor you saved yesterday with the fish bone in his throat,” Ban was quoted as saying.

“I want to tell you that you saved me, of course, and the show, because I was able to sing in the show that same night.”

“You are great, very professional. Thank you very much.”

“See you soon when I come to Shanghai next time. We will invite you to our new show,” Ban said.

The 49-year-old French singer is very popular on social media in China.

He has visited the mainland many times over the past two decades since his first appearance in 2005.

He is affectionately known as Lao Hang Ban, which means “old flight” in Mandarin because the pronunciation of its French name sounds like these three Chinese characters.

Mozart, the rock opera will tour more than 10 cities on the mainland in the second half of this year.

In general, the removal of fish bones is considered a minor procedure in Chinese hospitals because eating river fish, whose thin bones are easy to swallow, is very popular.

In most cases, simple forceps are sufficient, but sometimes surgical intervention is necessary.

Ban’s hospitalization sparked lively debate on social media on the mainland.

“Why are only Chinese doctors good at retrieving fish bones? Because they do it a lot. It seems that only Chinese people like to eat river fish, while foreigners eat sea fish with big bones.

“Foreigners don’t know how to spit out fish bones when eating fish, haha,” said one person on Douyin.

“You can always rely on Chinese doctors to remove fish bones. They do it so professionally!” said another.