TRADITIONAL Chinese medicine recommends sleeping before 11pm and rising before 7am - a tall order for night owls and partiers, but some young people are seeing the benefits of becoming "morning bees." Xu Wenwen reports.

Young people are known for staying up and staying out late - working, blogging, checking the Internet, partying or singing their heart out at KTV.

As a result of this stressful living, many are considered "sub-health," suffering fatigue, tension, insomnia and various ailments; they're also more prone to illness because their immune system is run down.

For thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine has urged moderate living, regular habits and nourishing food that suits the season - as human beings are said to reflect the energy in the cosmos.

Going to bed before 11pm and getting up before 7am is a basic TCM prescription. This ensures organs function properly (there's a particular TCM time for each organ).

It sounds like a schedule from hell, or one for seniors, but it's catching on among some young people who praise its health benefits. They are known as "morning bees," or zhaohuo zu.

Before her baby was born six months ago, 27-year-old Linda Chen in north Hangzhou used to go to sleep after midnight. Now she goes to bed around 10pm, though she has to get up during the night for her daughter.

Chen's works from 9am to 6pm. Before having the baby, she enjoyed the night, as she could read and write her blog without distraction.

Now she has baby chores at night and no time to read.

Three moths ago, Chen decided to change: now she sleeps when her daughter falls asleep, around 10pm, and rises with her daughter, "I feel that I have more time than before," says Chen who now reads the previous day's newspaper, updates her blog and takes time to put on her makeup before work.

"I never tried to get up so early before, but I get more than seven hours' sleep so in the daytime I don't feel tired at all."

The term "morning bee" refers to young mothers and professionals who get up very early, either to avoid distraction by their children or to make the most of the day, do housework or pursue personal hobbies. The expression first came into use in Japan.

In China, the "morning bee" life follows the precepts of traditional Chinese medicine, which holds that the body's qi (energy) circulates through the 12 major meridians at a specific time of day, and spends two hours in each of them. Each meridian relates to an internal organ. The day is thus broken up into 12, two-hour blocks.

From 11pm to 1am is the time for the gallbladder to rest, the liver rests at 1am-3am, the lungs at 3am-5am, the large intestine at 5am-7am and the stomach at 7am-9pm.

After 5am, the bowels start to move, so that's the ideal time to go to the toilet. Breakfast should be eaten between 7am and 9am since that's when the stomach is ready to work.

If at night, when the body is designed to fall asleep, it is actually awake, then the liver (according to TCM) becomes hot, inflamed and filled with toxins. Blood circulation in the liver is thus restricted and this dramatically affects the body's energy balance; this in turn results in insomnia and a low mood.

Similarly, arising too late contributes to dizziness and constipation.

Born into a TCM family, 25-year-old Dominic Li has been a morning bee since childhood. His father is a TCM doctor and all of his family members observe the 10pm-6am sleep-wake schedule.

This keeps him from "peaking" too early, energy-wise. Since Li had a good night's sleep, he can catch a bus at 7am, arrive at work at 8am and be ready to go.

Except for his family, very few people around Li have the same habits. Most of his friends were shocked by his "wired" rest schedule and many asked how he could be asleep so early.

"It's because of my body clock," says Li. "I have tried to stay up late, but switched back to my old habit because I felt exhausted the next day, especially around noon. Plus, I always missed my breakfast when I got up late.

"I have a strong body, good skin and a fresh mind at work, all because of my healthy schedule," he says.

Many other morning bees agree.

Zhang Bingsheng has been getting up early since he entered high school and still keeps up the schedule.

He likes to work very, very early, especially from 4am to 8am "for the fast Internet and quiet environment." He goes to sleep around 10pm so he has "a quiet and fresh brain the next morning."

While the term "morning bee" is getting popular, the word "procrastination" is also debated among young people.

Procrastination refers to the counterproductive deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a way to cope with anxiety associated with starting or completing a task or decision.

Going to bed too late is one kind of procrastination, some say, because people who sleep at different times cannot predict when the day will start.

Staying up late and then sleeping late becomes a difficult cycle to break.

Feeling that they lack the ability or focus to successfully complete their work, they tell themselves that they need to unwind and relax, maybe take it easy for the afternoon, and start afresh in the morning.

TCM doctors say this "relaxing" is often temporary and ineffective, leading to even more stress as time runs out, task deadlines near and the person feels increasingly guilty and apprehensive. This behavior can be a cycle of failure and delay since plays are put off and rescheduled again and again.

The best way to break the cycle, some say, is to determine to get up early, no matter what time one went to bed; in other words, to become a "morning bee."

Netizens have adapted the obscure poet Hai Zi's (1965-1989) best known verse, "Facing the Sea with Spring Blossom" into a "morning bee" poem.

"From tomorrow on, I will be a morning bee/

Surfing the Internet, punching at work and planning my life well/

From tomorrow on, I will cherish every day. Living in the house facing the sea, with spring blossoms."