Home is where the heart is

　　By Meng Yan

　　Bowed down with age I seek my native place,

　　Unchanged my speech, my hair is silver now;

　　My very children do not know my face,

　　But smiling ask, "Oh stranger, whence art thou?"

　　['whence' means 'from where', in other words, one cannot say 'from whence' because that would mean 'from from where'.]

　　The seven-character-quatrain was written by He Zhizhang, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). It captures precisely the strong attachment Chinese people have to their place of birth no matter how far or how long their work or circumstances may take them away from it. The poem is so popular that almost every Chinese learns it by heart in childhood and remembers it in old age.

　　But David Plymire, a 73-year-old citizen of the United States, might have a deeper understanding of this poem than many Chinese when talking about Huangyuan, a small county in Northwest China's Qinghai province.

　　Plymire was born in Los Angeles, California, and is now living in Springfield, Missouri. But he lived in Huangyuan from 1932 to 1949 when his parents worked there. He was 18 when he left. The small county is about 50 kilometres from Xining, the provincial capital.

　　"I have always said that a person can have only one hometown. I consider Huangyuan my hometown," Plymire wrote in some notes he submitted to China Daily.

　　"My relationship with Huangyuan is a deep emotional one based on the long time I lived there with my parents. And because of that I have friendships that go back more than a generation, spanning a period of 70 years."

　　Before his retirement, Plymire did missionary work. He is very fond of the local food in Qinghai, and he knows the local customs better than many indigenous Huangyuan residents. He speaks fluent Mandarin in addition to the Huangyuan dialect.

　　In order not to forget the language of his hometown when living in the United States, Plymire told me that he used to practise speaking Huangyuan dialect in front of his mirror.

　　He found people looking at him as if he were a stranger when he first came back to Huangyuan in 1987. Western people were rarely seen at that time, even in Xining.

　　So he surprised many of them when he started talking in fluent Huangyuan dialect.

　　Since that first return, he began to visit his old hometown once or twice every year.

　　His return to Huangyuan has been something more than just a homecoming. He has been bringing back with him everything he thinks will be of help to the local people, whom he treats as his brothers and sisters.

　　Plymire commented that Huangyuan has made enormous progress in many ways over the years.

　　"The roads are well built and getting around is very convenient. Many kinds of food and consumer goods which you couldn't find in the past are now available," he added.

　　"Most important is the great progress that has been made in public health."

　　Huangyuan People's Hospital, the biggest hospital in the county, handles roughly 100,000 outpatients and more than 3,000 inpatients every year.

　　"The hospital has made great progress since I first visited it in 1987 after being away since 1949," Plymire asserted.

　　"Actually, there was no hospital in Huangyuan in 1949. Since 1987 the hospital has expanded its facilities and built new ones."

　　Between 10 and 20 per cent of patients are from nearby counties who come there for treatment because of the high quality of service and advanced facilities.

　　[We have had 'great progress' three times in just a few lines. One can't do that in English.] Modern medical equipment has been installed, so that people do not have to travel far from home for treatment, says Wang Shikang, president of the hospital.

　　In the past, lacking necessary medical equipment, doctors in Huangyuan had difficulties in diagnosing many diseases, with the result that the condition of many patients deteriorated. Because of this, quite a few of them [We can't have 'many patients' twice within just two sentences. One can't do that in English.] had to be sent to hospitals in Xining, 50 kilometres away, some of them dying on the way. Plymire has helped attract US donations of medical equipment worth around 5 million yuan (US$ 600,000) to Wang's hospital since 1987.

　　A pensioner himself, Plymire does not have much personal wealth to help his fellow villagers in Huangyuan. However, he has established all kinds of contacts with people and organisations in the United States that can help.

　　"All of the funds I raise for the hospital come from many different persons and concerned groups who volunteer their donations," Plymire mentioned.

　　"The cardiothoracic imaging machine was the largest item of equipment and it came from an organisation whose president is a personal friend of mine. All the rest of the equipment has been paid for by donations from probably thousands of people."

　　At a donation ceremony held in Huangyuan, Plymire attributed his efforts to a kind of responsibility that he feels as a former resident of Huangyuan County.

　　"I help them because they are part of what I consider as my extended family. I care deeply for their welfare," Plymire stated.

　　Plymire was made an honorary citizen [A person cannot be made a ship.] of Huangyuan in 1998. "Distance has no impact on personal relationships," he confirmed.

　　Local people agree with Plymire. They treat him as a member of the family. "Appearance aside, I don't see any difference between David and me. He is a man of Huangyuan," said Liu Zhenkun, a 61-year-old resident.

　　"He is just a nice old man and he belongs to Huangyuan," added Ge Mingde, director of internal medicine at Huangyuan People's Hospital.

　　But Plymire stressed that the attitude of the Huangyuan Hospital staff is very important.

　　"Even the best medical equipment is of no use without dedicated people who know how to use it," he pointed out. "I have found that the level of medical knowledge of the staff is very high and that whatever limitations existed were imposed by lack of equipment and not the lack of medical knowledge."

　　Liu Guozhong, director of the General Office of the hospital, commented: "The improvement of the hospital's medical facilities and quality of service couldn't have been achieved without the close co-operation between Plymire and Wang."

　　Each time before coming to Huangyuan, Plymire will exchange information with Wang through letters, phone calls and faxes to see what medical equipment the hospital was in urgent need of.

　　Wang will then send his doctors to take training so that the machines could be operated once installed. By now, over 30 pieces of medical equipment donated to the hospital are functioning well.

　　"We would have committed a crime if all these advanced machines were not well used, considering the difficulties that Plymire overcame to bring them to us," Wang declared.

　　Liu added Plymire and Wang have much in common. "Most important of all, they share a love for Huangyuan."

　　Wang was born in the county and grew up in a local mountainside village. He started working for the Huangyuan People's Hospital in 1979 upon graduation from the Beijing Medical University.

　　Wang is also a deputy to the Qinghai People's Congress and vice-director of the Huangyuan County Health Bureau.

　　However, he asserted he is first and foremost a doctor. "As a doctor, I simply cannot limit my working time to seven or eight hours a day. It is the duty of doctors to heal the sick and rescue the dying," Wang declared. Wang himself has treated over 80,000 patients over the past decade. Plymire noted that Wang has the respect and confidence of the people and the staff, which is very important for their cooperation.

　　"I have never doubted that Doctor Wang can be trusted to do the best for the people. He has had opportunities to go to better places. However, the people will not allow it. This is a very good example," he commented.

　　"Both he and the staff show great concern for the people. I have known sick people who have come to Huangyuan when they could have gone to a hospital closer to their home.

　　"On one occasion I phoned Doctor Wang when it was night time in Huangyuan. His wife told me he was out somewhere in the town attending to a home patient.

　　"I have watched the nurses taking care of their patients as if they were their family members. They are kind to the sick. This is all very important."

　　Plymire confirmed he will continue to do what he can to help the people in Huangyuan.