Global Times: Two generations of an American family forge a century-long connection with a town in Northwest China through medicine, memories and enduring affection

Across two generations of an American family, Victor G. Plymire put down roots in Huangyuan, Northwest China's Qinghai Province, for nearly 30 years; his daughter Mary Ann Plymire's final wish was to be laid to rest in Huangyuan; and his son David V. Plymire regarded Huangyuan as his only hometown and raised funds to donate medical equipment worth more than 6 million yuan (about $895,000).

On September 10, across the Pacific in Springfield, Missouri, the US, 95-year-old David V. Plymire sat at home and opened the photo album Imprints . In a panoramic photograph of Dan Gar Ancient Town in Huangyuan taken in 1942, six children stood on a hillside. "This is me. I was in my teens then. 'Nao' [I] will always be a kid from Huangyuan," David said in an authentic Huangyuan dialect during a video conversation, pointing at the photograph.

At the other end of the screen was Huangyuan in Qinghai. Wang Shikang, former president of Huangyuan County People's Hospital, called out in the Huangyuan dialect, "Brother David, we've got hand-grabbed mutton ready for you." Across the screen, David's eyes reddened slightly and his voice trembled a little. "Whenever I have a moment, I miss everyone," he said.

Li Lin, former director of the Huangyuan County Health Bureau, also leaned toward the camera. "Mr Plymire, we haven't seen you for more than 10 years. None of us can forget you." In Huangyuan, Mr "Big Nose" is well known. "The big-nosed American loves Chinese niangpizi (a local cold snack). He adds chili and vinegar, and gets chili all over his nose…" Wang recited a nursery rhyme that people in Huangyuan still sing today. Hearing it, "Big Nose" David laughed.

Why did an American born in New York find his way into a Huangyuan nursery rhyme? The answer begins with a story spanning more than a century, in which two generations of an American family forged ties with China.

Roots in Huangyuan

In 1932, just after turning one year old, David crossed the ocean with his father, Victor, and arrived in Huangyuan in Qinghai. Victor had first come to China in 1908, living in places including Gansu Province and Qinghai before making his home in Huangyuan. In the eyes of Huangyuan residents, Victor was "one of our family." Modest and sincere, he respected the customs of local ethnic groups, worked hard to learn Chinese and the Tibetan language, and used his knowledge of Western medicine to provide free diagnosis and treatment to people of different ethnic groups.

Entering the clinic Victor once operated, one can lift a concealed door in the floor and descend a steep, narrow wooden ladder into the basement. Overhead are thick log beams bearing marks left by axes and chisels. Blue-brick walls surround the space, with only a small ventilation window. During bandit unrest before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, it was here that Victor helped innocent Huangyuan residents withstand the turmoil.

David spent more than a decade in Huangyuan from young adulthood. Every plant and tree there felt dear and familiar to him. Later, he reluctantly left Huangyuan with his family. He subsequently lived for more than 30 years in places including China's Hong Kong, before eventually settling in the US state of Missouri. For David, the eastern foothills of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the headwaters of the Huangshui River were his only hometown. The longer he was away, the deeper his longing became. To keep his accent of Huangyuan local dialect from fading, he would talk to himself in front of a mirror every day, "otherwise, after enough time, I would forget it."

Giving back to his hometown

In 1987, after 38 years away, David finally set foot in Huangyuan again. Asked by reporters how he had felt when he returned that year, David was silent for a moment before saying, "Before I came back, it had been almost 40 years since I had seen my hometown or my family." He found his childhood friend Qin Cizhe, and both...