People-to-people exchanges transcend time and distance

Detailed summary

Plymire regarded these contributions not as charity but as a duty to his family. That's an expansive definition of family, one that transcends borders and distance. It also points…

In the exhibition hall of Huangyuan County People's Hospital, in the remote reaches of Northwest China's Qinghai province, an old CT scanner stands as an unlikely symbol of China-US friendship. A plaque identifies its donor, David Plymire, and its original value: $350,000. Delivered in June 2000, the machine served for 15 years. Plymire was no wealthy philanthropist. An ordinary wage earner in Missouri, he raised the money through friends, acquaintances and charitable organizations.

The scanner has retired, but Plymire's attachment to the place has not. Born in New York in 1931, he moved with his family to Huangyuan in 1932, before his first birthday. His father, Victor Plymire, had settled there in 1921 as a missionary. David spent 17 years growing up among local residents, speaking their dialect and sharing their everyday lives. He left at 18, but never quite left Huangyuan behind.

His sister, Mary Plymire, shared the family's attachment to Huangyuan; after her death, her ashes were brought from Canada to rest beside their mother.

When David returned in 1987, residents were astonished that he spoke their dialect fluently. He explained how he used to practice it in front of a mirror. In more than 20 subsequent visits to the county, he helped bring over 30 pieces of medical equipment worth about 6 million yuan ($899,760), besides supporting local education.

Plymire regarded these contributions not as charity but as a duty to his family. That's an expansive definition of family, one that transcends borders and distance. It also points to something increasingly missing in China-US relations: the sense of belonging.

Some US politicians and strategists are adept at describing China as the US' strategic competitor and technological rival. A relationship sustained almost exclusively by such calculations is bound to become brittle.

A short visit can introduce a country; living there can change one's understanding of it.

This is why his story deserves to be heard on both sides of…

Opening of the article, excerpted from China Daily. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.