Yunnan is located in southwest China and is unknown to many Germans, but a German doctor named Eckehard Scharfschwerdt has lived and worked there for 15 years, Deutsche Welle (Voice of Germany) Radio Station reported recently on its website. In the remote ethnic minority area, he initiated a number of poverty alleviation projects and helped local hospitals to expand and offer doctors training programmes. One of Scharfschwerdt former teachers in Singapore gave him a Chinese name—Xia Aike—which means ‘love will overcome all difficulties’.

Xia Aike studied Mandarin for one year in Singapore and continued after he came to Yunnan. However, some local villagers speak the Yi language and do not know Chinese, so he often used pictures as a communication aid. In addition to treating patients, Dr. Xia Aike also provided local medical workers with first aid training and set up an anaesthesia ward. “As a doctor, I can treat 100 patients. However, if I pass on my knowledge to 100 doctors, the efficiency will be multiplied by 100,” he said.

Honghe County in southern Yunnan is mainly inhabited by the Hani and Yi people. The level of medical care is low in the local area. Dr. Xia Aike spent three or four days a month managing poverty alleviation projects in remote villages in Honghe.

Dr. Xia Aike and his family were the only resident foreigners in Heqing, Jianshui, and Honghe counties. However, Dr. Xia Aike said that he grew up in the German countryside and can adapt to rural life in Yunnan. He also said that the villages had really good barbers!

Dr. Xia Aike is very fond of children. “It is most relaxing to communicate with kids,” he said. “They would ask one or two questions curiously, and I sometimes gave them balloons. They all loved to play with me.”

In 2013, when the Cultural Landscape of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List, Dr. Xia Aike was very proud. The rice terraces prevent soil and water loss, help ventilation and increase sunlight, so they are very conducive to crop growth. Like local people, Dr. Xia Aike and his family fell in love with chilli peppers. “My son is just like the locals. He has rice noodles for breakfast and often competed with his classmates to see whose rice noodles were the spiciest. I also cook with chilli peppers, but the Chinese dishes I cook are not very authentic,” Xia Aike said with a smile.

After practicing medicine in Yunnan for 15 years, Dr. Xia Aike has won the local people’s respect and love. “Although I am back in Germany now, my heart is still in China,” said Dr. Xia Aike. He added that perhaps he will come back to China someday.