Tombstone marks sacrifice by Dutch priest in Chinese village

The tomb of Aemilianus van Heel located on top of a small hill in Shitou Geda village, Yuanqu, North China's Shanxi province, overlooks a patch of a wheat field he reclaimed from the wild in the 1930s.

The newly built white-marble tombstone, which looks conspicuous against the Loess Plateau, is 310 centimeters tall, representing the 31 years of the Franciscan missionary's life. He was from Leiden in the Netherlands, and known as Father Hu Yongsheng among locals.

This year marks the 110th birth anniversary of Van Heel.