Beloved doctor began with a floating clinic

Medical care is a scarce resource in many communities where fishing is the main industry. Decades ago, more than 600 fishermen lived in Chuantouzui village of Honghu, a county-level city of Jingzhou, Hubei province, where Honghu Lake — their main source of income — covers 20 square kilometers. If a fisherman fell ill, he had to travel at least three hours by boat to the nearest hospital.

"What every family feared was getting sick," said fisherman Liu Boling, 66.

Xie Ai'e, a doctor who came to the village with her husband in 1992, introduced a change for the better. She and her husband took up living on a 10-square-meter boat, which served as both their home and the doctor’s clinic for 25 years.

Through the years, Xie treated more than 30,000 patients in her floating clinic. She has paid more than 3,000 visits to patients at their home and transferred more than 100 pregnant women to hospitals when they were ready to give birth. She reckons she has traveled some 80,000 kilometers on the water — about twice the length of Earth's equator.

In 2016, a lake restoration project was launched in Honghu, along with an effort to encourage fishermen to live and work on land. A total of 930 households and 2,640 fishermen had to find other ways to make a living.

With support from the government, Xie built a clinic in Chuantouzui village, so it's not so inconvenient these days to see a doctor. Xie's new mission is to help villagers with their emotional needs and job searches.

She taught practical skills and actively sought support from the Jingzhou Women's Federation and the human resources and social security bureau. More than 100 fishermen found work in companies, and with Xie's help students successfully applied for financial aid.

Xie has been honored as China's Most Beautiful Village Doctor and a National Model Worker. She also is a deputy to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

One resident of Chuantouzui put it this way: "Doctor Xie and our residents have been together so many years that we are like a family."

Tang Ziye contributed to the story.