XINING -- "Have you had dinner yet?" White-haired David Plymire spoke in fluent Huangyuan dialect, leaning toward the webcam in his living room in Springfield, Missouri.
His greetings traveled across the Pacific, reaching Tongkhor ancient town in Huangyuan county, Northwest China's Qinghai province. "Yes, we have! We're waiting to see you on video!" David's longtime friend Wang Shikang replied from in front of the screen, eager to catch a glimpse of their old friend on the other end of the video call.
David spent his childhood and adolescence in Huangyuan. More than three decades later, he returned to his "hometown" over 20 times, doing everything in his power to help the local people and leaving behind one touching story after another.
