Lu Shengmei treats a patient, free of charge, in a cave dwelling in Jiaxian County, Shaanxi Province, in January 2021. (XINHUA) 

Living in a county in northern Shaanxi for 54 years was not the life Lu Shengmei had envisioned for herself. Growing up in Beijing, her dream was to be a pediatrician at a well-known large hospital in the Chinese capital. In 1968, after graduating from Beijing Second Medical College, now Capital Medical University, Lu was assigned to work in Jiaxian County, Yulin City, in China’s Shaanxi Province. 

The 78-year-old doctor, today a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and prior to her retirement the vice president of a county-level hospital in Shaanxi Province, has devoted more than 50 years of her life to treating those at the most basic level of society. 

One winter morning in 1968, a young, thin girl walked into Jiaxian People's Hospital. As then-24-year-old Lu was about to start working as a pediatrician there, she made herself a promise— "working for the Party for 50 years and serving the people of Jiaxian for 50 years," Lu told Beijing Review. 

And she kept that promise. 

In the more than five decades since, until her retirement in 1999 and even after, she has relentlessly provided free treatment to more than 100,000 local patients. 

When Lu made house calls, she had to travel along a treacherous mountain path, and because Jiaxian is a water-deficient county, the water locals drank came straight out of the Yellow River. Making matters even worse, back then, one person was only allocated one bottle of the not-so-clean water per day. 

Jiaxian's healthcare was poor, as was local hygiene awareness, which was of grave concern to Lu. She became determined to help Jiaxian's residents improve their health, an endeavor she persisted in over the following five decades. 

Lu's professional demeanor, skills and generosity won her much praise from local patients. As did her perseverance. 

One snowy day, when Lu was on her way to a patient’s home 5 km from where she lived, she slipped and fell more than 40 times. To treat an infant for whooping cough, Lu once performed oral suctioning to clear mucus from the child’s mouth as it was unable to clear it on its own through coughing or blowing its nose.  

To better serve the people and improve her professional skills, Lu adopted a routine of providing medical treatment during the day and studying at night. 

While providing mobile medical services in rural areas, she needed to treat patients suffering from all types of diseases. She'd always make sure to prescribe patients with cheap but effective medication. 

Due to the poor transportation infrastructure at that time, people often missed doctors’ surgery opening hours and physicians would travel across mountains on foot to provide checkups. 

"There were times we couldn’t do much when a critically ill patient finally made it to the hospital after a long, hard trip," Lu said. 

In 1983, Lu established the hospital’s pediatrics department. As the number of successful treatments went up, the department developed a good reputation in the area and even attracted patients from neighboring Shanxi Province. 

Lu said she was glad to witness the improvements in living conditions and medical services in recent decades. 

"Residents are no longer worried about what to eat and drink and their basic needs for water, electricity and natural gas are fully met," Lu said, adding great changes have occurred in the local health sector. 

"Patients previously tended to bear any given illness as much and as long as they could, but now they will go see a doctor for even the slightest of ailments. That’s because the medical expenses no longer pose a major hurdle," she said. 

By 2018, Lu had fulfilled her promise to help Jiaxian's residents improve their health. But instead of slowing down, she has continued to work hard to protect people’s health. 

"Time can test the beliefs and original aspirations of any Party member. I’m old but I’ll continue to serve the people until my last breath," she decidedly said. 

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon   

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