* At 18, David bid farewell to Huangyuan with his family on a drizzly day. Thinking it was merely a short trip, they left their furniture and bedding sealed in the old house as they were -- no one imagined the farewell would stretch to 38 years.
* 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.
* "For two generations, my family has had a deep love for the Chinese people. This love has lasted for more than 100 years, from my father and mother to me. We love the people of China just as we love our own family."
by Xinhua writers Wang Jinjin, Xie Tongqiang, Jiang Yi
XINING, China, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- "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.
CENTURY-OLD FRIENDSHIP
In the 1920s, David's father, Victor Plymire, arrived in Tongkhor town along the ancient Tea Horse Road. In 1932, one-year-old David was brought to the small plateau town, where he spent the next 17 years growing up and came to regard it as his hometown.
Time has taken its toll. The trans-Pacific journey has become too physically demanding for David over the past decade.
"We all miss you! Almost ten years have passed since you were last able to come to Huangyuan. People here, young and old, miss you," Wang said, waving at him through the screen.
Wang told David that they were making the video call from the ancient town's old streets, where many historic buildings had been restored with the help of photographs taken decades earlier by his father, Victor.
A century ago, Victor took his camera around Tongkhor, documenting its streets, scenery and residents and leaving behind a unique visual record of life on the plateau. The photographs were later compiled into an album titled Imprint of a Legacy.
Dong Baoming, general manager of Huangyuan Dancheng Tourism Development Co., Ltd., said Victor and David's photographs had helped bring the town's past back to life. The images now fill the Imprints exhibition hall, which has opened to the public, offering visitors a glimpse of Huangyuan as it once was.
At 18, David bid farewell to Huangyuan with his family on a drizzly day. Thinking it was merely a short trip, they left their furniture and bedding sealed in the old house as they were -- no one imagined the farewell would stretch to 38 years.
One moment during the call was particularly poignant. Bai Qiming, son of Bai Yongsheng, David's childhood friend known locally as "Ga Liang-ge," sent his greetings to David through the screen and spoke of how they had missed each other over the years. David fell silent for several seconds before quietly saying, "I can't come back now."
TRANS-PACIFIC MEMORIES
"Has the weather turned cold there?" David asked, then went on reminiscing about swimming in the town's river in summer and skating on the ice in winter when he was a boy.
Memories came flooding back as David recalled how arduous travel had once been. A journey from Huangyuan to Xining took an entire day, with a stop at Zhamalong along the way for a bowl of noodles.
"Do you have suanjiujiu (sea buckthorn)? Could you send me some suanjiujiu juice?" David asked with a childlike smile.
Wang jokingly reminded David that he had sent him 3 kg of tsampa 15 years ago. David said he had carefully kept the package in his refrigerator ever since. He then recalled hand-grabbed mutton, pickled cabbage and Laba porridge. His longing for the familiar flavors of home and the warmth of everyday life back in Huangyuan went far beyond what the screen could convey.
During the video call, David watched a prerecorded video of greetings from Huangyuan residents. Leaning back in his chair, he listened and watched attentively, looking closely at the familiar faces on the screen, sometimes breaking into hearty laughter.
"My body is here, but my heart is in Huangyuan. I wish everyone back home peace and happiness," David said.
As the conversation turned to shehuo, traditional festive performances held around the Chinese New Year, David spontaneously recited a children's rhyme from Huangyuan that he had known since boyhood: "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the temple gates swing open; village women come to light incense."
ENDURING DEVOTION TO HOMETOWN
David's correspondence with Wang, then director of Huangyuan County People's Hospital, is preserved in the hospital's history exhibition hall. Several letters reveal a recurring subject: a CT scanner.
In their early letters, the two addressed each other formally as "Director Wang" and "Mr. Plymire," discussing practical matters such as customs clearance. But with each of David's return visits to his hometown, the formality gradually melted away, giving rise to the warmer, more familiar terms "old friend" and "brother."
Between 1997 and 1999, David made three trips to bring the CT scanner to Huangyuan. When the hospital could not afford the 500,000 yuan (75,000 U.S. dollars) tax bill, he rallied support to cover every penny.
The scanner enabled the hospital's first brain surgery and helped save countless lives over its 15 years of service. Today, it rests in the hospital's history exhibition hall, alongside archival records documenting his many other contributions.
"Mr. Plymire did more than simply donate a few pieces of equipment. He brought us a powerful source of inspiration," said Huang Jiong, director of Huangyuan County People's Hospital, visibly moved. He noted that David has tirelessly raised funds and mobilized support over the past three decades, helping secure donations of more than 30 pieces of medical equipment, worth a total of 6 million yuan (900,000 dollars).
"My hometown has become part of who I am. My flesh and bones are the flesh and bones of Huangyuan," David said during the video call.
Speaking about people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States, David slowly switched to English: "For two generations, my family has had a deep love for the Chinese people. This love has lasted for more than 100 years, from my father and mother to me. We love the people of China just as we love our own family."
"Although I can no longer come back to visit because I am too old to travel by plane, I remember everyone. In my memories, I still walk along those streets, travel through the countryside, stand beside the rivers and talk with my friends," he said.
"I shall always remember you in this life, and I will never forget you in the next."
(Video reporters: Jiang Yi, Xie Tongqiang, Xie E, Zhao Yuhe, Zhang Long, Li Zhanyi; video editors: Yang Zeyi, Li Qin, Hui Peipei) ■
