Tan Qionglan, a Chongqing woman, went to Tibet in 1994. At present, she is the chairman of a local medical group, possessing three hospitals, more than 170 health care workers and more than 30 million RMB in total assets.

In the year that she went to Tibet, Tan Qionglan had just turned 20 years old. She took up studying in the clinical medical profession. After graduation, in succession, she engaged nursing and gynecology in her hometown Dazu County of Chongqing. Work and life were fairly stable.

In the beginning of 1994, Tan Qionglan fell in love with Liu Houbei, a man of the same medical profession. Liu Houbei had opened a medical practice in Lhasa for already two year’s time.With Liu Houbei’s encouragement, Tan Qionglan brought the 3,700 RMB that she had saved up, and followed him to Lhasa, and together ran the clinic with him.

"Before this, I didn't know a thing about Tibet." Tan Qionglan said that the reason she chose to go to Tibet, was merely because she felt Liu Houbei was reliable. On the other hand, she also considered that in Lhasa, the medical industry’s development was lagging behind the rest of China, and from this angle there was good career prospects for there was a contribution to be made.

But after arriving in Lhasa, Tan Qionglan soon felt a strong sense that she was not adapting.During the first year in Lhasa, she cried all the time missing home. At that time, the development of health care in Lhasa was not as good as it is now, the entire city only had five public hospitals, and they were not large. Tan Qionglan considered a lot, and could not resist Liu Houbei’s repeated persuasion, and ultimately she decided to stay in Lhasa.

Their first clinic was located near the Potala Palace square. Because Tan Qionglan and Liu Houbei were real people they never goofed around, they examined patients carefully, providing pharmaceuticals reasonably, and at good prices. Therefore patients naturally trusted them. In this way, the clinic earned a bit of a reputation within the greater Lhasa medical realm.

In the summer of 2002, due to reconstruction in the urban area, the clinic had to relocate.Tan Qionglan foresaw it as an opportunity, and decided to lease a 500 square meter three-story building, and recruited more than 20 new health care workers, further expanding the scale of clinic. The new clinic was named the "Houbei Clinic".

With the clinic having an ongoing good reputation, Tan Qionglan continued to expand the business, and she took the lead in opening the first gynecological services in all the private clinics in Lhasa. The social and economic benefits of these services have been good.

Tan Qionglan's career was getting bigger and better all the time. In 2004, the Houbei Clinic upgraded into the Houbei Outpatient Department; and after four years, this outpatient department upgraded into the Houbei Hospital, becoming the first private hospital in Lhasa. By 2010, Tan Qionglan was in possession of three hospitals, and had become a leader in the city’s private medical industry.At the end of that year, Tan Qionglan integrated the three hospital resources, to establish the Houbei Medical Group, and has served as chairman of the board.

Although chairman, on weekdays Tan Qionglan does not sit in her office, instead, as before, she is personally involved with patient inquiries and the inspection of hospital rooms.Tan Qionglan said, after living in Tibet for 21 years, I have already become "half Tibetan". Throughout the year, spending time with the sick and diseased of Lhasa, she has come to feel deeply the simplicity and kindness of the Tibetan people. At present, each year, under the banner of three medical institutions, financial relief is provided appropriately for the medical expenses of patients with economic difficulties, and throughout the year they treat persons with disabilities without charge.

She said that after being in Tibet for a long time, I already have sincere feelings for the land and the people, “the fact that I can use my expertise to do a little something for my Tibetan compatriots, is something that makes me feel rich and happy at heart."