Editor's note: The Sichuan-Tibet Plateau, a beautiful region that reaches toward the heavens, is a place showered with blue skies, covered in white clouds, and dotted with snow-covered mountains, but recently, something truly remarkable has been materializing among the households that call this place home. A groundbreaking historic change has been reshaping the land and its people. From today on, we will publish a series of stories to tell you those changes. 

Long distances, difficulties in finding a doctor, and high medical fees are major factors constraining local development. "In cold weather, the nearest doctor would have been over 200 kilometers [124 miles] away, and if patients were to wait too long, they would have a huge risk of contracting a major illness. Serious conditions would require a vehicle to be rented so that patients could be taken to hospitals in Tardo or even Chengdu. Doing this is unimaginably expensive, especially since vehicles would have had to cross over 5,050-meter-high [16,568-foot-high] mountains. One such trip usually is somewhere around ten thousand yuan (1,509 US dollars). For someone living in a poor area such as this, this would have been the equivalent of one or even two years of income," says Ezhi Party Secretary, Chong Wonglang. "Today is a lot different, though. Basic medicine can now be found at the newly established health center, and the skills of local doctors have been upgraded, with it being much more convenient to stop by and get a checkup."

Gesang means "happiness" in Tibetan. One year ago, there was a baby boy who went through a life-or-death situation and now bears this special name. He is truly lucky to have survived, and such fortunate children should always live happy lives.

Gesang's mother was having trouble during labor, and time was running out. The midwife was desperately trying all sorts of traditional methods, but nothing had any effect. Both the mother and baby were on death's door, but suddenly, the child's father remembered the new center and the fact that there was a recently appointed doctor that had been dispatched there by top authorities. Without any hesitation, the family rushed to the center. The mother was immediately ushered into surgery, and not long after, this lucky baby boy was born. Both mother and son were safe.

Not too long ago, the baby's mother made a special trip to the health center to express her most profound thanks for both her own life as well as the life of her son, and as she surveyed the new equipment and workers that had just arrived in the area, her heart brimmed with hope for the future.

For two years, He Yusheng has been leading his support team by taking full advantage of being in charge of the county's medical services to make them better than ever before. He invited doctors from various fields to create comprehensive clinical services that included such specialties as gynecology, obstetrics, and traditional Chinese medicine. These initiatives were all supported by the team and were highly praised by local civilians, and two years later, a total of 1,000 local patients have been treated, with 300 emergency cases, 400 surgeries, and more than 10,000 instances of outpatient treatment. Then there is Luo Minglan, a doctor from Xindu District and one of the team's members, who was rewarded as an "Excellent Menba on the Plateau", one of the highest honors for any menba (meaning "doctor" in Tibetan) anywhere.

Editor: Ana Wu