Doctor a hero to rural Xinjiang community

"To be frank, there were also some selfish motives," recalls Mei. "The workload was very heavy for both men and women in the Production and Construction Corps, and I thought the work for medical workers might be lighter."

After devoting all her spare time to absorbing medical knowledge, Mei finally became an assistant nurse at the clinic of the company in 1987.

At first, Mei was assigned to the 13th company of the local regiment. There were about 20 families of Kazakh herdsmen scattered around.

Because of bad road conditions, horseback was the main transport option. Wherever someone fell ill, Mei often had to ride for hours to see the patient in the mountainous area.

"I was not good at riding and sometimes I fell off the horse's back. But I didn't give up because I knew patients were waiting for me."

Mei's hard work earned her a good reputation among workers of the corps and local herdsmen. Over the past 20 years, Mei has treated several thousand patients, and whenever patients have difficulty paying the medical fees, she always lends them the money.

"I have become used to people knocking at Mei's door, asking her to see patients at midnight," says Mei's neighbor Wen Shu'e. "Despite bad weather or remoteness, Mei always sets off immediately for them."

As the deputy director at the regiment hospital since 2012, Mei no longer needs to ride a horse to see patients every day, but there are new problems.