Dr Ho ‘goes to the mountains’ after a lifetime of international renown
The life of a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner from a small village in southwest China is being celebrated after he died last week at 97
He Shixiu, a member of the Naxi ethnic group from the foothills of the Himalayas, earned international fame as “Dr Ho” after he was “discovered” by British travel writer Bruce Chatwin, who left Hong Kong for Lijiang, in southwest China, in autumn 1985.
Dr Ho subsequently featured in a host of articles and guidebooks, and was on the itinerary for countless backpackers visiting his native Yunnan province. British actor and travel programme host Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, also visited him when researching his Himalaya series for the BBC.
Beijing-based writer Thomas Bird met Dr Ho last autumn while on an assignment for the South China Morning Post .
At 7.30am on August 31, legendary Naxi doctor He Shixiu, known to the world as Dr Ho, died at his home in Baisha. He was 97.
The provincial medical journal Yunnan TCM published an editorial beneath a picture of a lighted candle as a tribute to the late doctor.
“He Shixiu had high medical standards and exquisite medical skills. He was known locally as the God Doctor of the Snow Mountain,” the editorial said. “Proficient in foreign languages, he made a unique contribution to the promotion of Chinese medicine. His death is a major loss. Here, on behalf of the institute, we would like to express our deep condolences to He Shixiu’s family.”
