The Doctor on Horseback

By Ji Jing

Wu Tianyi， an 86-year-old medical ex- pert and Communist Party of China（CPC） member， has lived and worked on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for over half a century. The plateau， the highest in the world known as the “third pole of the world，” covers the entire Tibet Autonomous Region and parts of other surrounding administrative areas. Wu， the founding father of Chinas altitude sickness medication， has dedicated his professional life to the research on this particular type of sickness.

As the CPC celebrates its centennial this year， Wu is one of the recipients of the July 1 Medal， the highest honor of the Party conferred to outstanding members.

The good doctor

Wu， of the Tajik ethnic group， was born into a family of intellectuals in the 1930s in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. At 9， he migrated to Nanjing in Jiangsu Province with his parents. When the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea broke out in 1950， Wu joined the army.

“Although I was not tall， I was physically strong. I had only one wish at that time—to serve my country，” Wu told Xinhua News Agency. Given his sound academic performance， he was admitted to China Medical University.

After six years of university studies， the war had already ended but the Chinese forces had not yet entirely withdrawn. In 1957， he applied to go to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea to work for the Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army 512 Hospital in Pyongyang， together with his wife.

The following year， Wu and his colleagues returned to Qinghai Province and he went on to become a cavalryman in the army. The equestrian skills acquired at that time laid the foundation for him to ride horses on the plateau years later whilst undertaking his field trips.

In the 1950s， responding to the call of the government， many young people from other parts of the country traveled to Qinghai to contribute to the development of Chinas hinterlands. However， many of them displayed different degrees of altitude sickness， including heart palpitation， choking sensation in the chest and headache. However， as basic knowledge about altitude sickness was lacking back in the day， many sufferers were treated as victims of pneumonia； some even lost their lives because of the sickness.

Wu said there was a gap in altitude sickness research in China at the time and he wanted to take his shot at cracking this mysterious diseases code.

“The hostile environment， characterized by a lack of oxygen and low pressure， hampered the development of the plateau and threatened local residentshealth and safety. It was urgent to find out the underlying cause of altitude sickness，” Wu said.