Bridge Builders: Belt and Road

Eckehard Scharfschwerdt: The German Doctor Who Calls China’s Yunnan His Second Hometown

By Ai Yan, Iolo ap Dafydd, Gary Parkinson

Living in China is a big part of my life.
Eckehard Scharfschwerdt

Eckehard Scharfschwerdt is a quiet, unassuming man – but his demeanor hides a steely determination.

He's now quietly working as a general practitioner (GP) in the medieval town of Altensteig, in the Black Forest of southern Germany – but he returned after an extraordinary 15-year period in China's Yunnan Province, where he raised his family and was a doctor and a teacher as well as an agriculture advisor.

His soft, gentle speaking voice underlines his humility, while his humanity is shown by how his face lights up as he recounts his family's experiences in the rural hinterlands, far from Beijing and the bustling cities of the coast.

Scharfschwerdt is also a Christian, and the values of this pious churchgoing man were part of the reason why he, his wife and two children lived and worked in China for a decade and a half. His efforts on behalf of his profession and his interest in introducing sustainable farming, high on the hills of Yunnan, is why he was recognized by the Chinese Government and given its prestigious Friendship Award.

The city of Altensteig located in the valley of the Black Forest.

Doctor Eckehard Scharfschwerdt is working in his green house, taking care of the tomatoes.

A Bond with Yunnan

At the beginning of a new millennium, Scharfschwerdt was determined to use his medical skills and work abroad, as his beliefs compelled him to help others – but initially, he hadn't thought of China.

"I'm not musical," he smiles. "I was very much afraid of the language, a tonal language."

Despite that, he chose to work and move his family to a small rural area instead of a large city. He believed his expertise could be better utilized in China's Yunnan Province.

They settled in Heqing, a county along a branch of the Yangtze River in Yunnan. After two years of Mandarin classes in Germany and Singapore, Scharfschwerdt, his wife and two children boarded a plane to the city of Kunming.

"I can still remember the first night when we arrived by plane from Singapore," Scharfschwerdt recalls. His first impressions of Yunnan's provincial capital were of a small old-fashioned airport and horse carts roaming the city-center streets, selling fruits and vegetables – local produce, fresh from the fields.

Soon, the family found their new environment to be friendly as well as exciting.

"As soon as we arrived in Heqing, we knew that it's where we wanted to stay, and that it was the place we wanted to see our children grow up, and spend their childhood," he says.

Fitting into the New Environment

We had to learn the language, we had to learn the culture, if we want to get close to the people, if we want to be meaningful to them.
Eckehard Scharfschwerdt

Adapting to a new way of life can be daunting: practicing the language, learning local customs and understanding the culture. For Scharfschwerdt's family, the hospitality of the local people and their welcome broke barriers and helped the newcomers settle in.

Heqing County is part of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan; with over 40 different ethnic groups in the region, it has diverse cultures and traditions. Those ethnic communities make up almost three-quarters of Heqing's population.

The Bai people are one of the larger ethnic groups. Scharfschwerdt says he was impressed by their hospitality, and during his 15 years in the region, greatly appreciated it.

"There was always someone who said, 'Come in and have a cup of tea'," he says – even when he met random villagers while out hiking in nearby hills and mountains. Those memories bring a huge smile to his face.

After a cup of tea, his hosts usually pressed him to stay for dinner. Sometimes after a meal, he'd even be invited to spend a night there: "They are very hospitable, so it really made it enjoyable to stay."

The heartfelt hospitality wasn't the only reason Scharfschwerdt stayed so many years.

His curiosity about exploring a new country and his determination to embrace the culture rooted him and his family to Heqing and Yunnan, while his unswerving ambition to master the language became a vital daily bridge between two cultures.

"We felt this is what we should do and we wanted to do it," says Scharfschwerdt.

"We had to learn the language, we had to learn the culture, if we want to get close to the people, if we want to be meaningful to them and get to do the right thing professionally."

A Witness of Changes in China

It's very impressive how fast something can be done in China.
Eckehard Scharfschwerdt

Much as Scharfschwerdt liked his new home, he quickly realized how much work had to be done at Heqing's local hospital. It was underdeveloped, with limited medical facilities: he recalls there was one ECG machine, one X-ray and just one anesthesia machine. The entire hospital consisted of two departments. There weren't even computers available for the staff.

Determined to modernize and improve, he got together with local doctors to plan and purchase newer machines. As well as treating patients, he also organized training sessions for his colleagues at the hospital.

As the old proverb says, "If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime."

Scharfschwerdt says he realized that education was the way to elevate the expertise of rural doctors. Later, with the same zeal and energy he not only developed training in Heqing, but also in Jianshui and Honghe, another two counties in Yunnan.

Over time Scharfschwerdt organized more than 100 training sessions. Thousands of doctors and nurses in Heqing hospital benefited.

Medical staff in Heqing remember him with gratitude: "He always told us that things will become better when we considered leaving the place," says one. "We believed in him and stayed. It turned out that things did improve a lot."

The quest to improve medical care coincided with a period of widespread changes right across the country. China's government has been fostering a policy of elevating people from poverty, and Scharfschwerdt witnessed massive modernization.

"It's very impressive how fast something can be done in China," he reflects. "Everything changed quickly. Just three years later, they built a new hospital, with each department equipped with at least two computers."

Eckehard Scharfschwerdt revisits the newly built hospital in Heqing in 2019. /China Matters

Eckehard Scharfschwerdt revisits the newly built hospital in Heqing in 2019. /China Matters

Scharfschwerdt adopted several roles. He taught English to local students, advised farmers on raising goats, and participated in various poverty-alleviation projects. Through that he spent a lot of his time with farmers: "I learned about their needs, their choices and their fears."

One particular project he remembers was building water cisterns in remote villages. The idea came from the farmers themselves, to try and solve the lack of underground water.

He organized funds that would provide cement and labor costs, while farmers themselves cut stones for their cisterns, from nearby hills. His pride in the farmers is apparent: the project not only showed how well he cooperated with friends and acquaintances in Heqing, but also fulfilled deep-seated ambitions to help those in need.

"The Chinese government has done an incredible job in bringing some hundreds of millions of people out of poverty," he says. "Our project was just a tiny little plan to encourage them and show them that they have the means themselves to make the changes in their life."

The Chinese Government

Friendship Award

I received it for the Bai people.
Eckehard Scharfschwerdt

Despite leading a simple life, Scharfschwerdt and his family were featured on both German and Chinese media. After a number of reports and interviews, Scharfschwerdt was invited to Beijing to receive a Chinese Government Friendship Award in 2017.

It's a prestigious award, only given to foreign nationals who've made outstanding contributions to China's modernization drive. Since it was launched in 1991, nearly 2,000 people have received the award.

"It was such a huge honor," says Scharfschwerdt, remembering the thrill of attending the ceremony. He gave his address in Chinese, but refuses to claim credit for himself: the award, he argues, was for efforts and cooperation over 15 years in China's hinterland.

"Most of the people who received the invitations did great things in science and technology, and set up big companies," he says. "I only thought I received it for the people who allowed me to stay in China for so long. I take it not for me, but for the Bai people, for the Hani people."

His award was seen on TV news in China, and he was congratulated by his friends in Heqing: "I saw you, and you received the government award!"

Scharfschwerdt laughs as he remembers the excitement of his Chinese colleagues. It's still a notable event to see someone you know, on national prime time news, especially in rural China. "They were very proud of me," he says, smiling.

The Chinese Government Friendship Award in Dr. Scharfschwerdt's office in the clinic. /CGTN Europe

Eckehard Scharfschwerdt is delivering a speech at the awarding ceremony in 2017. /Xinhua

Eckehard Scharfschwerdt is attending the awarding ceremony. /Xinhua

Culture and People,

Exchange Matters

We meet and eat together, we can understand each other even with different systems.
Eckehard Scharfschwerdt

Eventually, in 2016, Scharfschwerdt and his family returned to Germany. Both his children had graduated from high school and were about to start university. But after 15 years, it was with reluctance they said their goodbye.

Scharfschwerdt considers Yunnan as a second home, as do his children.

"When they talk about the home of their childhood, that is Heqing," says Scharfschwerdt. His son, he says, has developed an interest in Chinese food, and his own taste buds have been reshaped by the flavors of Yunnan.

"I can't have my dinner without some chili sauce now," he smiles. "When we tried to eat chili for the first time, our eyes were all filled with tears and our mouths were burning. But we learned it. It's the same – we need to have an open mind when moving to a new place."

He adds that it's important for people to get to know each other: that understanding each other and exchanging views can defuse suspicions. "When we sit down and dine together, get to know each other, we can enjoy and understand each other even with different backgrounds or systems."

Between his return to Germany and the COVID-19 pandemic, Scharfschwerdt visited China twice a year. He guided groups of friends on tours around the country, to introduce them to its food and culture. After travel restrictions were lifted in January 2023, he revisited Heqing. He's planning to lead more tourists to China.

He says his experiences have led him to think in different ways, and he's proud how his children are now confident adults. They were nurtured in China and were introduced to a trilingual environment.

"Their values are shaped not only by us parents, but also by their Chinese classmates, teachers and friends," he says. "They will be much better bridge builders than we were."