She helped save thousands of lives during her more than seven years in Africa from 1993 to 2012.

"I spent the best part of my career in the African country," Xu says. "But I missed the adolescence of my son and daughter."

Xu's daughter once complained to her that she had no one to share things with.

Now, the 67-year-old is the director of the obstetrics department at Wuhan Renai Hospital in the provincial capital. Her colleagues describe her as warm, professional and disarming.

Zhou Qunlian, an obstetrician at the hospital, says: "She is extremely considerate toward us young doctors. During operations, if she observes that our manual hemostasis, knots or stitches are not up to par, she will gently touch our hands, indicating that we should let her demonstrate."

China has sent about 20,000 doctors to 51 countries and regions in Africa, where, together with local doctors, they have saved numerous lives since 1963.

Contact the writers at [email protected]

Zhou Lihua and Zhou Xinzhe contributed to this story.