Maiden trip

In 2013, Xu embarked on his maiden trip to the high-altitude terrain in and around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as part of the China-Hearts program. Since then, he has visited once, or even twice, a year, despite his tight work schedule in the capital.

On his first trip, China-Hearts brought some of the country's best doctors to the southern part of Gansu province, home to a vast high-altitude plain that is inhabited by Tibetan herders.

At the time, the central government had just announced a sweeping eight-year campaign to end absolute rural poverty, and the region was home to some of the most impoverished people in the country.

Through his visits to Gansu, Xu has developed an intimacy with the area that is rich in Tibetan culture, where gold-domed temples dot the landscape, colorful prayer flags bearing Buddhist scriptures flutter in the wind and the horizon is filled with yaks grazing on the land.

He said the experience had purified his soul and prompted him to return again and again.

"The history and culture, and the local people's way of life all appeal to me. As an integral part of Chinese culture, Tibetan Buddhism offers a great deal that is worthy of extensive research," he said.