Foreign and Chinese families enjoy afternoon tea together in Shaowu.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Preach and teach is the motto

Bliss's clinic received on average 70 patients a day, sometimes twice that number a day. Aside from treating malaria and rashes, he also performed cataract and dental surgeries.

In order to improve the conditions of the clinic, Bliss used his own earnings and collected funds to build the first Western medicine hospital in Shaowu in 1898. The hospital is now called the Shaowu General Hospital, the best hospital in the area.

Chen Zewen, deputy secretary of the hospital's Party committee, said "the history of this hospital starts with Dr Bliss". Bliss had a profound impact on the development of medical care in Shaowu. He taught as many Chinese people as possible medical skills. He took on a group of students and taught them pharmacology and anatomy, in addition to training them in basic nursing.

Feng Yizhong, an 83-year-old Shaowu resident, said his grandfather, Feng Jinqi, had a painful ulcer on his ankle that had spread close to the bone after suffering an injury. The ulcer was fully cured thanks to Bliss's careful treatment. Since Feng Jinqi could not afford to pay for his treatment, he began working for Bliss as a gardener, while also doing some other chores.

Bliss observed Feng Jinqi closely, and was impressed by his intelligence, diligence and kindness. He took him in as an apprentice.

Feng Jinqi completed his studies and, with help from Bliss, built Shaowu's first Western medicine hospital, which was run by the local people, in 1924.

"My grandmother told me that Dr Bliss never forgot to comfort the patients he treated, telling them not to worry because everything would be alright," Feng Yizhong said, adding that "Bliss even treated patients for free".