Up till 2008, Yuan Lianjiao was the only obstetrician in Hongtangying Yao Ethnic Minority Township, the most remote ethnic minority-inhabited township in Dao County, Hunan Province. She treats over 1,200 people every year.
During her 21 years as an obstetrician, she travelled all over 47 villages in Hongtangying, visiting thousands of pregnant women and young children and delivered over 3,000 babies. She has successfully reduced maternal mortality in the township and eradicated tetanus among newborns.