"I have never stopped missing them, not through all the decades we've been apart. I can't have too many days left to me, but" Unable to continue, he stopped talking and simply stared into the distance. It was some time before he spoke again. "I won't mention my hopes of seeing them again," he said, sounding resigned.

Wu isn't the only Si'an resident with family he never sees. The local hospital threw a party for families on Jan 12, but only about 20 of the 80 residents were visited by relatives. The rest either lost contact with their families long ago, or the families simply don't want to meet them.

Li Zhidi, 90, reflected in a mirror at the ward in Si'an, Guangdong province. [Photos by Feng Yongbin / China Daily]

Fear and discrimination

Leprosy was once one of the most serious infectious diseases in China. However, in the past 60 years, about 500,000 cases have been diagnosed and treated. As in other countries with a high incidence of the disease, patients are kept in isolation and treated with antibiotics and other drugs. These, and other measures, have seen the incidence of new cases decline sharply.

Only about 3 percent of Si'an's residents still suffer from leprosy. The rest have been successfully treated but there are lingering effects, such as skin ulcers. Poor treatment in the early 1950s reduced nerve sensitivity, resulting in patients damaging and ultimately losing fingers, toes, noses or even limbs in some severe cases.

Some patients were unable to return home because their scars scared healthy people, including family members. Fear and prejudice meant isolation for some, while others were simply abandoned. Most of the patients have had no contact with their families for decades.

A few have visited their hometowns in Guangdong, but didn't visit the relatives who had never visited them.

Liu Zhuquan suffered severe skin ulcers when he was 15, brought on by leprosy. Although the condition was severe, doctors decided not to perform an amputation. The 68-year-old Buddhist said God had been merciful in allowing him to keep his legs.

He hasn't seen his family for a long time, but is just happy to have regular phone contact with his two younger brothers and a sister. "I dare not ask for more, such as regular meetings. My mother died in 1984, but I didn't attend the funeral or my brothers' wedding ceremonies. I don't want my family members to suffer discrimination or to put them under any pressure," he said.

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