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10-4-41

Flint Liked by Aviatrix, But Heart Is in China

"Yours is a beautiful city, and this is a beautiful country, but my heart is in China."
Thus spoke Lee Ya Ching, China's most famous aviatrix and Flint's honored guest Friday, during one of the few idle moments of a breathless personal appearance schedule here which included talks at three luncheons and two receptions.
Touring America in behalf of the United Chinese Relief committee, the lovely, dark-eyed Miss Lee, first girl to win a pilot's license from the Chinese government, was extremely reluctant to talk about her own accomplishments.
"What I have done is so unimportant," said she, "when compared to the terrible importance of helping my people. There are 50,000,000 of them-almost half the population of America- refugees from the invaders."
 Miss Lee missed her chance to become a military air fighter only through the Chinese law mobilizing all women as nurses for the wounded, refugees and orphans. Without any previous medical experience she suddenly found herself in charge of a hospital in Shanghai with 22 patients. 
"I shall never forget those days," she said "standing at the window and watching those bombs come out of the sky and crash. Then we would all rush to pick up the wounded and bring them to the hospital. I stayed until the city fell, and then fled with my family on a refugee boat to Hong Kong."
Explaining her reason for going into aviation, Miss Lee said her father, one of China's most prominent move producers and financiers, always had wanted her to do something useful for her country. "Because I was the only child," she declared, "I had to be both a daughter and a son in our family."
Gaining her first flying knowledge at the Weber Aeronautical school in Geneva, Switzerland, Miss Lee came to America in 1935 to enroll at the famed Boeing school in California. There she was the only girl flier among 150 students, and was among the first to fly with instruments. 
Herself a graduate of McTyere university in Shanghai, Miss Lee was filled with indignation at the treatment accorded Chinese colleges by attacking Japanese. "They were the first to be bombed," she asserted, adding that students were obliged to flee for their lives.
For the last three years Miss Lee has traveled extensively in every corner of the United States and has frequently been a guest at colleges and universities. Her excellent command of English, and flashing smile has helped her win many American friends.
In Flint, Miss Lee was the house guest of Mr. and Mrs. David M. Martin, 2609 Westwood parkway.