Kuliang, or "Guling" in mandarin, is a hillside on the outskirts of Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, has stood for a century as a quiet yet powerful witness to the enduring friendship between the Chinese and American people.
Situated at an altitude of over 750 meters, Kuliang was once a summer resort for foreigners in the early 20th century. Since 1886, people from more than 20 countries, including Britain, France and the United States, began to build villas in Yixia village in Kuliang to spend the summer.
Facilities such as a post office, tennis courts and swimming pools were also built at that time, forming a community where locals and expats lived in harmony.
Although the foreigners eventually returned to their home countries, Kuliang never faded from their hearts. For many, this small village in the Chinese mountains remained a place they've longed ever since and appeared in recurring dreams.
In 1901, Milton Gardner, born in the United States, came to live in Kuliang with his parents when he was still in his infancy. He spent his happy childhood in this town where locals and foreign residents lived in harmony. At that time, children from different countries played in the hills. Chinese and foreign villagers gathered in mountain courtyards to share meals and conversations. They drank from the same well. Foreign teachers taught English to Chinese students in local schools, and local villagers lovingly cared for children from other countries. Ten years later, Gardner and his family returned to the United States. From then on, he had been longing for revisiting his childhood home, but for various reasons, he never fulfilled that wish.
The local Kuliang Family Story Museum displays an article entitled "Ah! Guling" written by Gardner's wife Elizabeth. It tells a touching story. In his final days, Gardner still cannot let go of his wish to see his beloved Kuliang one last time. He uttered "Kuling," the pronunciation of Kuliang in the Fujian dialect, many times before he passed away.
On April 8, 1992, the article was published on People's Daily, which moved many readers. Among the readers was Xi Jinping, who was then secretary of the Communist Party of China Fuzhou Municipal Committee. After reading the article, Xi immediately asked government officials to contact Mrs. Gardner and invite her to Kuliang.
Later that same year, Mrs. Gardner finally arrived in Fuzhou and visited Kuliang.
"I clearly saw, as I wrote in my article, that there were glistening tears in her eyes. She was deeply moved. Just think about it, her husband had long to come to this place for decades but never made it, yet she did. So I think it shows that President Xi has a long-term vision, a keen perspective, and a broad mind. He immediately recognized this as a beautiful story of the enduring friendship between the Chinese and American people," said Qiao Mei, former senior reporter of Fuzhou Daily who covered Mrs. Gardner's visit in 1992.
In President Xi's congratulatory letter to the "Bond with Kuliang: 2023 China-U.S. People-to-People Friendship Forum" on June 28, 2023, he wrote that back in 1992, he invited Mrs. Elizabeth Gardner to Kuliang, helping her fulfill the wish of her late husband to return to his childhood home.
In recent years, President Xi has sent congratulatory letters to the " Bond with Kuliang" series of exchange activities twice. Thanks to his personal attention and efforts, this heartwarming story of friendship between the Chinese and American people has been widely spread at home and abroad.
"We were very moved by it. President Xi is very supportive of this idea of people to people developing friendships. And I'm optimistic about the future for the people of the United States and the people of China," said Lee Gardner, grandnephew of Milton Gardner.
"The story of Kuliang is a story of friendship, peace, and love. No matter which country you are from, hearing these stories you will be moved from the bottom of your heart," said Elyn MacInnis, founder of "Friends of Kuliang," a group gathering about 50 descendants of U.S. families who once lived in Kuliang.
Mountain town in Fujian Province witnesses China-US friendship across generations
