Learning from the past and looking to the future: President Xi Jinping’s love affair with Guling
Guling, located in the suburbs of Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, is surrounded by green mountains and lush vegetation.
On June 24, the 2024 "Gulingyuan" China-US Youth Exchange Week opened in Fuzhou, with about 500 young people from all walks of life from China and the United States participating in the event.
President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the exchange week. In the letter, President Xi Jinping pointed out that the century-long Guling friendship is a good story of friendly exchanges between the Chinese and American people. He was very happy to see young people from all walks of life in China and the United States gather in Fuzhou to review the Guling story, inherit the Guling friendship, and enhance exchanges and understanding between the Chinese and American people.
The Guling story is a testimony to President Xi Jinping's personal efforts to promote friendly exchanges between the Chinese and American people.
In the spring of 1992, Xi Jinping, who was serving as the party secretary of Fuzhou, read an article titled “Ah! Guling” in a newspaper. The article told the story of an American couple who were nostalgic for a place called “Guling” in China and wanted to revisit the place but were unable to do so.
The protagonist of the article, Milton Gardner, came to China with his parents in 1901 and spent 10 happy childhood years in Kuling. In 1911, Gardner's family moved back to the United States, but he always kept his Chinese eating habits. His biggest wish was to return to his childhood homeland in China, but for various reasons he was unable to do so. Before his death, he kept repeating "Kuling, Kuling".
In order to fulfill her husband's wish, Mrs. Gardner visited China many times, but she returned in vain because she did not know the exact location of "Kuling". Later, with the help of a Chinese student studying in the United States, Mrs. Gardner finally found out that her husband's hometown was Guling in Fuzhou, China.
Upon learning of this touching story, Comrade Xi Jinping instructed the relevant departments of Fuzhou City to contact Mrs. Gardner and warmly invite her to visit Guling.
In August 1992, arranged by Comrade Xi Jinping, Mrs. Gardner visited Guling, the place her husband had always missed, and walked into the Chinese hometown where her husband lived as a child. She also met nine of Gardner's childhood playmates who were now in their 90s, and talked about the past with them. She said excitedly that her husband's last wish had finally come true. The beautiful Guling and the enthusiastic Chinese people made her understand more why Gardner was deeply attached to China. She said that she wanted to pass on this friendship forever.
On February 15, 2012, local time, Xi Jinping, then Vice President of China, attended a welcome luncheon hosted by a US friendly group in Washington and delivered a speech. Photo by reporter Xie Huanchi
In February 2012, Xi Jinping, then Vice President of China, was invited to visit the United States. When he attended a welcome luncheon hosted by an American friendly group in Washington, he vividly recounted the Guling story, and more than 700 guests from the political and business circles of China and the United States were deeply moved.
"I believe that there are many more touching stories like this among the Chinese and American people. We should further strengthen exchanges between the Chinese and American people and build the most solid public opinion foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the United States." The heartfelt speech won warm applause from people from all walks of life. The Guling story has also spread more widely among the Chinese and American people.
The "Sino-US friendship" on Guling Mountain transcends time and space, proving that the people of China and the United States can completely overcome the differences in systems, culture and language and establish a deep friendship.
On June 28, 2023, the "Gulingyuan" Sino-US People's Friendship Forum was held in Fuzhou. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the forum, encouraging people of friendship from both countries to pass on and carry forward the Guling story and Guling friendship, so that the friendship between the Chinese and American people will thrive like the thousand-year-old cedar on Guling.
On June 28, 2023, the "Gulingyuan" Sino-US People's Friendship Forum was held in Fuzhou. This is a photo of Chinese and American people from all walks of life who attended the "Guling Friends" symposium planting trees together in Guling. Photo by reporter Wei Peiquan
In November 2023, President Xi Jinping was invited to San Francisco, the United States, to hold a meeting between the Chinese and American heads of state. On the evening of November 15, local time, American friendly groups jointly held a banquet to welcome President Xi Jinping. Members of the "Friends of Guling" also came. Some of them deliberately wore red Tang suits and red ties because "red represents festivity in China."
On the evening of November 15, 2023, local time, President Xi Jinping attended a welcome banquet jointly held by American friendly groups in San Francisco, the United States. Before the banquet began, Xi Jinping met with the descendants of the Flying Tigers and General Stilwell, as well as representatives of friendly people from Guling, Iowa, and Washington State, and had cordial conversations with them and took photos with them. Photo by reporter Xie Huanchi
New and old friends gathered together, and true feelings surged. "It is the confluence of goodwill and friendship that makes the vast Pacific Ocean no longer an insurmountable barrier; it is the two-way efforts of the people that have brought China-US relations back on track from the trough time and time again." President Xi Jinping said affectionately in his speech at the welcome banquet.
Gathering together is not only about renewing friendship, but also about looking to the future. In his speech, President Xi Jinping announced that in order to expand exchanges between the Chinese and American people, especially the young generation, China is willing to invite 50,000 American young people to come to China for exchanges and studies in the next five years. The 2024 "Gulingyuan" China-US Youth Exchange Week is part of this exchange and study plan announced by President Xi Jinping himself.
The exchange week attracted more than 200 young people from 29 states in the United States and more than a dozen different fields, and nearly 300 young people from all walks of life in China to participate. Planting friendship trees, theme dialogues, round-table discussions, youth fairs, documentary screenings, art salons, concerts, sports friendly competitions... Chinese and American youth will participate in about 50 various activities during the exchange week. After finishing their trip in Fuzhou, American youth will also visit Xiamen, Quanzhou, Nanjing, Urumqi and other places.
On June 24, 2024, young people from China and the United States jointly planted the "China-US Youth Friendship Forest" in Guling, Fuzhou. The 2024 "Gulingyuan" China-US Youth Exchange Week opened in Fuzhou on the same day, hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Fujian Provincial People's Government, and the All-China Youth Federation. Photo by reporter Wei Peiquan
"Coffee lovers" who are committed to the dialogue between Chinese tea and coffee, "martial arts masters" who come to China to learn Ba Duan Jin and Tai Chi with the dream of becoming a "hero", "rap masters" who love Chinese and want to learn Fuzhou dialect, and handsome Chinese guys who tell cross-cultural stories through the camera... Many American young people have traveled thousands of miles to Guling and are looking forward to this exchange week.
"Young people are the most energetic and have the most dreams. The future of China-US relations lies in them." President Xi Jinping placed high hopes on the young people of the two countries in his congratulatory letter. "I hope you will deepen exchanges, enhance friendship, get to know each other, and work hand in hand. You will pass on the China-US friendship, contribute to the healthy and stable development of China-US relations, and work together with people of all countries in the world to build peace, promote progress and create prosperity."
I believe that the young people participating in the 2024 "Gulingyuan" China-US Youth Exchange Week will jointly inherit the Gulingyuan friendship, deepen friendly ties, build more bridges to enhance understanding between the two peoples, and make contributions to the "better future" of China-US relations by the younger generation.
Visual | Jointly produced by the Domestic Department and Fujian Branch
