The ice hockey competitions at the National Winter Games, though rarely held in the summer, concluded in early August in Hulun Buir, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, as the spotlight surprisingly fell on teams from southern China.
Debutants Guangdong Province, whose women's ice hockey lineup included several players affiliated with international teams such as national team captain Yu Baiwei, claimed their maiden national championship title as they won the seven-team competition.
"It allows more people to witness the charm of ice and snow in the summer. It's our first experience participating in such an event during [the summer] season," Yu told the Global Times. "I hope more people will watch our games, fall in love with ice hockey and even engage in the sport."
Yu, who joined Shenzhen-based club Shenzhen Red Star in South China's Guangdong Province in 2017, said Guangdong has been very supportive in developing winter sports, though the province is known for its warm climate.
"Guangdong has provided strong support for ice and snow sports, and these efforts have shown results in recent years," Yu said. "I believe winning the National Winter Games will inspire more cities in southern China to develop ice and snow sports."
In the men's tournament, debutants Chongqing Municipality rounded off their maiden National Winter Games foray with a fourth-place finish in a nine-team race.
"They have demonstrated tenacity as the team even without winning a medal for Chongqing," said Zhang Ge, deputy director of the Chongqing Winter Sports Administration. "The emergence of several outstanding young players is the greatest positive from our participation in this event."
Zhang mentioned that the team still requires more competitions to gain match fitness, saying, "We believe that with an increase in tournament participation, the team will see greater improvement."
Olympic legacy
For many people from northern China, ice sports like skating are familiar, with locals having participated in them since childhood. Artificial ice technology spread in China thanks to Beijing winning the 2022 Winter Olympic bid, and has helped introduce children and teenagers winter sports in southern China.
The aforementioned two teams are just examples of ice hockey's spread in southern China, as teams representing Sichuan and Anhui provinces, as well as Shanghai Municipality, areas in southern China where ice and snow is rarely seen, also qualified for the National Winter Games.
The southwestern province of Sichuan founded its ice hockey team in 2019, as the province aims to establish a squad that might widen the talent pool of the national team, said Duan Yuchuan, chief of Sichuan's winter sports authority.
"Our short-term goal when establishing the team in 2019 was to participate in the National Winter Games and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. This goal has since been achieved," Duan told the Global Times.
"The mid-term goal is to win medals at national multi-sport events, contributing more talent to the national teams. Now we have seen several talent being summoned to the national team training camp," Duan said, before noting that their long-term goal is to have Sichuan-born athletes win gold medals for China at the Winter Olympics in the future.
"Athletes from Sichuan often possess advantages in flexibility, skill, endurance, and performance. These strengths can be fully harnessed in specialized development across segments such as ice and snow sports skills," he added.
Sichuan's hopes of being summoned to the national team are firmly pinned to Sichuan's women's goalie Wei Xueqin. Wei, now 22, made it to the national team training camp for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics but had to skip the quadrennial tournament due to a squad limit.
Despite not making it to the national team, Wei continues to relentlessly strive for greatness.
National team captain Yu, 35, said witnessing many young ice hockey players at the National Games assures her that the sport has a brighter future.
"I have seen emerging forces in ice hockey like the Sichuan team, represented by athletes crossing disciplines and fields. While they might lack some technical skills and experience, I can feel their youthful enthusiasm when competing against them," Yu told the Global Times.
"As long as they keep pushing forward and maintain the momentum, there's significant potential for the future development of women's ice hockey in China."
The competition for younger ice hockey players will be held in February 2024, when Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region hosts the full-scale National Winter Games. It is considered an event in which China's ice hockey younger squad depth will be tested before the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Preparing for championship
As Shenzhen, a metropolis in South China's Guangdong Province, will host the Division I Group A women's ice hockey world championship tournament from August 20 to 26, China has a chance to further expand ice hockey's influence in the country.
Team China will host Denmark, Norway, Slovakia, Austria, and the Netherlands in the tournament, all aiming for gold and a chance for advancement in the sport's international ranking.
Yu also underlines that actualizing quality performances is also vital to boost the sport's popularity.
"It's not just about achieving results, but also about playing the game well," Yu said.
"Showing the younger generations what kind of teamwork and technical moves can be displayed in ice hockey is vital for the sport. I hope we can deliver better performances and become an example for young players to learn from."
The torch relay for the 19th Asian Games kicked off near the iconic West Lake in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province on Friday.
Swimming great Luo Xuejuan, the women's 100 meters breaststroke winner at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, was the first of the 106 torchbearers during the opening-day relay.
Back in 2008, Luo was also the first Chinese bearer to carry the Olympic torch for the Beijing Games during the flame-lighting ceremony in Greece.
"I was very excited," the Hangzhou local recalled about her feelings when Hangzhou won the bid for the Asian Games eight years ago. "We just wanted to invite guests from all over the world to come and see, and today it finally came true."
"Actually, I only found out a few days ago that I would be the first torchbearer for the Asian Games, and I was very pleasantly surprised," she told reporters on Friday.
"I just feel honored. In fact, when I stood on the starting point, I was not just representing myself, I was representing the athletes, and the more than 12 million Hangzhou people."
Other high-profile bearers on the first day included Olympic champion volleyball star Hui Ruoqi, Olympic champion shooter Yang Qian, etc.
According to organizers, a total of 2,022 torchbearers will participate in the 13-day relay, ranging in age from 14 to 84. Among them, there are 732 women, 1,219 grassroots front-line representatives, 1,069 advanced role model representatives, and 275 sports worker representatives. In addition, there are a certain number of representatives of ethnic minorities, representatives of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots, and representatives of the disabled.
The torch will journey through 11 cities across Zhejiang, including Huzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Zhoushan, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Lishui, Jinhua, and Quzhou, before returning to host city Hangzhou on September 20 to complete its final leg. The opening ceremony of the Asian Games will be held on September 23.
The torch relay also incorporates online and offline elements. The online relay activity of the "Digital Torchbearer" was launched after the Asian Games flame collection ceremony on June 15. So far, more than 84 million people have participated in the Asian Games online torch relay.
The torch of the Hangzhou Asian Games is named "Eternal Flame," whose design was inspired by the Liangzhu Culture that is testament to the 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization. The Hangzhou Asian Games flame was lit at the Liangzhu ancient city in Zhejiang on June 15 - 100 days before the opening of the Games. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019, the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu is a sacred place that has born witness to over 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
In a grueling battle on Saturday that lasted nearly two hours, China's Zhang Zhizhen,top seed of the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, emerged victorious with a score of 6-4, 7-6(7) against Japanese Yosuke Watanuki, capturing China's first men's singles gold medal in nearly three decades.
"My goal remains unchanged ̶ to get move my ranking and make it to the top 50... Nonetheless, with this gold, my mind-set is surely a little different now," Zhang said while answering a question from the Global Times during Saturday's post-match news conference.
Zhang also became the second Chinese player to win the men's singles event at the Asian Games, following in the footsteps of Pan Bing who won the men's title for China at the 1990 and 1994 Asian Games. And with his victory, Zhang also secured a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics, marking the return of the Chinese men's tennis players to the Olympic stage after 16 years since China participated in the men's singles event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the host nation.
Zhang said that he was very glad to win the final, noting that Saturday's competition was really intense, as his opponent created lots of challenges for him during the game.
"In the beginning, I felt a little bit anxious and I didn't adjust well, but I felt I could play better. I kept calm and then I adjusted to the situation," Zhang said.
In the final, Zhang took the lead in serving but had a difficult start, falling behind 1-4. However, Zhang quickly adjusted his state and won five consecutive games, reversing the situation to win the first set 6-4. In the second set, both players engaged in a fierce battle, with the score tightly contested. In the subsequent seventh game, both sides were locked in a long-drawn-out struggle. And in the tiebreaker, Zhang, despite initially falling behind, tenaciously fought back and ultimately clinched the championship on the third match point.
On Saturday, the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre witnessed the highest attendance since the start of the tennis at the Games. With China's National Day approaching on October 1, multiple Five-Star Red Flags were hang throughout the venue by willing fans.
After winning the title, Zhang wore the national flag to celebrate.
After Zheng Qinwen won the gold medal in women's singles on Friday, Zhang's win also means that Chinese players have bagged two gold medals in singles tennis at the Hangzhou Asian Games, claiming a ticket to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics men's and women's singles events.
"I think we can only strive for better. There are many excellent players in Asia who haven't played at the Games this time. I hope China can become better and better and the next generation [of Chinese male tennis players] will outperform us," Zhang said when asked by the media about the recent rise of Chinese tennis.
On his future plans, Zhang said he will continue to fight on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. After Shanghai, Zhang will play Tokyo, Basel and Paris and then end his season.
Currently, they are more young Chinese male players making it onto the ATP circuit. For example, Wu Yibing, another rising tennis star, became the first Chinese mainland player to lift an ATP Tour trophy in Dallas, the US,in February 2023.
"I think it's good to have so many young players joining us, but I don't know how many of them will make it to the top of the game," Zhang said. "I hope more children and teenagers embark on this road. It's difficult but worth a shot."
Chinese figure skater Liu Xinyu decides to withdraw from the Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating due to a Mycoplasma pneumonia (MP) infection.
He posted a statement Saturday on Chinese media platform Sina Weibo, saying "I'm so sorry for pulling out of the 2023 Cup of China. I haven't fully recovered from the infection and I will come back to China next week for further examination and treatment. I hope to see you guys soon at the race."
Liu alleged that while he was infected by the MP for two weeks at the Skate Canada International, he continued to train while he took his medication. "But I didn't recover physically from the competition, it was probably more intense for my heart, and after the competition I had symptoms of heart pain, and I was struggling to breathe, and my morning pulse was around 120," he said.
"Although I don't want to pull out of the competition and I have been trying to train every day, my heart can't take the intensity of the practice. So, I decided to withdraw from until my health had improved," said the statement.
After hearing his statement, numerous netizens expressed their concern and wished him a quick recovery.
"The body is the most important thing. We'll wait for you to recover. See you at the next one and rest well," one user said on Weibo.
"No worries. Take care," read one comment on Weibo.
His skating partner, Wang Shiyue, also took to Weibo "It is a pity to have to pull out of this competition. I hope Liu will be on the mend soon and I hope to see you all very soon."
Liu Xinyu with his partner Wang Shiyue, is the 2017 Asian Winter Games champion, 2018 CS Asian Open champion, 2015 Toruń Cup champion, and four-time Chinese national champions (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020). They competed in the final segment at four World Championships.
The official account of 2023 Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating published the statement later on Weibo about the ice dancing pair Liu Xinyu and Wang Shiyue pulled out of the competition due to health reasons. They will be replaced by another Chinese pair, Shi Shang and Wu Nan.
The Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating will be held at the Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, which runs from November 10 to 12. It will captivate more than 60 athletes from 10 countries and regions and they will participate in four disciplines: men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance, the organizing committee said.
People's enthusiasm of purchasing tickets ran high. The pairs package for free skating is the most popular. This year tickets cost from 120 yuan ($16.44) to 880 yuan ($129), pre-sale tickets went on sale on August 28, an organizer at the press conference for the 2023 Cup of China said.
Hidar Yousef is thrilled to see the famed Mogao Caves and learn about how cutting-edge technologies are used to help preserve the UNESCO World Heritage site.
"It is a great experience to visit the Caves and see the wall paintings in person, and learn about the technologies used in repairing and monitoring the situation inside the Caves," Yousef told the Global Times.
Yousef, who works at the Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), a Syrian government-owned agency responsible for protection and excavation activities in Syria's national heritage sites, is among a 24-person Syrian cultural delegation visiting China to explore cultural cooperation opportunities.
Located in the northwestern outskirts of Northwest China's Gansu Province, the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, once a border city during the Han Dynasty (206BC - AD220), serve as evidence of trans-civilization communications since its inception in 366 AD, as the wall paintings at the site show distinct foreign cultural influence.
Ancient connections
A biblical Psalms written in Syriac was discovered during an archeological excavation expedition at the Cave B53 of Mogao in 1986. Though the original date of publication is not identified on the manuscript, it is believed the handwritten piece dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1279 - 1368).
Su Bomin, chief of the Dunhuang Academy, which was established in 1944 and now oversees the preservation and management of the Mogao Caves, said that the spread of Dunhuang culture, which itself underlines mutual respect of different civilizations in China's past, also promotes mutual respect among civilizations.
"The dissemination of Dunhuang culture could make people from all over the world understand the prominence of mutual respect, so as to further realize that China, past to present, emphasizes multicultural exchanges and promotes the spirit of learning from each other," Su told the Global Times.
Syrian archeologist Jihad Abu Kahla, director of the Damascus Countryside Antiquities Department, noted that the ancient Silk Road and the expansion of the Mongolian empire also brought Chinese culture to Syria.
"China is a world-leading country in cultural relic protection. There are many rich experiences we can learn thanks to the long-lasting friendship between China and Syria," he told the Global Times through an interpreter.
"In ancient times, the two sides were closely linked through the Silk Road. Now we can rely on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to continue our friendship," Kahla said.
Syria, once a culture and tourism destination, has seen its historical treasures devastated by war.
Hala Emad, a senior official with the Planning and International Cooperation Commission of Syria, said cooperation between China and Syria on culture existed before the war but was halted as cooperation between China and Syria was once limited to humanitarian aid only.
The war has forced cultural practitioners to prioritize the preservation of excavated relics rather than continued exploration to discover new ones, according to Ahmad Dali, director of Damascus at the DGAM. Why preservation matters
Yu Jiannan, Party secretary of the Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Administration, underlined China and Syria's shared issues in terms of cultural relic preservation.
"China and Syria are both countries with a long history and rich cultural heritage, and the problems in the preservation of cultural heritage, such as human and natural damage, are particularly prominent in both countries," Yu said.
"The exchange and cooperation between cultural relic practitioners in the two countries is very necessary, with a broad prospect for exchanges and cooperation in cultural relic protection."
Echoing this sentiment, Emad said the Syrian international cooperation authority will work out a roadmap of how future cooperation between China and Syria could be implemented.
Yousef has also expressed his strong wishes to see the two countries agree on cooperation programs to help Syria restore the treasures scarred by war.
Syria faces a string of sanctions imposed by the West, which have hindered efforts to alleviate the pains of war.
The country joined the China-proposed BRI in 2022, which is believed to have helped Syria open up broad horizons of cooperation with China and other countries.
Though Syria has also already started the digitalization of its antiquities, techniques used are not as up to date, said Yousef, who works in the digitalization department at the DGAM.
The digitalization of Mogao Caves has massively boosted the dissemination of information about the Mogao Caves worldwide, as the free-access portal "E-Dunhuang" was launched online in 2017, attracting over 20 million visitors worldwide.
The technology has made it possible for the non-movable heritages in the Mogao Caves to be displayed digitally or via replicas, giving visitors a closer look without damaging the fragile murals.
"The role of digitalization will become more and more significant because we are managing an immovable site," Su, the dean of the Dunhuang Academy, told the Global Times.
"With the digitization of the resources, we can create high-resolution replicas of the caves and the murals to show them to audiences around the world."
Preserving cultural relics, whether digitally or physically, could strengthen national identity as well as social cohesion, according to Kahla.
He believes the war has changed the mind-set of the Syrian people, as the preservation of culture has ceased to be a top priority in the face of war-induced crises.
"Heritage protection is identity construction. It refers to the construction of the nation," he added, emphasizing that "the protection of cultural relics also means advocating the importance of inheritance from generation to generation."
Documentary No Poverty Land: A Vast Expanse, which shows the full face of Northwest China's Xin-jiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, recently premiered on Hong Kong Television Broadcasting Company's (TVB) Jade Channel, bringing in impressive viewership numbers.
The production team embarked on a groundbreaking journey, spending two months driving 14,000 kilometers to focus their lenses on Xinjiang and Xizang. They interacted with various minority ethnic groups, gaining insight into their current situation in education, healthcare, housing, population and employment.
Janis Chan, the TVB host who acts as a guide for audiences in the documentary, shared her unforgettable experience with the Global Times.
Recalling her excitement upon learning about the destinations, she revealed her eagerness to explore these two places in depth.
Chan used one word, "beautiful," to describe Xinjiang, and highlighted not only the region's scenic beauty but also the positive mind-set of the local people. She described local people's carefree dances and joyful songs after dinner, creating a natural and uplifting atmosphere. These moments were captured in the program, showcasing the beauty of their smiles against the backdrop of breathtaking landscapes.
Chan expressed pleasant surprise at Xinjiang's development. Starting the journey by flying from Hong Kong to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, she initially worried about forgetting essential items, only to discover that the city had everything one could need. Venturing into the Kashgar Prefecture, near the Afghanistan border in China's westernmost region, the shooting team interviewed local minority groups and observed school activities. Chan said she was pleased to see the students' proficiency in English and listen to their dreams of continuing their education in big cities.
In contrast to Xinjiang's liveliness, Xizang had a more mysterious aura for Chan, as she hadn't visited there before. The development and material sufficiency were evident, and locals exhibited spiritual richness and fulfillment.
Reminiscing about the journey in Xizang, Chan described a sense of tranquility and depth, which was challenging to put into words. Sitting quietly on the grasslands or strolling amid Xizang friends herding cattle, she felt like she was in a beautiful painting.
The team visited Medog, the last county to be connected by a road to the rest of China. While there, residents shared stories from the past when essential supplies arrived by a five-day mountainous journey and talked about how the road has greatly helped improve their standard of living. Chan sensed a deep appreciation for life and gratitude in their smiles, which made a profound impact on her.
"Driving down the roads, including the G318 National Highway from Southwest China's Sichuan Province to Xizang and Xinjiang's Duku Highway, namely Dushanzi to Kuqa section of G217 National Highway, was very unforgettable. None of them were easy to build. Driving all the way, in addition to enjoying the unique geographical environment, I could also feel the great effort of the crew who built the road," Chan recalled.
As a media person who has personally visited Xinjiang and Xizang, Chan said that "experiencing these places firsthand" is the best response to some of the biased views presented by certain overseas media outlets. The documentary aims to be the eyes of the audience, taking them on a journey to experience different cultures. Through dialogue, the team aims to provide a deep understanding of the authentic lives of the people in Xinjiang and Xizang.
"As documentary makers, we feel a sense of mission - to do justice to our interviewees and the era. This has been our goal all along," Chan said.
No Poverty Land: A Vast Expanse premiered on November 8 on TVB Jade, with subsequent updates every Thursday and Friday at 10:30 pm.
As the third season of TVB's hit documentary No Poverty Land series, the documentary so far has garnered a viewership rating of 15.9 points in its first week, with approximately 1.02 million viewers, a significant achievement in Hong Kong.
"There are more than 7 million people in Hong Kong, which is equivalent to 1 out of 7 people having watched our program, so I am still very happy with this result," Chan said, adding that she also got a lot of positive feedback on social media. As few people from Hong Kong had visited these places, they hoped the documentary would provide insight into these regions.
The satisfaction Chan derives from this journey scores a perfect 100. After the immense success and positive reviews of the first two seasons, many wondered if host Chan felt pressure for the third installment. She responded that the current challenge is to authentically present her 100 percent experience in the program, a task that requires daily brainstorming from the team.
As global oil prices increased for a third straight week on the back of production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia, concerns over the inflationary pressure in the US are on the rise, with analysts saying this may lead to new resistance for the Fed when it comes to adjusting the pace of monetary policy tightening.
Both West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil futures are extending multi-month highs on concerns over tight supply. WTI settled near $90.4 a barrel on Friday, the highest since November 2022, while Brent hit $94.31 per barrel, also the highest in 10 months.
The past two months saw global oil prices rise by about 20 percent. The International Energy Agency and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries both warned this week that the market would be in deficit through year-end due to the production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia.
As a result, gasoline prices in the US have surged to a seasonal record, with average regular gasoline now costing $3.866 a gallon, up 7.8 percent in just eight weeks, according to data from the American Automobile Association.
"Continuous increase in US gasoline prices may jeopardize the Fed's fight against inflation. At a time when the Fed has sent signals toward adjusting its tightening monetary policy, the renewed inflationary pressure is not a good omen," Chen Chao, a commodity analyst, told the Global Times on Saturday.
The worries over new inflation pressure have come at a time when the US consumer price index in August increased by 3.7 percent from a year ago, accelerating from 3.2 percent in July and higher than market expectation, according to the US Department of Labor.
Inflation continues to be a major problem for the US economy and society. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union is on strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the first time in its history that it has struck all three of America's unionized automakers at the same time. UAW says auto workers have only seen 6 percent annual wage gains since 2019, and inflation offset much of those gains.
If the Fed does not keep its monetary policy tight, inflationary pressures are likely to intensify, but a continuously tight monetary policy increases the likelihood that the US economy will fall into recession, Chen explained. "So the question is whether the US can release additional barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but the release of strategic reserve is not that easy."
A special campaign to control the dengue virus was launched in Pakistan as health workers in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have been engaged in fumigating to remove mosquitoes from public spaces.
At least 155 new cases of mosquito-borne dengue fever have been reported from the South Asian country's eastern Punjab province during the last 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday.
All issues related to replacing foreign instruments for Russia's Spektr-UV space telescope, which is similar to NASA's Hubble, have been successfully resolved, and it will be launched into orbit in 2029, the director of the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Mikhail Sachkov, said on Tuesday.
"There are no technological or organizational problems in the scientific equipment package of Spektr-UV. All issues related to import substitution and independence have been resolved," Sachkov said during a conference at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
The Russian space telescope will be launched into orbit by the end of 2029, the scientist added.
The launch was previously expected to be carried out by the end of 2028. Japanese and Spanish scientific equipment was also expected to be used. However, in December 2022, the project's chief designer, Sergey Shostak, said that the participation of Japan and Spain in developing Spektr-UV remained an open question. Therefore, the Russian scientists had to work out how to replace these instruments with domestic ones.
In terms of its characteristics, Spektr-UV is similar to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and could be deorbited in the mid-2030s.
Spektr-UV will study galaxies, new stars and extrasolar planets, as well as processes in the atmospheres of planets, comets and other bodies in the solar system. It will also search for signs of life on already discovered extrasolar planets.
Chinese President Xi Jinping highly values culture and has a profound understanding of human civilization.
For President Xi, culture plays a unique and irreplaceable role in the rejuvenation of China and the building of a global community of shared future. He speaks from Chinese wisdom, which has been passed down for millennia, advocating for the mutual prosperity of global civilizations, welcoming the flourishing of popular cultural products, and encouraging the youth to join the path to inheriting and reinventing their proud traditions.
This episode focuses on how Xi's actions have promoted friendly people-to-people exchanges between China and the US, which is a perfect example of facilitating coexistence and mutual learning among civilizations.
The lush cedar trees, the ancient wells, Western-style villas… Kuliang is a pleasant place in the mountains where both young and old Fuzhou residents, natives and foreigners, never want to miss.
But their appreciation for Kuliang goes beyond these elements.
Kuliang, a resort area in the suburbs of Fuzhou, capital city of East China's Fujian Province, is also a place which was once full of endless flavor of the carefree play between Chinese and American children, witnessing their friendship transcend the limits of time and space. This place has also witnessed generations of insightful people striving to promote friendly exchanges and carry on the most sincere friendship between these two countries.
At the end of June, a group of former Fuzhou residents crossed mountains and oceans to return to this beloved place.
The group "Kuliang Friends" formed by the descendants of American families who once lived in Kuliang as early as a century ago gathered together to participate in the "Bond with Kuliang: 2023 China-US People-to-People Friendship Forum."
When they arrived in Kuliang, as they got out of the car, a few of them shouted out in fluent Fuzhou dialect, "We're home!"
At the China-US people-to-people friendship forum, another special former Fuzhou resident sent his blessings and encouragement to these American friends. "I hope that you will continue to write the Kuliang story and carry forward the special bonds, so that the friendship between our two peoples can stay forever strong and robust like the thousand-year-old cedar trees in Kuliang," Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a congratulatory letter sent to the forum.
Their stories have shown once again that the Chinese and American peoples can transcend differences in system, culture and language, and build profound friendship, said Xi.
How should the two civilizations of China and the US coexist to bring prosperity and stability to their people?
The Chinese leader has always advocated people to people exchanges between countries and civilizations. "The foundation of China-US relations lies in the people. We have always placed our hope on the American people and wish all the best for the friendship between the two peoples," Xi said, while meeting with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in Beijing on June 16, 2023.
With the care and reconnection of treasured old friends, there is a sequel to the Kuliang story written by the people of China and the US. They share the firm belief that the relationship between the two countries is full of new opportunities.
Beautiful views remain
No matter how many times they visit Kuliang, the "king of cedar trees" is always a must-visit spot for these foreign friends, where two trees embrace each other and have stood for over 1,000 years.
The origin of the Kuliang story comes from this cool shade. In the mid-19th century, a large number of foreigners came to Fuzhou to work and live, many of whom were businessmen, missionaries, and also consular officials. During the summer, many foreigners chose to escape the heat in Kuliang.
At its peak, Kuliang had over 300 Western-style villas, one of which was home to Milton Gardner.
Gardner was born in the US in 1901. As a child, he came to live in Fuzhou with his parents.
Foreigners liked to plant cedar trees in front of their villas, Gardner and some Chinese children living close used to spend their childhood playing together under the trees.
After returning to the US with his family in 1911, Gardner's greatest wish was to return to his childhood home in China. However, unfortunately, he was never able to fulfill his wish.
In 1992, with the help from Chinese students in the US, Gardner's wife Elizabeth Gardner finally found out that the place her husband had been dreaming of for his whole life was Kuliang in Fuzhou.
That same year, Xi, secretary of the Communist Party of China Fuzhou Committee at the time, after learning about the story of Gardner, invited Elizabeth Gardner to visit Kuliang and helped her fulfill her husband's wish.
In 2012, when visiting the US as China's vice president, Xi shared the Kuliang story with the audience at a welcome luncheon held by American friendly groups. This received a warm response from all sectors from both countries.
On June 26, 2023, a grand donation ceremony was held in Kuliang. Lee Gardner, grandnephew of Milton Gardner, donated a complete family chronicle and related documents from his several visits to Fuzhou.
Elyn MacInnis, 72, a cultural expert from the US, brought three suitcases of her collection from the US to donate to the museum, along with members of three other Kuliang families who also made donations.
MacInnis and her husband Peter's bond with China date back to her father-in-law Donald MacInnis, who was a member of the Flying Tigers, a group of US volunteer fighter pilots who helped China fight the Japanese troops during World War II. After Donald MacInnis died, Elyn MacInnis and her husband scattered some of his ashes into the Minjiang River, Fuzhou's "mother river," as he had requested.
"The place where our ancestors lived and left traces is home, and we are bringing old objects home this time," Elyn MacInnis told the Global Times.
"When I tell my family and friends about Kuliang, I tell them about the house we lived in on the side of the mountain and the whispering pines, the wide slippery rock beside it where we would play, and the green rice fields... They want to experience China also," Priscilla Brewster Gill, another Kuliang Friends, told the Global Times.
This time in Fuzhou, Gill, and her granddaughter Katy Barber fulfilled their dream of experiencing a new version of the charm of Kuliang. Gill was born in Fuzhou in 1936, and her father Harold Brewster was the last foreign president of the current Fuzhou Medical University Union Hospital.
As she came to Fuzhou once again, Gill said that she was amazed by the changes in the city: the beautiful parks in the city and along the river, the magnificent Naval History Museum, the cleanliness, the vast amount of greenery, the carefully restored old buildings, the wide roads and highways, the lovely gardens, "and the state of the art Union Hospital where many years ago my father was surgeon and Medical Superintendent. There is so much to admire!" She said.
In Kuliang, Barber walked with Gill to a well, where the words "Foreign and Local Public Well" were inscribed.
"At that time, public facilities such as hospitals, post offices and photo studios in Kuliang were funded and built by foreigners, and the local residents of Kuliang were also happy to share this important resource of well water to us," Gill said.
Barber had heard the story of the well countless times, in Kuliang, she imitated her grandmother's actions, drawing a bucket of clear water.
"The beautiful views remain," Gill said of Kuliang. Now, back at Rhode Island, she has a new and wonderful memory. "I am touched by my experience there last week with the welcoming people, and the great care with which I was treated. They are symbols and pictures showing great thought and effort and giving me a wonderful opportunity to display the spirit of friendship between our peoples."
Expanding friends circle
The ever-richer picture of life in Kuliang was made possible by generations of continued efforts.
In the past, Elizabeth Gardner traveled all over China looking for a place called Kuliang until she finally located the place in Fuzhou.
Our family is very grateful to President Xi for helping to fulfill the wishes of an elderly American he never even knew, whose actions have touched and inspired many people, said Lee Gardner.
In 2016, Elyn MacInnis and her like-minded partner Professor Lin Yinan, an expert in Kuliang culture at East China University of Science and Technology, formed a multinational research team. They conducted on-site surveys of old buildings in Kuliang, searched through archival materials at various universities, including the Yale and Harvard University libraries. Elyn MacInnis established a website so they could locate the descendants of foreign families who lived in Kuliang; Lin and his students built a platform which could use the AI technology to identify the people from historic photos.
"Reunions are always a chance to share memories and in the process, strengthen friendships and ancient ties," Gail Harris, granddaughter of Harry Russell Caldwell, a missionary known for managing and building schools in China, told the Global Times.
In Fuzhou, Harris met her "twin sister" Li Yiying again.
"In this photo, they were still babies," Lin said, as he showed an old photo to the Global Times reporters, in which he discovered this pair of "twins."
In 1941, Harris was born in Yangkou, Nanping and a friend of her parents' had a daughter who was born in the same day, which also happened to be the 60th anniversary of the founding of Anglo-Chinese (Ying-Hua) College of Fuzhou, the predecessor of Affiliated High School of Fujian Normal University, where they worked. In order to commemorate this special fate, the parents named their respective daughters "Li Yiying" and "Bi Lehua," splitting the school's Chinese name Ying-Hua.
On June 24, 2023, under Lin's arrangement, the two 82-year-olds were reunited in Fuzhou. Li didn't speak English and Harris could only speak a few words of Fuzhou dialect. However, once they met, they sat down together and held hands as if they never wanted to let go.
Currently, we have a team which consists of Americans and Chinese academics as well as local villagers that have come together in friendship, regardless of nationality, to study Kuliang culture and history, Elyn MacInnis noted.
With a lot of hard work, they brought together and reunited real people, like putting together the pieces of a puzzle.
Thanks to their joint efforts, they have collected more than 1,000 pieces of written and oral materials, pictures and objects related to the story of Kuliang.
Today, more young people have been involved in this drive. Lin noted that most of the members of Lin's research team are his students, who come from all over China. "They all have a passion for studying Kuliang culture and exploring China-US friendship. On June 28, when Harris left Fuzhou for the US, my students were in tears," Lin said.
The 39-year-old Barber, now living in San Francisco and working as a primary school teacher, introduces students to the geography and culture of China, such as the Chinese people's traditions and cuisines.
From the US, she told the Global Times that "everyone loves to see my pictures and hear about the people there [in Fuzhou]."
She believes while storytelling is important, there is nothing quite like experiencing something first hand. In the near future, she plans to invite more members of her family as well as friends to this land full of love and hope.
Amity between peoples the key
The story of Kuliang is a resemblance of how the two civilizations of China and the US should coexist to benefit their people. It is not just a Chinese story or an American story, but a story belonging to all of humanity, the American families said in unison.
Elyn MacInnis has eloquently described the "Spirit of Kuliang" as Love, Peace, Friendship, Sensitivity and Respect, which received the full approval of the "Kuliang Friends."
"I very much agree with her, because those qualities are my own memories of living in Kuliang since childhood. As an adult, I have come to understand that those qualities transcend politics," said Harris.
Lin believes that the "Spirit of Kuliang" proves that friendship between people on Earth can overcome all kinds of barriers such as language, culture and ideology. "This is because peace and friendship is what everyone needs. It doesn't deteriorate, it doesn't change, but it gets stronger over time. And it is universal, showing the Chinese people's hospitality. As always they embrace these, perhaps, unfamiliar faces, with open arms," he said.
Zhang Yiwu, a professor on Chinese language and literature at Peking University, told the Global Times that the beautiful Kuliang story about the China-US people's friendly relationship that has been passed down generations for over a century shows that the US government's current hostile attitude toward China has no benefit to the countries' shared future.
The Kuliang story has become a cultural symbol as well as a spiritual heritage between China and the US, and it conveys the values that only mutual respect and frequent friendly exchanges can lead to a better development, Zhang said.
In the face of the current cloud over the China-US relationship, the American people are also worried. "I am always sad that political differences often override the profound friendships among people," Harris told the Global Times.
However, unlike Western politicians' hyping of the differences between the two countries, "China and the US have had friendship for so many years, and that both countries want the same things for their people was something I learned at the Forum. We have such a deep bond with the people and the place that we want to keep it a part of our lives," said Gill.
"We couldn't agree more with President Xi's vision that amity between peoples holds the key to the relationship between countries and the people are the cornerstone of its growth," she said.
Meaningful people-to-people exchanges are essential and should not be interrupted by prejudice and arrogance, Zheng Changling, secretary general of the China Folk Culture Innovation and Development Center, told the Global Times.
The Chinese nation is a peace-loving nation, as proven by numerous historical records and archaeological facts. Countless developments in real life demonstrate our unwavering commitment to this principle, Zheng noted.
Zheng pointed out that President Xi's deep understanding of people-to-people interactions is very insightful and attaches great importance to exchanges between civilizations. "This not only provides a top-level blueprint for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation but also contributes Chinese wisdom and proposals to the future development of human society including the Global Civilization Initiative," he said.
Harris said that she prefers the vision of a shared future for mankind over politics before people.
"The fate of our planet really does depend on good-will and cooperation. I would like to see more Americans visit China and learn firsthand about the great generosity, warmth and friendliness of the Chinese people. And I look forward to extending my own hospitality to my Chinese friends," Harris said.
