Guling in Fujian leverages legacy of international exchanges, eyes spot as global tourist destination

With a long history of friendly exchanges with the outside world and beautiful scenery, Guling in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian province, aims to build itself into an international tourist destination.

Previously known in the West as Kuliang, Guling may be a place that most Chinese people have never heard of. But for Milton Gardner, who had once served as a professor of physics at the University of California in the United States, this place in the eastern suburbs of Fuzhou is where he spent about 10 happy years of his childhood.

Photo shows Yixia Villa in Guling, Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian province. (Photo courtesy of Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism)

In 1901, Gardner came to Fuzhou with his parents when he was a baby. The family returned to California in 1911. In the ensuing decades, Gardner longed to revisit his childhood hometown in China, but he was never able to realize his dream. Regrettably, he reportedly kept uttering the words “Kuliang, Kuliang” in his final hours.

After he passed away, his wife made several trips to China to try to find the place, but her efforts ended in vain. Things began to look up when Mrs. Gardner discovered 11 faded stamps with “Kuliang, Fuzhou” written in the postmarks. With the help of a Chinese student studying in the US, she finally figured out that “Kuliang” was actually Guling in Fuzhou.

On April 8, 1992, an article entitled “Ah! Guling” about the touching story of the American couple was published on People’s Daily, which moved many readers.

Photo shows an article entitled “Ah! Guling” about the touching story of the American couple’s journey to find Guling, which was published by People’s Daily on April 8, 1992.

Among the readers touched by the story was Xi Jinping, who was then Secretary of the Communist Party of China Fuzhou Municipal Committee. After reading the article, Xi immediately had government officials contact Mrs. Gardner and invite her to Guling.

Later that same year, Mrs. Gardner arrived in Fuzhou and visited Guling. She finally saw for herself the beauty of Guling and the warmth of local people. She thanked her friends in Fuzhou for their hospitality and everyone who had helped to make her husband’s dream come true, saying that she would take the sincere friendship of the people of Fuzhou back to the US.

This widely told story has become yet another chapter in the history of friendly exchanges between China and the US.

Photo shows the Guling Post Office in Guling, Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian province. (Photo courtesy of Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism)

Gardner was one among a number of foreign residents living in Guling in the early 1900s. Back then, Western missionaries, scholars and merchants built a multicultural community in Guling, with over 300 villas of diversified styles, along with other buildings such as churches, clinics, and public welfare halls, turning it into a popular summer resort for them to escape the extreme heat in Fuzhou. Some of these buildings have been well preserved down to this day, such as the Yixia Villa and Guling Post Office, embodying the legacy of cultural exchanges between China and the West.

By taking advantage of this legacy, Fujian has attached great importance to the development of the Guling scenic spot in recent years. In January 2018, the scenic spot was upgraded to become a national-level tourist resort. Last year, Guling received 6 million tourists.

To realize the goal of building itself into a global tourist destination, Guling will further explore the history and culture of the scenic area, enhance ecological protection and improve its transportation conditions, according to the administrative committee of the Guling scenic spot. 

Photo shows the Masion Castel in Guling, Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian province. (Photo courtesy of Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism)