中国·福州——热爱城市从热爱美食开始

“Still there are seeds inside. Still I dream of the blossoming after a thousand springs.” The ancient lotus, buried for a thousand years, can still sprout and bloom once its shell is cracked open. Similarly, the seeds of education sown a century ago continue to foster the blossoming friendship between Chinese and American youth over time.

In 1994, Fuzhou established a sister city relationship with Tacoma, USA, and Fujian HwaNan Women’s College formed a sister-school partnership with the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Since then, the University of Puget Sound has regularly sent outstanding graduates to teach English at HwaNan Women’s College, and this partnership has continued for 30 years.

The two institutions are separated by the Pacific Ocean, but the bridge of cooperation has been built by the “Kuliang Friends” – the Trimble family, whose four generations have been committed to promoting educational exchanges between China and the United States.

In December 1889, 26-year-old Lydia A. Trimble traveled thousands of miles to Fujian, where she established four girls’ schools successively. She passed away at the age of 78 in the Lixue Building of South China, dedicating her entire life to the education of Fujian. Among her many contributions, HwaNan Women’s College pioneered modern higher education for women in Fujian.

The earliest faculty members of the girls’ schools were primarily from China and the United States. Over the years, educators of various backgrounds, nationalities, and genders have carried on the mission, unwavering in their dedication to women’s education and their right of access to education.

There’s a saying in China: “To the three fairy mountains it’s not a long way. Would the blue bird oft fly to see you on the height?” In the blink of an eye, a century has gone by. In the 1980s, Robert Trimble, the third generation of the Trimble family, returned to Fujian, his second hometown. Like the swift bluebird carrying mud, the Trimble family has continued to bridge both sides of the ocean, rekindling a century-old connection between the two places.

In 2005, after retiring, Robert Trimble’s son, Gordon Trimble, and his wife, Sonia Trimble, volunteered to teach at HwaNan Women’s College. They also donated funds to establish a scholarship, encouraging ongoing exchanges and visits between the faculty and students of both institutions, further strengthening Sino-American educational and cultural ties. Since 2008, the Trimble Foundation has sponsored five groups, nearly 100 faculty and students from the University of Puget Sound, to visit Fujian, and has supported multiple groups of HwaNan Women’s College students for study exchanges in the United States. In recognition of his contributions to Sino-American grassroots exchanges, Gordon Trimble was awarded the “Friendship Award” by Fujian Province in 2009 and named an “Honorary Citizen” of Fuzhou in 2020.

This year, exchanges between the two institutions have continued to thrive:

In January, the president of the University of Puget Sound and his delegation visited HwaNan Women’s College at the college’s invitation. They held in-depth discussions on topics such as sending outstanding graduates to teach in Fuzhou, mutual exchanges and visits, and the Asian Scholars Program.

In June, the delegation from HwaNan Women’s College was invited to the United States to attend the 30th-anniversary reunion celebration of the “Trimble Family – HwaNan Women’s College Volunteer Teacher Program,” where they presented scarves bearing the college’s logo to the volunteer teacher representatives.

In July, at the invitation of the faculty and students of HwaNan Women’s College, a delegation from the University of Puget Sound visited Kuliang to trace the origins of their friendship. Professor Jonathan Stockdale, a scholar in the field of Asian Studies at the University of Puget Sound, who goes by the Chinese name Shi Daochen, remarked, HwaNan Women’s College has the ‘Trimble Building,’ and so does the University of Puget Sound. Our shared passion for education has tightly connected our two institutions.

In September, HwaNan Women’s College welcomed its 20th graduate and teacher from the University of Puget Sound, Cecilia Cobbs, who is now an English instructor at the college.

“A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near.” The “Bond with Kuliang” has forged even more sisterly ties. During the Bond with Kuliang: 2024 China-U.S. Youth Festival, over 200 American youth and nearly 300 Chinese youth gathered in Fuzhou. Under the witness of a thousand-year-old Cryptomeria fortunei, they engaged in heartfelt exchanges, creating new stories of friendship.

During the event, Zheng Linshujie, a teacher from the Academy of Music at Minjiang University, and Erin Guinup, Executive Director of the Tacoma Refugee Choir, teamed up to perform. Having never met in person, the two collaborated online to re-arrange and re-create the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

The night before the welcome banquet, the two met for the first time. In just half an hour of rehearsal, they developed an unexpected chemistry. On June 25, during the welcome banquet, they took the stage together, exchanging encouraging glances before delivering their debut performance, which earned a round of applause from the audience. They also connected on WeChat, sharing their Moments. The bond formed through song marked the start of a beautiful friendship.

On December 26, the China-U.S. Youth Exchange Camp will hold its inauguration ceremony in Kuliang. Young people from both countries will gather at Kuliang for a youthful rendezvous, allowing the friendship between the peoples of China and the U.S. to grow and endure, just like the thousand-year-old Cryptomeria fortunei on Kuliang. (Fuzhou Daily Reporter: Zhu Rong)