Elyn MacInnis: Building bridges of friendship between China and US
Tucked away in the quiet hills above Fuzhou in southeastern China's Fujian province was a village called Kuliang. Once a tranquil summer retreat for foreign residents in China, it is now a powerful symbol of enduring friendship between the East and the West. At the heart of this transformation is Elyn MacInnis, a cultural researcher, educator, and tireless advocate for China-U.S. people-to-people ties.
For decades, MacInnis has devoted herself to uncovering and sharing the history of Kuliang, where diplomats, educators, doctors, and their families from the foreign community lived with the Chinese on the mountain as neighbors in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Their children played together, families shared meals, and without realizing it, they built a cross-cultural bond that would resonate across generations, MacInnis said.
Elyn MacInnis (2nd L) attends a story-sharing session at the Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting in Beijing, July 10, 2025. [Photo by Guo Shasha/China Pictorial]
At the Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting in Beijing on Thursday, MacInnis recalled one of the most moving stories of the Kuliang community: Milton Gardner, an American who spent his childhood in Kuliang and kept the village in his mind throughout his life. In 1992, then-Fuzhou Party Secretary Xi Jinping invited Gardner’s widow to visit the village, transforming Milton's memories into a shared story of friendship that now touches people around the world.
Over the years, MacInnis has collected more than 200 historical photographs, over 100,000 words of archival materials, and built the first English-language website dedicated to Kuliang. She also helped identify people in old photographs using AI technology, and reconnected descendants of families who once lived in the village — reviving a legacy of goodwill, cooperation, and shared humanity.
Guests pose for photos before attending the opening ceremony of Kuliang Families Story Museum in Kuliang, Fuzhou, southeastern China's Fujian province, June 22, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
"There were doctors who turned their summer homes into clinics on the weekends for local villagers; there were educators who spent their vacations teaching the mountain children to read and write; and the local villagers of Kuliang helped their foreign friends build strong houses of stone and wood and provided them with food and warmly welcomed them," recalled MacInnis.
"These are stories of respect, of care, of shared life together. That's what the Kuliang spirit is. And it’s exactly what the Global Civilization Initiative calls for — friendship through understanding, and peace through people-to-people connection."
Elyn MacInnis receives the Friendship Envoy Award of the 2025 Orchid Awards in Beijing, July 10, 2025. [Poster designed by Song Xiucheng/CICG]
In recognition of her contributions, MacInnis was honored with the Friendship Envoy Award of the 2025 Orchid Awards in Beijing on Thursday.
Upon receiving the award, she said, "I have spent much of my life building bridges of friendship between China and the United States. The bridges are not made of steel or stone — they are built from warm, kindhearted people, and the stories of their lives in China that I have had the privilege to share."
"My joy and my passion is finding the small details in the stories of people from different cultures who've come to China over time and become deep, deep friends — some of whom have been friends for four or five generations," MacInnis added.
Looking ahead, MacInnis said she sees the younger generation as the key to sustaining this spirit. "As we walk together along the road of friendship — the flowers will bloom," she said, quoting Bing Xin, a prominent writer from Fuzhou.
Through every story told, every photo restored, and every connection rebuilt, MacInnis said she hopes the "Kuliang spirit" will grow — like the centuries-old cypress tree atop the mountain in Kuliang — getting stronger with every story that is shared.