A Magical Journey Spanning More Than 30 Years – Brian Linden and Lu Xin in Nanjing 跨越30多年的奇妙旅程 ——布莱恩·林登和辛露在南京

Zijing Liu 刘子菁

Edited by Jiesheng Li 李杰晟 and Max Hahn

I first met Brian Linden and Lu Xin at the front desk of the green mansion at Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC). HNC has two buildings, one is an old building with a green roof built in 1986, which is for recreation and leisure; while another is a new building with red facades built in 2006, used for teaching and office space. HNC faculty and students call them the green and red mansions or the old and new buildings. In the 1980s, the green mansion was the tallest building in the surrounding area, and it had Nanjing’s first elevator. On a sunny afternoon in early March 2023, I walked into the green mansion with a courier in hand and suddenly saw Brian and Lu Xin checking in at the front desk. They returned to the HNC in Nanjing to share their stories and journeys. “Hello, you’re Brian, right? And You’re Lu Xin? ” I greeted excitedly, and Lu Xin smiled at me. “No, I’m not Brian, I’m Lu Xin. This is Brian. ” Brian jokingly pointed at Lu Xin and fist-bumped me, and we burst out laughing.

第一次见到布莱恩·林登和辛露是在南京大学-约翰斯·霍普金斯大学中美文化研究中心（以下简称“中美中心”）绿楼的前台。中美中心有两栋楼，一栋是绿色屋顶、建于1986年的旧楼，这是生活和娱乐的地方；一栋是红色外墙、建于2006年的新楼，这是教学和办公的地方。中美中心的人们称它们为绿楼和红楼，或者旧楼和新楼。上世纪80年代，绿楼是周边最高的建筑，里面装了南京第一台电梯。2023年3月初，一个阳光明媚的午后，拿着快递的我走进绿楼，忽然看到林登和辛露在前台办理入住。他们回到南京、回到中美中心分享他们的故事和旅程。“你们好啊，你是林登吧？你是辛露吧？”我兴奋地打招呼，辛露冲着我微笑。“不，我不是林登，我是辛露。这是林登。”林登开玩笑地指了指辛露，和我碰了碰拳头，三人大笑起来。

Alumnus with a gap of more than 30 years: Linden Brian and Lu Xin of HNC

跨越30多年的校友：中美中心的林登与辛露

Brian and Lu Xin are alumni with a gap of more than 30 years. Brian, a 1987-1988 HNC alumnus, is the founder of Linden Centre. He is a witness to China’s reform and opening up for more than 40 years and has worked as a journalist for Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), interviewing many Chinese leaders throughout the 1980s. Brian studied at the University of Illinois, HNC, and Stanford University and has traveled and worked in more than 100 countries. After traveling the world, Brian and Jeanee Linden, along with their two sons, returned to Yunnan, China to create Linden Centre, a complex that integrates a boutique hotel, immersive education, experimental travel, and community building. Brian studied Chinese politics, law, history, and culture at the HNC. At that time, professors of HNC taught foreign students in Chinese, and foreign students had to complete homework and papers in handwritten Chinese. Brian felt that although it was difficult for foreigners to write a 10,000-word paper by hand in Chinese, he truly learned how to read and write in academic Chinese.

林登和辛露是跨越了30多年的校友。1987-1988级的中美中心校友林登是喜林苑酒店品牌创始人。他是中国40多年改革开放的见证者，80年代曾经担任哥伦比亚广播公司记者，采访过中国领导人。林登先后在美国伊利诺伊大学、中美中心和斯坦福大学求学，并在100多个国家旅行和工作。周游世界后，林登夫妇带着两个儿子回到中国云南创建喜林苑，这是一个融合了精品酒店、教育研学、在地旅行、社区营造的综合体。林登在中美中心学习了中国政治、法律、历史和文化，这些课程均以中文授课。彼时，中美中心教授上课用汉语教学，外国学生的作业和论文要使用中文，并手写完成。林登觉得，虽然手写1万字汉字的论文对外国人来说很困难，但是他从中掌握了学术汉语。

Lu Xin, a 2019-2020 alumnus, is a teacher at the School of Media Science at Northeast Normal University, specializing in audiovisual arts, cultural studies, international relations, and cross-cultural communication. She focuses on spatial politics and rural sustainability and has conducted fieldwork in the southern United States, Central America, West Africa, and Yunnan. In 2019, when Lu Xin was studying at HNC, Brian went to HNC to give a report and they met for the first time. When the pandemic broke out in early 2020, students at HNC were trapped at home to study online. They did not have a chance to return to HNC to study and were not reunited anymore during that semester. In June 2020, HNC held its first virtual graduation ceremony, where Lu Xin and her classmates graduated “on the cloud,” and Mr. Ban Ki-moon encouraged them: “Working together to make this world bests for all!” During this month, an opportunity to “make this world bests for all” awaited Lu Xin.

2019-2020级校友辛露是东北师范大学传媒科学学院讲师，主要研究视听艺术、文化研究、国际关系和跨文化传播。她关注空间政治和乡村可持续发展，曾经在美国南部、中美洲、西非和中国云南等地进行田野调查。2019年辛露在中美中心学习时，林登到中美中心作报告，她也因此和林登有过一面之缘。2020年初疫情爆发，中美中心的学生都被困家中通过网络学习。大家未能返回中美中心学习，也未能再次团聚。2020年6月，中美中心举行了第一次线上毕业典礼，辛露和同学们“云上”毕业，潘基文先生鼓励他们“为创造美好未来做出更大贡献”。这时候，一个创造美好的机会在等着辛露。

A book with 30 years of experience: One Village at A Time

跨越30多年的创作：《寻乡中国——林登的故事》

The new opportunity was to co-author a book with Brian. In 2004, the Lindens returned to China and after surveying China, chose Xizhou, Dali, Yunnan–an ancient town–to renovate a heritage site and create the first Linden Centre with the Bai villagers. Since then, Brian has been very busy working Within the field of immersive education alone, the Linden Centre has hosted hundreds of field research projects and thousands of students from all over the world since 2010. While the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 hit the tourism industry hard, Brian took advantage of his newfound time to write a book to tell his China story. In June 2020, Brian completed the first draft in English and invited alumni and students of HNC to assist with the translation into Chinese. 

这个创造美好的机会是和林登合作撰写一本书。2004年，林登和家人返回中国，游历了中国很多地方，最终选择云南大理喜洲古镇，和白族村民一起修复文化遗产、建设喜林苑。此后，林登的工作和生活非常繁忙，单是教育研学这一方面，2010年以来，喜林苑接待了数百个田野调研项目和数千名世界各地的学生。2020年疫情爆发，旅游业遭受重创。林登从繁忙中暂停下来，通过写作梳理自己的中国故事。2020年6月，林登完成了英文初稿，邀请中美中心的校友和学生来翻译成中文。

When the pandemic broke out in early 2020, Lu Xin’s fieldwork course “China on the border” was canceled, and all teachers and students of HNC were forced to adapt to distanced teaching. In June 2020,  just when Lu Xin thought that her study life in HNC would come to an end during the pandemic, Brain offered a summer internship to students and alumni of the Center. After several rounds of email communication and telephone interviews, Lu Xin finally flew from her home in Harbin to Yunnan to begin a year-long translation and fieldwork under the guidance of the Lindens (Brian & Jeanee).

2020年初疫情爆发，辛露所选修的中心特色田野调研课程“边境上的中国”因故取消，中美中心的全体师生也被迫进入远程教学模式。2020年6月，正当辛露以为自己在中美中心的学习生活会在疫情的困顿中画上句号时，林登向中美中心的学生和校友提供了一份暑期实习机会。经过多轮邮件沟通和电话面试后，辛露终于从哈尔滨的家中启程飞往云南，在林登夫妇的指导下开始了长达一年的翻译与田野调查工作。

On the afternoon of March 2, 2023, Brian and Lu Xin shared their book, titled Redefining Diplomacy: One Village at a Time with teachers, students, and alumni of HNC. This book is Brian’s love letter to China, telling Brian’s 39-year emotional interaction with this country. In 1984, Brian was a foreigner who didn’t know where China was on the map. 39 years later, Brian has become a localized social entrepreneur rooted in rural China and has changed from a “foreigner” to a “fellow villager”. Coming to China from the United States, Brian met movie stars and directors, teachers, students, policemen, drivers, monks, businessmen, painters, craftsmen, village officials, squires, and many other unique individuals. Each encounter tells a unique and forgotten story about China’s four decades of changes. After the publication of the book, Brian and Lu Xin and their publisher CITIC Press set off on a two-month-long book tour to Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Suzhou.  A cross-cultural, cross-linguistic, cross-border journey of continuous walking and encountering is embedded inside and outside the book. Brian and Lu Xin invite readers to enjoy this unparalleled conversation and journey.

2023年3月2日下午，林登和辛露与中美中心的师生一起分享他们的作品《寻乡中国——林登的故事》（以下简称“《寻乡中国》”）。这本书是林登写给中国的情书，讲述林登与中国39年的“情缘”。39年前，林登是一个不知道中国在地图上位于何方的“老外”。39年后，林登变成一个扎根中国乡村的社会企业家，从“老外”变成“老乡”。从美国来到中国，林登结识了电影明星和导演、老师、学生、民警、司机、僧侣、商人、画家、工匠、村官、乡绅等特别的人，每一次相遇都讲述了一个林登故事。这些是关于中国四十年变化的独特的、被遗忘的故事。这些故事被林登用英文记录下来，再由辛露译为中文。《寻乡中国》出版后，林登、辛露和中信出版社开始了为期两个月的新书交流活动。他们带着这本书前往北京、南京、上海、苏州等地，与大家分享和对话。书里书外都蕴含着一段持续行走、不断遇见的跨文化、跨语言、跨国界的旅程，林登和辛露邀请读者享受这次无以伦比的对话与旅程。

Nanjing developed for more than 30 years: traditional China and modern China

跨越30多年的南京：传统中国与现代中国

In Brian’s “Odyssey Journey”, Nanjing is an important city. Brian remembered the details of Nanjing in the 1980s, such as the only café in Nanjing, the Jinling Hotel, the small library of HNC, the “big roof” building of Nanjing University, and so on. Brian’s best China story happened in Nanjing while at HNC when he met his wife Jeanee on the basketball court of Nanjing University. After that, Brian and Jeanee traveled and adventured together, taking a few days by train to Baotou, the largest city in Inner Mongolia, and then jumping on trucks and buses in Baotou to Xi’an, passing through Ordos on the way to find the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan. In Brian’s words, China is the backdrop of their friendship and love. Brian also appreciates Nanjing’s modernity. In his view, Nanjing is a city that balances tradition and modernity, building skyscrapers while retaining beautiful ancient buildings. Nanjing has preserved the world’s longest and largest ancient city wall, and the 25-kilometer intact city wall 600 years ago shares a space with the stunning 450-meter Zifeng Tower. Brian loves the rich and diverse traditional Chinese culture and long Chinese history and is committed to promoting the connection between traditional China and modern China and the relationship between China and the world.

在林登的“奥德赛之旅”中，南京是一个重要的城市。林登记得80年代的南京细节，比如金陵饭店全城唯一的咖啡馆，中美中心的小型图书馆，南京大学的“大屋顶”建筑……80年代的南京见证了最美好的林登故事，林登在南京大学篮球场遇到了他的夫人关宝玉（Jeanee）。此后，林登和关宝玉一起旅行和冒险，坐了几天的火车去内蒙古最大的城市包头，接着在包头跳上卡车和客车前往西安，中途经过鄂尔多斯去寻找成吉思汗陵……用林登的话来说，中国是他们友谊和爱情的底色。林登也喜欢现在的南京，在林登看来，南京是一个平衡了传统和现代的城市，在建设摩天大楼的同时保留了美丽的古建筑。南京保留了世界上最长、规模最大的古代城墙，完整保存的25千米城墙与450米的紫峰大厦穿越600年古今同框。林登喜爱丰富多样的中国传统文化和悠久的中国历史，并致力于促进传统中国与现代中国、中国与世界的联结。

For Lu Xin, Nanjing is a historical city with a deep cultural heritage. Nanjing has also witnessed the beginning of China’s modern history and the end of its darkest hour, and it is a thousand-year-old capital with special political and cultural charm. In 2011, Lu Xin’s aunt was invited to visit Nanjing to participate in the commemoration of the “Centennial of the Xinhai Revolution”. Lu Xin learned from her aunt that Nanjing is an open, inclusive, and energetic city with plenty of room for dialogue. In 2019, Lu Xin got the opportunity to study at HNC and live in Nanjing. During her studies at HNC, Lu Xin took a large number of interdisciplinary, cross-field, and cross-cultural courses focusing on both China and the United States. The professors at Nanjing University are erudite and elegant, while the professors at Johns Hopkins University are rigorous and humorous. The school includes many diverse mini-courses and expansive alumni resources. The experiences with mentors and friends at HNC constitute Lu Xin’s warm and beautiful memories of the historical city.

对于辛露来说，南京是一座有着深厚文化底蕴的历史名城，同时南京也见证了中国近代史的开端与至暗时刻的终结，是一座拥有特殊政治和文化魅力的千年古都。2011年，辛露的姑姑曾应邀到访南京，参加“辛亥革命百年祭”纪念活动。当时从姑姑口中获知的南京，给辛露留下了开放、包容又充满活力和对话空间的印象。2019年，辛露获得了在中美中心学习的机会，终于有机缘近距离地接触南京。在中美中心求学期间，辛露选修了大量跨学科、跨领域、跨文化的中美双方课程。南大的教授博学儒雅，霍大的教授严谨幽默。中美中心还有丰富的迷你课程和庞大的校友资源，这些良师益友的帮助和教诲构成了辛露对于南京温暖而美好的回忆。

This magical journey spanning more than 30 years came to Nanjing, and Brian and Lu Xin shared their stories with everyone in separate discussions at the HNC, the Popular Bookmall at Nanjing University, and the LIBRAIRIE AVANT-GARDE bookstore in Nanjing. At the LIBRAIRIE AVANT-GARDE, Brian was asked “why was the English version of the book not published in the United States?” Brian laughed and said that if people in the United States were as willing to hear his story as Chinese, he would be more than happy to publish it in English. At the end of each book talk, Brian said to everyone when signing for readers: “Be sure to ask Lu Xin to sign together, this is our joint creation!” I took the book and asked Lu Xin to sign it, then asked Brian to sign it, and joked: “Could you sign me a work contract on the book? Working at Linden Centre will definitely be a blessing.” Brian laughed and said, “Please come to Yunnan as soon as possible!” The invitation is not only for me but for everyone. Confucius said, “Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?” 

这段跨越30多年的奇妙旅程回到南京，林登和辛露分别在中美中心、南京大学大众书局、南京先锋书店和大家分享故事。在先锋书店分享时，有人问林登，为什么不在美国出版这本书的英文版？林登笑着回答，如果美国人和中国人一样愿意倾听他的故事，他非常乐意出版英文版。每次分享结束，林登为读者签名时都对大家说：“一定要请辛露一起签名，这是我们共同的创作！”我拿着书先请辛露签名，然后请林登签名，开玩笑地问：“或许可以在书上给我签个工作合同？在喜林苑工作肯定很幸福。”林登大笑起来：“请你尽快来云南！”这不只是对我的邀请，这是对所有人的邀请。孔子说，“有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？”

About The Author

zijingliu

zliu204@jh.edu