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During a time of tension, a two-month journey across China to share peoples’ stories

两个月的中国之旅，和你们分享我们的故事

After two months, 40 hotel rooms, and over 15,000 miles of overland travel, Jeanee and I returned to Yunnan just before the busy May First holiday. We spent the month of March filming a special documentary for China’s Central Television and National Geographic. I served as the host and introduced rural China to the renowned Italian actress of Il Postino and James Bond, Maria Grazia Cucinotta.

整整两个月的时间，在换了40家酒店，完成了超过15,000英里的陆路旅行之后，我和基妮终于在繁忙的五一假期前回到了云南。

今年三月，我们为中国中央电视台和《国家地理》拍摄了一部特别的纪录片。我担任主持人，向著名的意大利女演员、007邦女郎——玛丽亚·格拉齐亚·库奇诺塔(Maria Grazia Cucinotta)介绍中国的乡村。

We spent weeks exploring China’s most impoverished areas to better understand how the central government is approaching poverty alleviation. We were received like family at every destination and were genuinely impressed by China’s efforts to lift its rural population out of poverty.

我们花了数周的时间，探索了中国最贫困的一些地区，从而更好地了解中国政府如何实现扶贫的政策。

在每个探访的地方，我们就像亲人一样受到当地热情的款待，同时对中国政府为农村摆脱贫困所做的努力留下了深刻的印象

Maria shared gifts with the students in a small school in rural Ningxia Province. This region was labeled by the UN as one of the world’s most inhospitable places to live. We spent days with the students and their families, understanding their economic challenges and the advancements made during the recent poverty alleviation efforts.

玛丽亚给宁夏的一所农村学校的学生们带去了礼物。这个地区曾被联合国标记为世界上最荒凉的居住地之一。我们与学生及他们的家人一起生活了几天，了解他们的经济问题，以及最近扶贫工作中取得的进步。

In Zhejiang province, we even took a hot air balloon, which ironically was Maria’s farewell in the James Bond movie, The World is Not Enough. She attempted to blow up London and 007 in that scene. She jokingly reminded us of her last hot air balloon trip and promised to be good. We survived that ride and many more during our exploration of China’s countryside.

我们甚至在浙江的一个村子里乘坐热气球上天飞行。有趣的是，这是玛丽亚在007电影《黑日危机》中的最后一幕，她试图在那一个镜头里毁掉伦敦和007。她开玩笑地告诉我们她最后一次热气球的旅行，并保证这将是很好的体验。在探索中国乡村的过程中，我们有很多这样难忘的经历。

The final broadcast is due to come out this summer. We’ll keep you posted!

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Our first nights spent on our new Suzhou site with the American Chamber of Commerce and friends

苏州容春堂开始试营业啦!

We were able to enjoy our first nights on-site at our newly restored Suzhou complex. JJeanneand I were tickled to see the nearly final product: a stunning Ming/Qing Dynasty compound that now combines luxury and the spaciousness of a Suzhou garden courtyard.

我们在新修缮完毕的苏州容春堂酒店提前体验了住宿服务。我和基妮很高兴看到最后呈现出来的酒店品质：令人惊叹的明清古建筑，融合了奢华和典雅的气质。

We have spent three years restoring this 40,000 square foot heritage site, which is known locally as the Mansion with 108 Rooms. It now has 16 elegant and comfortable guestrooms in addition to an education wing that can accommodate 35 students and their teachers. The site also has a restaurant, cooking school, and conference facilities.

我们花了三年的时间，修复了这座40,000平方英尺的古宅，它在当地被称为“一百零八间”。除了可容纳35名学生及其老师的教育营地外，它现在拥有16间优雅舒适的客房。酒店里还设有精致的苏式餐厅，烹饪教室和完善的会议设施。

Our first guests included a soundscape workshop led by the renowned art curator and member of the Asian Art Council at the Guggenheim Museum, Professor Ou Ning, and a retreat for select staff and members of the Shanghai American Chamber of Commerce.

我们容春堂的启动艺术工作坊「村声」是由著名艺术策展人、古根海姆博物亚洲艺术理事会成员欧宁教授主持，有艺术家、音乐人、摄影师、作者、科研人员、博物馆研究员、学生等学员参与。美国商会的成员也是容春堂首批入住的客人之一。

Throughout the summer, we will only host our Centre’s previous guests and friends, as well as student groups and business retreats. Stay tuned for our Grand Opening ceremonies in autumn.

今年夏季，我们容春堂将主要接待喜林苑曾经的客人和朋友们。

我们将在9月份举行盛大的开业典礼。

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Students are returning

学生们回来了

The Centre was established to promote intercultural learning. Because of COVID, most of our education programs have been canceled. International schools in China, however, are slowly returning to our villages to renew their studies.

喜林苑的建立是为了促进跨文化交流和学习。由于疫情的影响，我们大部分的教育计划都被取消了。但是，中国的国际学校学生正在逐渐回到我们的村庄，继续他们的乡村学业。

Shanghai American School spent the month of April with us and is back for another four-week program. United World College will be spending one week on our Suzhou site later this month and, during the summer, we will host numerous theme programs on all of our compounds.

上海美国学校的学生在云南和我们共度了一个月的学习时光，并将再次回来，完成另一个为期四周的乡村课程。联合世界书院的学生将于5月下旬在苏州容春堂体验一周的学习课程。今年夏季，我们将针对各个年龄段的学生和友好学校，举办不同的主题课程。

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Hope。。。。

期待

We regularly meet with government officials from China, who are also our project partners, and from Western nations. Consistently there is a desire to rekindle people-to-people diplomacy during these times of tension. Many of these government colleagues encourage us to keep on doing what we are doing. A repeated comment in these discussions is: “I wish we could be making the impact that you are.”

我和基妮经常与中国的政府官员会面，他们是我们项目重要的合作伙伴。在如今全球紧张的局势下，我们始终能感受到“以人为本”的外交理念。许多政府的同事朋友们都鼓励我们继续做我们正在做的事情。我们常听到的一个积极评价：“希望我们也能做更多像这样有影响力的事。”

To our friends outside of China, please rest assured that the Chinese people have remained the most gracious hosts and colleagues throughout the recent diplomatic challenges. We cannot handle all the lecture requests, partnership inquiries, and local government investment opportunities to expand our hotel sites. We feel safe and welcome here and hope that the world will look beyond the daily media stories that only provide a thin veneer to the deeper reality that is China.

现在在国外的朋友们，请你们放心，中国人民仍然是最亲切的东道主和合作伙伴。我们收到了很多演讲的邀请、合作伙伴的咨询，以及当地政府想要我们新增酒店选址的投资机会，虽然不能一一回应，但我们在这里受到当地诚挚的欢迎和认可。也希望世界能够看到更真实的中国，而不是一些媒体报道的浅薄表面。

To reach us for booking, email us at: reservations@linden-centre.com

Please stay safe and healthy!

祝您平安喜乐，身体健康!

We miss all our friends and family!

我们想念着来自全世界的我们的朋友和家人

Brian and Jeanee