Old friendship crosses seas and mountains - Time Magazine
Descendants of a U.S. expatriate return to Kuliang in March 2025. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
As the fall semester began this September, 82-year-old Gordon Trimble and his wife Sonia Trimble flew from the United States to Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, to teach at Fujian Hwa Nan Women’s College and continue a five-generation family legacy.
Since 2005, the teacher has returned annually to offer practical English courses. He also takes his students to Kuliang, a historic mountain resort in Fuzhou, to share century-old stories of friendship built by early foreign professionals who came from the late 1880s to the early 1900s as teachers, doctors and diplomats.
Lydia Trimble, his great-grand-aunt, was part of this historic wave, arriving in Fuzhou in 1889. Driven by a belief in female empowerment through education, she founded the precursor to Fujian Hwa Nan Women’s College in 1908, southern China’s very first institution for women.
Lydia’s niece Ethel Wallace arrived in Fuzhou in 1906 and taught at the college for 40 years. She was also joined by Lydia’s two nephews: Fred Trimble, an architect who helped design a campus building, and Garnet Trimble — Gordon’s grandfather — who managed a local hospital in Nanping, Fujian.
“They came to Fuzhou because they thought all life was important,” Trimble said, adding that these expatriates traveled from afar to gather in Kuliang and discuss how to make China better.
Born in Fujian, his father, Robert Trimble, grew up in China until age 12. Though he spent most of the rest of his life in the U.S., he remained fluent in the local dialect.
Trimble and his wife finally accompanied his father on a root-seeking journey back to Fujian in 1989, marking his father’s emotional return after 62 years.
Following that trip, Gordon Trimble’s father returned almost every year until he passed away in 2014. His father also pioneered the partnership between Fujian Hwa Nan Women’s College and the University of Puget Sound — the very institution where his grandfather had served as a campus physician when he returned to the U.S.
Since 2005, the Trimble family has donated 4 million yuan ($597,200) to support education in China, including sustaining exchanges between the University of Puget Sound with Fujian Hwa Nan Women’s College and Fujian Normal University. Under his sponsorship, 20 American graduates have come to China as English teachers, while eight Chinese educators have visited the U.S. for academic exchanges.
Wu Lanjia, vice-president of Fujian Hwa Nan Women’s College, said, “The Trimble family’s relay to support Chinese education is a vivid embodiment of international friendship that crosses mountains and seas.”
Today, Kuliang has evolved into a premier landmark for China-U.S. youth exchanges, hosting cultural festivals that carry the torch of friendship forward. As Trimble shared during a youth baseball event: “We treasure our Chinese friends. We are happy to call Fuzhou home.”
