In the past two days, the homepage Jun brushed a very interesting Weibo, and the blogger @Reporter Han Peng talked about a very small matter between China and the United States——
A house that was originally in Yunnan was actually moved to the United States intact.
The whole process is both emotional and moving, maybe it is not exciting enough to be drowned in the hot search, but the homepage Jun still wants to share this story with everyone.
Celebrity red carpet makeup dominates the hot search
As the original blog comment area said, "the more tense the moment, the more precious this little beauty", I hope it can also touch you in front of the screen -
The protagonist of the story is an authentic American named John Flower.
He received a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, studying Chinese philosophy and history. Flower loves Chinese culture from the bottom of his heart, and he even did a crazy thing in order to get closer and experience China more freely-
Gave up a tenured position at the University of North Carolina.
Soon, Flower became the director of China studies and history teacher at the West Dwell Friendship School, one of the most famous private schools in the United States, and he would take American high school students to rural China every year to visit, exchange, and study.
Flower is just a small "molecule" between China and the United States, so small that people don't notice the foreigner walking through the field.
But in more than 20 years, he has done only one thing to make American children know more about China.
Flower (far left) and students
The story takes place 8 years ago -
At that time, Flower was visiting Cizhong Village, a rural Chinese village, in Deqin County, Yunnan, when he suddenly found a house inhabited by Tibetans, which had local ethnic characteristics.
Although this kind of house is just an ordinary house, which can be seen everywhere in Yunnan, Flower feels that "the more ordinary, the more extraordinary it is", and the house is like an open book, from which you can see the history and culture of a city and even a country.
What's more, this house is located at the bottom of the Himalayas, on top of the world wonder formed by the "three parallel rivers" of the Jinsha, Lancang and Nu rivers.
In addition to nature's gifts, the house is also influenced by religions such as Buddhism and Catholicism, which perfectly and balances the characteristics of Tibetan, Han and Naxi.
Moreover, following the traditional layout for hundreds of years, every detail reflects the wisdom of the life of the people of Yunnan——
On the west side of the first floor there is a cool and dry room dedicated to storing crops and fermented foods; Open attic for storing hay and sun-dried vegetables for feeding animals in winter; The courtyard and porch were used for wine making and bacon.
The most commendable thing about this house is the ingenuity of the Chinese, which uses a "mortise and tenon structure", without the need for an iron nail, relying only on the natural properties of wood to make the house last for thousands of years, which is both strong and easy to disassemble.
The protruding part is called "mortise", and the recessed part is called "tenon", and the mortise and tenon fit together, so that the wood and the wood are perfectly connected
Unfortunately, Yunnan was planning to build a new power station, and a new dam meant that the river would flood large swathes of land, including the land where the house sits.
Compared with economic development and convenience, it is normal to disappear a homestay, but in Flower's view, it must keep the house in front of it.
A bold thought sprang to his mind - I'm going to translate it to the United States!
In his opinion, although he cannot take 60 children to China, he can let 60 children experience China in the United States in this way.
So he approached the current owner of the house, Mr. Zhang, and told him about his intention to "pan" the house.
In 1933, British writer James Hilton wrote a novel "Lost Horizon" in search of Shangri-La, in which the character Zhang Yin Laju is the father of Mr. Zhang's grandfather. The novel was later adapted into a movie, with Zhang Yin Laju on the right
"No problem, let's move! I would be happy if people from other places could see my house and the folk style of the village! Mr. Zhang readily agreed.
On the left is Lao Zhang, on the right is Flower
Thanks to the advantages of the detachable tenon and tenon structure, this crazy "moving" operation began.
Under the auspices of Flower, someone began to mark every part of the house, someone used a computer to draw the organizational chart of the house, someone was responsible for breaking the house into pieces of wood, and finally sorting and packing the wood...
Large trucks pulled wooden truckloads out of Ibaraka Village, with limited vehicles and winding mountain roads, and Flower and his team raced against time to get the houses out before the power station could begin.
However, out of the village, there are still a series of problems waiting for them such as customs and shipping.
"Crazy us?" Flower's wife, Pamela, questioned more than once.
"Maybe we're crazy, but how do we know if it works without giving it a try?" Flower is determined and driven.
Luckily, Flower is backed by the villagers.
Wen Dou, a villager who has been helping Fellow coordinate the work, believes that the operation is just crazy, but in fact it is just "a group of ordinary people doing something that ordinary people should do." ”
And that "should be done" is to let more foreigners see China's secret and splendid houses.
Eventually, the timber used to build the house crossed the mountains and rivers from Yunnan to Tianjin, from the port of Tianjin to Baltimore, and finally moved to West Virginia in September 2017.
After arriving in the United States, Flower faced an assembly and restoration work ten times more difficult than disassembly.
For the first four weeks, Flower's students cleaned and treated the wood to rebuild it starting with the walls.
In order to better restore the Chinese nature of the house, one of the walls was built using the traditional Chinese rammed earth method, which dates back to the era of copper and stone combined use;
Another wall uses concrete, a sustainable building material widely used in Yunnan.
For Americans, this is a process of reconstruction, but also a process of deeply experiencing and learning about Chinese culture.
Again and again, they were amazed by architectural marvels from the East, with each piece of wood written with the wisdom of the ancient Chinese.
From concrete to the completion of the walls, from the kitchen to the attic, it took nearly 3 years to rebuild, and this house from the feet of the Chinese Himalayas was finally restored in the United States!
After learning the news, Mr. Zhang, the original owner of the house, quickly called Flower happily: "I hope that one day I can see this house!" ”
"If you come, I will entertain you in your old house and tell you 'welcome home'!"
After Flower brought the house back to the United States, Mr. Zhang moved into a new house built by the local government, a new dam was put into use, and Deqin County, where the village of Cizhong is located, successfully took off the hat of a poor county in 2019.
Everyone's life is steadily improving.
And this plan to "pan" the house is just the beginning of Professor Flower.
Subsequently, he and his wife co-founded the non-profit project "Chinese Residence" in the United States. Their goal is clear -
Build more Chinese houses in the United States, turn this place into a folk museum of Chinese rural life, let more and more foreigners understand Chinese houses and China's colorful culture.
Let's turn the gears of time back to the present.
On June 26, 2022, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang came to the restoration site of the "Chinese Civil Residence" project.
"One, two, three, one, two, three!"
With a uniform shout, Qin Gang, who was standing up to the scorching sun, and the students present worked together to beam a building in the courtyard. The wooden beams were pulled up smoothly, and after a while, the mortise and tenon beams were assembled.
Afterwards, Ambassador Qin said to the Chinese and Americans at the scene:
"We assembled the mortise and tenon beams, each of which is relatively thin, but they combine with each other, support each other, and can withstand huge pressure.
Although the strength of individuals is limited, as long as we seek common ground while reserving differences, enhance communication and strengthen cooperation, we can play a huge role. ”
The original blogger @Reporter Han Peng was also at the scene at the time, and he said on Weibo that he clearly remembered an American reporter talking to him during casual chat-
"Today's event is not destined to make headlines. But your diplomats were so sincere and friendly, which clearly touched everyone on the scene. He wore a vest and built a house with everyone in the scorching sun, and it would be the conversation these children had at the family dinner table and in school classes tonight and long into the future. ”
In fact, the conversation went on much longer than American journalists thought.
Four months after Qin Gang's visit to the "Chinese Residence" project, the "'Follow Yunnan' - Yunnan Traditional Architecture Seminar" was held simultaneously online in Kunming, Dali, China and Washington, D.C.
About 100 teachers, students and experts from China and the United States attended the event, and they discussed the history and characteristics of Chinese folk architecture and traditional architecture in Yunnan.
Not only that, when American students encountered the problem of missing tiles when they learned to build Chinese houses, Qin Gang immediately arranged for the embassy in the United States and domestic coordination, and finally, Kunming University of Science and Technology decided to donate a batch of "native" Yunnan tiles to the "Chinese Residence" project.
Perhaps, as the American journalist said, these buildings and the exchange activities are not destined to make the front page headlines.
But these houses that we overlook, although ordinary and ubiquitous, do not prevent them from connecting the exchanges between the Chinese and American peoples with a strong arm.
Flower said, "The more ordinary, the more extraordinary it is."
Chinese houses are ordinary, but they must be extraordinary.