Guling, located in the north of Gushan Mountain in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, is a summer resort. At the beginning of the 20th century, foreigners living in Fuzhou built villas in Guling and lived in harmony with local villagers, leaving behind many moving "Guling stories".
Mu Yanling, a 73-year-old American, is an old friend of Guling, and her father-in-law, Mu Airen, came to Fuzhou in the 40s of the 20th century and spent the summer in Guling. In 2015, Mu Yanling came to Guling for the first time to "seek his roots".
In 2016, Lin Yinan, an associate professor at East China University of Science and Technology, and Mu Yanling cooperated to excavate and collect relevant materials and objects in Guling, and actively searched for and contacted foreign friends and their descendants who had lived in Guling and other places to help them find their "home" in Guling.
In 2021, Lin Yinan led the students of the Ancient House Revitalization Laboratory of East China University of Science and Technology to develop the "Guling Family Genealogy" system, which uses satellite positioning, geographic information system and face recognition technology to spell out genealogical maps of buildings and characters in Guling, and builds China's first overseas image database.
Mu Yanling said: "The 'Guling Family Genealogy' system has helped us identify many people in old photos, giving their descendants the opportunity to reunite, and has also unearthed a number of touching Guling stories. ”
"Based on the information provided by Mu Yanling and other overseas Chinese families, we have found more than 500 Chinese and foreign friends related to Guling through the 'Guling Family Genealogy' system. In the future, we will continue to expand the data of 'Guling Family Tree' to help people who have lost touch reconnect with each other, and share more touching stories and relationships with Guling." Lin Yinan said.
On June 22, Mu Yanling (second from left) learned about the current work situation from Gong Bicheng (second from right) and Liu Boxue (first from right) from the Ancient House Revitalization Laboratory of East China University of Science and Technology. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 21, Lin Yinan (right) introduced to Mu Yanling in Guling the use of the "Guling Family Genealogy" system to find foreigners and their descendants who had lived in Guling and other places. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 25, at No. 2 Aiguo Road in Yantai Mountain, Cangshan, Fuzhou, Lin Yinan (first from right) introduced the location of the house in Fuzhou Yinghua Middle School where Bi Lehua lived when he was a child. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 22, Mu Yanling (right) introduced to the participants at the opening ceremony of the "Guling Family Story Exhibition Hall" that she and Lin Yinan searched for foreign friends and descendants who had lived in Guling and other places. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 22, Lin Yinan (front right) introduced the situation of Guling Old Street to the returning "Friends of Guling". Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 22, Lin Yinan (middle), Mu Yanling (fourth from left) and teachers and students from the Ancient House Revitalization Laboratory of East China University of Science and Technology took a group photo at the opening ceremony of the "Guling Family Story Exhibition Hall". Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 18, Lin Yinan (left), graduate student Wu Siyuan (middle) and teacher Li Jing from the Ancient House Revitalization Laboratory of East China University of Science and Technology were arranging the "Guling Historical Building Exhibition Hall". Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
A corner of the Guling National Tourism Resort in Jin'an District, Fuzhou City, taken on June 24 (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 18, Lin Yinan (right) and Zhou Tianyi, a graduate student of the Ancient House Revitalization Laboratory of East China University of Science and Technology, were arranging the "Guling Historical Building Exhibition Hall" according to historical materials. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 21, Lin Yinan (second from right) and Mu Yanling and other "friends of Guling" met at a mountain villa in Guling, Fuzhou. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On June 22, the "Friends of Guling" took a group photo of "We are home" when they were in Guling. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan