On the afternoon of March 2, four officials from Fuzhou Exit-entry Administration Department including Deputy Director Wenfei Chen, Section Chief Fang Lin, Deputy Chief Shenwen Liu and Qifeng Lin came to Hwa Nan and presented Residence Permits to foreign teachers Gordon and Sonia. They also had a friendly communication and exchange on foreign teacher recruitment and service with Vice President Leijing Huang, FAO Deputy Director Shuqin Yang, foreign teachers Gordon and Sonia, Culture and Education Department Chair Liqun Lai and Business English Program Director Yuanyuan Wu.
Vice President Leijing Huang said opening is a fine tradition of Hwa Nan’s education and offering quality service to foreign teachers is the working principle Hwa Nan upholds. With the support of Fuzhou Exit-entry Administration Department, Hwa Nan will expand international exchanges, consolidate and develop international friendship. She express heartfelt appreciation to Fuzhou Exit-entry Administration Department for its long time care and support for Hwa Nan.
During this trip, Deputy Director Wenfei Chen and his colleagues learned more about the touching stories of Professor Gordon Trimble. Professor Gordon Trimble is a descendant of the Trimble family deeply linked to Hwa Nan. As the Chairman of Trimble Foundation, he sponsored nineteen graduates from Puget Sound University to teach at Hwa Nan. With his sponsorship, Puget Sound University sent ten to twenty students each year to have academic or cultural exchange at Hwa Nan. Since his retirement in the year of 2005, Professor Gordon Trimble together with his wife have volunteered teaching at Hwa Nan one semester each year. He donated four million Chinese yuan and set up a scholarship foundation to promote cultural and educational exchange between U.S. and China. He loves China and cares about its development. He was invited to attend many important events of Fujian Province and to meet with provincial leaders. He was honored with Fujian Friendship Award in 2010, Fuzhou Honorary Citizen in 2020 and Member of the Second Council of Fuzhou People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in 2021.
Hearing the stories about the Trimbles, the officials were deeply touched. Deputy Director Wenfei Chen said the Trimbles are the first batch foreign teachers coming to China after the management of COVID-19 being officially downgraded to Class B. With sincere respect, he and his colleagues would offer the doorstep service to wish foreign friends feel at home, to show open and inclusive attitudes of China, and to do practical work together with Hwa Nan to attract talents for Fuzhou.
The Trimbles extended heartfelt thanks to Fuzhou Exit-entry Administration Department for their thoughtful service. They said they will tell the stories of China well to the world getting more people to know about the true China, and become cultural exchange ambassadors writing a new chapter of friendship between China and the rest of the world.
