Lushan Institute History

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The story of the Lushan Instititue began in after China opened up and many Westerners had the chance to return to Lushan where they had grown up.  A small, close knit group who had attended the Kuling American School, had formed an Alumni Association back in 1938 when their school had closed due to the Japanese invasion.   Their spiritual connection to Mt. Lu was powerful and stayed with them for more than 70 years.  As the once youthful students grew old, they longed to return to their true home, Kuling, China where their Lushan Memories had never faded.  They passed their love of their mother country on to their children as many families re-traced their history to rediscover Lushan as the true home of their mothers and fathers.  In 2007, during a large reunion in Lushan of KASA family members, the Westerners received a warm welcome from the native Chinese, and a friendly meeting took place between the KASA contingent and the Lushan Government.  An idea emerged and was taken charge of by KASA President Jim Day.    The idea was to rebuild a bridge to Lushan in the form of a new East/West school to teach Chinese language and culture and further the development of mutual understanding between China and the West.   The Lushan Institute was born out of a feeling of deep guanxi ('relationship') that the KASA families carried because of their 100 year friendship with China.  

You can see the complete story here.