Elyn and Peter MacInnis at Donald MacInnis' cemetery in Fuzhou, where Donald's Chinese name is carved on the wall. CHINA DAILY

In November, Elyn met Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco at a side event of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. Xi, who worked in Fujian province from 1985 to 2002, had heard about the friendship of Kuliang and wrote a letter to her about her efforts in documenting and promoting such friendship.

"I don't remember exactly what I said," Elyn recalled. "We shook hands, and it was like a casual talk with an old friend as well."

Elyn said she was very happy when she heard President Xi and US President Joe Biden reached an agreement on strengthening cultural exchanges for younger children, and she said that is what she is trying to do — also pass the "Kuliang spirit" on to younger generations, not limited to families who had lived in Kuliang but to the world as well.

"The most important thing is to have a relationship. As a child, it's a wonderful time to start a friendship and to be influenced by another country. The friendship has definitely passed from generation to generation," she said.

This is similar to how her father-in-law passed the connection to her and Peter, and how Elyn, in turn, passed that connection to her daughters, whose Chinese names are Ai Zhong and Ai Hua. Combined, they mean ai zhonghua, which translates into "love China".

"If China and the US can begin to make a beginning in this and carry it further, I think it will influence the other countries as well," Peter said.