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Mt. Lushan towers by the Yangtze River zigzagging through Jiangxi Province in East China and is largely known as a summer resort. Famed for its historical sites and gorgeous natural splendors such as mighty peaks， roaring waterfalls， mysterious clouds and mists， Mt. Lushan is a huge destination for Chinese travelers today. For those interested to know about the history of nearly 1，000 foreign-styled villas there， however， the mount used to be a summer resort for a large foreign community and is where you can see a great variety of architectural styles.

Edward Selby Little

The history of villas dates back to 1886 when Edward Selby Little， an English missionary， came to Mt. Lushan and enjoyed the coolness of a valley in the mountain. He named it cooling and the English sound was converted into a Chinese name and has been in use since then. 牯嶺 (Kuling) sounds and looks so Chinese that those who don’t know the origin of the name would never suspect that the name is based on an English word.

Edward Selby Little wanted to develop real estates in the valley， but the efforts were futile for ten years before he was able to sign a contract with the local government for a lease of the Changchong Area in Mt. Lushan for 999 years. With the approval of the Chinese government， Little immediately set up Kuling Development Company and started to formulate a development plan. By 1918， the company had built 560 villas in architectural styles of eighteen European and American styles. The villas were in graceful harmony with the surrounding environment. The community of villas became a pioneering model for developing modern garden cities. The successful development of the properties in Mt. Lushan made the English missionary a well known businessman in China. Edward Selby Little went to New Zealand in 1928 and engaged himself in another giant property development project. He passed away in 1939 at 72.

Pearl S. Buck

In 1938 American author Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) became the first American woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her “The Great Earth”， a novel that describes China’s farming life in a rich and truly epic manner.

Her father was a missionary who came to Zhenjiang in Jiangsu Province. He bought a small lot in Mt. Lushan in 1883 and built a small villa. He died in the villa in August， 1933 and was buried in St. Lushan. Though the villa was originally known in her father’s name， it is now known as the former residence of Pearl S. Buck.

Pearl S. Buck grew up in China and she began to write seriously at the villa in August， 1922. What she wrote at the villa was published in the Atlantic. With a profound Chinese complex， Buck determined to create right images of the Chinese people and set right the distorted viewpoints created by some foreign writers. Though Buck tried seriously to reveal Chinese culture and ideology， she knew her knowledge of China was limited. She wanted to find a Chinese writer who could write in English proficiently. She met Lin Yutang in Mt. Lushan in the summer of 1934. After reading Lin’s “My Country and My People”， Buck recommended it to an American publisher. The book won Lin an international fame.

J. Sommar Strom

What makes J. Sommar Strom famous in Lushan is not his villa， although the large wood and stone structure sports the most impressive verandah in the mountain area. What makes the Swedish missionary unforgettable is his heroic protection of 698 Chinese refugees from the Japanese troops in 1939.

The Japanese siege of Mt. Lushan started in August， 1938. Sommar Strom opened the door of his house to refugees. Together with another American missionary， he borrowed three other large unoccupied villas in the neighborhood to receive refugees. The four refugee houses sheltered 698 Chinese altogether. Strom raised money from the foreign community in the mountain and sought help from religious organizations and charity institutions. With wise management， Strom was able to provide basic food， housing and medicine to the refugees.

The mount fell to the Japanese invaders in early April， 1939. One day a group of Japanese soldiers came to the door of Strom’s villa， saying that they wanted to arrest “resistance elements”. Strom blocked the way at the door facing the Japanese bayonets. A Japanese officer asked whether the Swedish missionary received any payment for the protection. Strom gave the Japanese a speech about God and love. The Japanese withdrew.

A monument was later established at the villa in commemoration of the event. In the summer of 2006， the China Central Television came to Mt. Lushan to make an 8-episode documentary. One episode includes quite a few scenes of the villa and reproduces the heroic actions of Strom and the American missionary.

Kuling American School

With its door first open to students in 1921， the modern school had a full range of facilities and all the textbooks were from America. The school enjoyed a reputation as a fine school in the regions in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. As the modern education practiced there was never seen before in most parts of China， many Chinese schoolmasters and officials of education administrations came to visit the Kuling American School. Chinese teachers were deeply impressed by the modern education facilities and astonished to see animated discussions between teachers and students， open-book examinations and beauty pageants.

The alumni of the school have come to visit the schools many times. The youngest daughter of a schoolmaster at the Kuling American School was born in Mt. Lushan. The 79-year-old woman came to visit the well-preserved school in late June， 2008 with 17 family members in four generations.#8194;□