19:57
In this episode of People's Daily Talk, we are pleased to be joined by Brian Linden, founder of the Linden Centre, created for a more sustainable model of tourism development and heritage preservation.
Linden was born in Chicago and has been living in China more than 30 years. He began studying in Beijing in 1984 through a Chinese government scholarship.
Linden has been a carpet cleaner, an actor, a journalist and a Stanford PhD candidate. Today he is a writer. His initial career was in international education development and investment.
He worked in over 75 countries before returning to China with his wife and two sons in 2004 to preserve and redevelop the nationally protected structure now known as the Linden Centre in Southwest China's Yunnan Province.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a former US secretary of state and hundreds of Chinese media professionals and scholars have praised Linden's approach to preserving historic buildings and incorporating villagers in the planning and management of his seven heritage hotels.
Linden's book Redefining Diplomacy - One Village at a Time discusses the 39-year evolution of his views on China.
Click the video for more details and stay tuned for the next episode.
(Produced by Liang Peiyu, Wang Zi, Li Bowen and Xie Runjia)
