Cedar Rapids native helps establish cultural center in China

For one 25-year-old Cedar Rapids native, traveling is second nature.

Adrian Golobic has spent months in the wilderness of Mexico, a summer studying in Cambridge, England, and now lives in the quaint village of Xizhou, China.

After graduating from Cornell College in Mount Vernon two years ago, Golobic moved to southwest China to help with the renovation and establishment of the Linden Centre, a place designed to share intellectualism and authentic Chinese culture through communal living.

“The Linden Centre is an idyllic retreat for stepping back in time, for losing one's self in a culture as old as the greatest in the world and to be inspired to create and learn while becoming immersed in an unforgettable sojourn,” he said in an e-mail from Xizhou.

Although he's thousands of miles from the States, Golobic said the work ethic of the Midwest isn't far behind.

“Everyone that has been involved in the project has lived in the Midwest, and with that comes an ingrained sense of values,” he said. “We have been raised to find a balance of dreaming, pragmatism and a renewed sense of hard work. I believe Iowans understand this the most.”

Efforts to secure the Linden Centre building, which was partially abandoned by the government, were no easy task.

Golobic, director of operations, said it took three years of negotiations, dinners and approvals for founders Brian and Jeanee Linden to gain the rights to use the compound.

“Alcohol seemed to be the international language for ‘I like you, American,' ” he said, recalling one such dinner. “The night ended with me getting a great big bear hug from the Communist Party secretary, the highest-ranking official in the area.”

Since the Cultural Bureau of China has concerns about the renovation of any historical building, there was initially heavy scrutiny and regulation of what could be altered on the building - all of which, Golobic said, changed after the project was completed.

The center resembles a courtyard home as it would have looked 300 years ago, made of stone, wood and brick but equipped with modern features. Banisters are engraved with traditional Chinese poetry.

The center holds justs 28 people in double-occupancy rooms, and visitors come from around the world.

Marc Pachter, 66, the former director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, was surprised by the accommodations.

“I didn't expect it to be such a complete, comfortable adventure,” Pachter said. “It has a feeling of being almost museum-quality without feeling uncomfortable.”

He said he was impressed by how modern the Linden Centre was without losing a sense of culture.

“It's very unpretentious; at the same time it's authentic,” he said.

Eventually, Golobic said, he will return to his roots in Cedar Rapids, but for now he will continue to learn on his adventure.

“When you meet and have tea with a (Taoist elder), living in the same home his family had for 25 generations, you realize that whatever is at the core of every human in this world, none of us are that different,” he said.

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• To see  more about the Linden Centre, check out the website at: www.linden-centre.com