Our Story

我们的故事wŏmen de gùshi Our Story Founded by two brothers in 2009. Still run by the people who built it, in Guilin and beyond. CLI was founded in Guilin, China in 2009 by two American brothers. Now in 2026, we remain as focused on our core mission as ever—to foster China’s best and most effective Chinese language learning environment. Explore the Immersion Program Start at the beginning GUILIN, GUANGXI • EST. 2009 Welcome to the CLI Center A family effort CLI started as an idea between two brothers. Robert and Bradford Fried founded CLI in 2009 after a combined ten years in China, most of it spent in classrooms, both as student and teacher. At its core, CLI is a community effort. Many of the people who opened the doors in 2009 are still here today, and the open, welcoming community we built in Guilin is what we would most like you to experience for yourself. Seventeen years on, every class is still one-on-one, and our longest-serving teacher has been here since the year we opened. Meet CLI's foundersCLI began with two brothers and a simple idea: build a center for Chinese language studies completely focused on the student experience. CLI Timeline How CLI came to be Since our founding, CLI has placed the student experience at the center of everything we do. 2001 Bradford arrives in GuilinAs a 3rd-year philosophy student at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, Bradford embarks on a journey to study abroad at Guangxi Normal University and is enchanted by Guilin almost immediately. He has such a positive experience that he returns immediately after graduating from Lewis and Clark to teach English at GXNU's sister high school, Erfu Zhong. Guangxi Normal University, CLI’s long-time affiliate 2004 Robert visits his brotherThree years later Robert makes the trip. Guilin has the same effect on him. Bradford, meanwhile, stays on, living and working as an educator in China until 2016. In 2007 Robert moves to China to study Mandarin seriously. Their mother, Nancy, still answers CLI's US phone (888-781-8383) to this day. Brothers Robert, Jeff, and Bradford Fried 2009 Joe signs up to be CLI's first student!While Robert studies advanced Mandarin at Tsinghua University, the brothers sketch out the school they wished existed when they were learning Chinese: every lesson one-on-one, immersion all day, a community small enough that everyone knows your name. By the end of the year the Chinese Language Institute has opened in Guilin. Dayong joins the teaching team in August and is still teaching here. Joe and Dayong, CLI’s first student-teacher pair 2010 The early team takes shapeIn January, Echo Zhan joins the team. Molin, Avril, Kolok, and Nancy Mo also become part of CLI during its early days. A GXNU graduate with a BA and MA in Chinese Literature, Echo will go on to lead the teaching staff and, from 2014 to 2022, to run CLI day to day. Nearly every program CLI offers carries her fingerprints. The early years, before the CLI Center 2013 A five-story home on Chaoyang XiluIn January, CLI finishes a full renovation of the first floor of its five-story learning center. The team has grown to 16 full-time members plus part-time instructors, students have come from more than 25 countries, and the year ahead will bring close to 300 students more. The CLI Center, circa 2013 2015 The thousandth studentCLI hosts its 1,000th student in China. Robert presents the CLI Method to 1,200 educators at the National Chinese Language Conference in Atlanta. Back in Guilin, a departing student signs his name on the wall before flying home, a tradition that continues to this day. What sets CLI apart is its community feel. I had opportunities to practice Chinese all day at the school building with interns, teachers, and other students.Mike Kehoe, Immersion Program, fall 2015 Signing the pillar at CLI 2016 Two master’s degrees and a second officeRobert and Bradford both earn their master’s degrees. Bradford completes three years as Director of International Staff at GXNU. In August, Robert opens a CLI office in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC. More than 150 universities have now accepted GXNU transfer credit earned through CLI. Bradford at CLI’s 10-year celebration 2017 A student from Bahrain, the 44th countryStudents and teachers complete more than 30,000 hours of Chinese class in a single year. Five CLI teachers welcome babies. The team retreat heads north to Nanjing, where the duck blood soup gets mixed reviews. Nanjing 2017 CLI team retreat 2019 Ten yearsBradford begins a PhD in Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, studying how people actually learn languages. In September, students, teachers, homestay families, and alumni fill the CLI Center for the ten-year anniversary. Robert and Bradford take the microphone together. We put together this short film for the team to mark the occasion. Anniversary film · 2019 A video we prepared for the 10-year anniversary celebration, September 2019. Many of the faces here were also in the room in 2009. 2020 Locked out, not apartRobert is studying Spanish in Barcelona when the borders close due to Covid-19, and ends up running CLI from Colorado. Every lesson moves online. 95% of the previous year’s revenue had been tied to student travel, so the business is rebuilt around Zoom, graded readers, and a pinyin chart. Through it all, at least forty people stay on CLI payroll every month. Over the next three years the team teaches more than 60,000 online class hours to students in over 50 countries. The team and students, Guilin, 2020 2023 The doors reopenStudent visas return in the summer of 2022, tourist visas on March 15, 2023. In between, the team runs its first program in Taiwan. By the following spring, 150 students from more than 20 countries have come back through the CLI Center, and 2024 becomes the first full year back: 430 students from 31 countries, plus 11,000 hours taught online. Welcome back to Guilin! 2025 36,000 hoursCLI delivers 36,000 hours of one-on-one Chinese to students from 35 countries: 23,000 in person in Guilin and 13,000 online. One student is here on his ninth visit. In November the team retreats to Chongqing and Wulong, where the saying for the trip is 学如登山, studying is like climbing a mountain. One-on-one, still the core of each day at CLI 2026 17 years and growing Seventeen years on, CLI has just finished renovating student facilities across all five floors of the Center and has hosted more than 5,000 students from over 50 countries. The core team that opened the doors in 2009 and 2010, Echo, Molin, Avril, Kolok, Nancy Mo, Dayong, Bradford, and Robert, is still part of CLI. 5,000+ students50+ countries400+ institutions17+ years with GXNU CLI is a place where people from around the world meet Since 2009 Constantly developing Since 2009, CLI has hosted more than 5,000 students from over 50 countries and 400 institutions, Harvard, Yale, and Oxford among them. CLI has been featured in The Washington Post and the China Daily, and for nearly a decade Frommer’s has recommended CLI as one of the top Chinese programs in China. Along the way came study abroad through Guangxi Normal University, online one-on-one lessons, and faculty-led seminars across China. Lunch at the Center is still served family style, and the teachers still know every student by name. 5,000+Students since 2009 50+Countries 400+Institutions 17+Years with GXNU ★★★★★4.96/5on GoOverseas, 110+ reviews · read them Scroll A community effort What CLI Students Say CLI's team has stayed together through the years. One of our great joys is seeing students return for their second, third, and fourth or more time. Most places talk about being a community. CLI is a place that is actually one. People enfold you with love and generosity. I think I met as many second, third, fourth, and nth-time visitors as I did first-timers like myself. I plan to go back at least annually. This was my fifth time at CLI. As the classes are all one on one, your teachers can really work with you and find out what your goals are. From CLI’s 110+ reviews on GoOverseas, more than half of them written since the doors reopened in 2023. Read more student stories. Echo, Director of Operations from 2014 to 2022, still teaches. Then and now The people behind CLI Leading CLI in Guilin today Abby HuangSchool Director With CLI since the summer of 2015 and leading it in Guilin since 2022, Abby oversees the school’s day-to-day operations in Guilin. Before CLI she taught Chinese in Thailand for Hanban and then taught international students at Guangxi Normal University. Anna LiangAcademic Director With CLI since 2016. Anna leads the academic program: she schedules courses for Immersion students, study groups, and local learners, runs faculty meetings, and oversees teacher training. She still teaches. The founding team, since 2009 and 2010 Robert FriedCo-founder Moved to China in 2007 to study Mandarin and speaks it fluently. The idea for CLI came together in 2009 while Robert was studying advanced Mandarin at Tsinghua University.Joint MA/MBA, Wharton School and Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania, with a focus in China Studies. Bradford FriedCo-founder Robert's older brother lived and worked as an educator in China from 2001 to 2016, including three years as Director of International Staff at Guangxi Normal University.Master’s in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. PhD candidate in Education, University of California, Santa Barbara, focused on applied linguistics and cognitive science. Echo ZhanDirector of Operations, 2014–2022 With CLI since January 2010. Echo led the teaching staff from 2012 to 2014 and directed CLI's day-to-day operations from 2014 to 2022. Echo remains one of the most-requested teachers at CLI to this day, now in her 17th year at CLI.BA and MA in Chinese Literature, Guangxi Normal University. DayongChinese Teacher, since 2009 Joined in the summer of 2009 and is CLI’s longest-serving Chinese teacher, still one of its most active in 2026. Dayong is from Harbin (哈尔滨), capital of China’s chilly northeastern province of Heilongjiang (黑龙江).“At CLI, I’ve learned that the world is a big place, and every single person in it can be your teacher in some way.”BA, Guangxi Normal University. 桂林The Li River from the city’s edge Guilin, China · 中国桂林 Welcome to Guilin Guilin was chosen as CLI’s home for a long list of practical reasons. It’s warm. It’s small, with a population just under a million, and simple to get around. Residents are friendly and curious about newcomers. The rice noodles are excellent. English is rare enough that Mandarin becomes part of your day whether you plan it or not. The deciding reason is the one you can’t put in a list. For more than a thousand years Guilin has been famous across China for its scenery, and arriving here still feels like stepping into an ink painting. The karst landscape has to be seen. Describing it doesn’t work, so we’ll stop trying. Bradford came to Guilin first, in 2001, and fell in love with the city. Robert visited three years later and felt the same. When the brothers decided to build a language school in China, the question of where had a clear and simple answer. Explore Guilin. The Li River Sunset, Chuanshan Park Cycling near Yangshuo 桂林山水甲天下 Guìlín shānshuĭ jiǎ tiānxià Guilin’s mountains and rivers are the finest under heaven Meet the people behind the story Teachers, directors, admissions, interns: the CLI team is the reason students come back time after time. Meet the CLI team Apply now Keep reading More about CLI Our StoryFounded in 2009, the CLI team remains as dedicated as ever.You are here Our TeamMeet the teachers and staff behind the CLI experience.Keep reading What is CLI?Programs, the GXNU affiliation, and CLI at a glance.Keep reading Why CLI?Personalized care, learning speed, and a deep China network.Keep reading FAQsAnswers to common questions about studying at CLI.Keep reading CloseMessage us on WeChatIn WeChat on your phone, tap + then Scan, and point it at this code.Take a screenshot of this code. In WeChat, tap + then Scan and choose it from your album.Press and hold the code and choose the option to scan it.Then tap Follow and send us a message.We reply Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM Beijing time.