In February 1929, Zhang Boling, an educator and president of Nankai University, had a special Spring Festival in the United States.

On February 8, 1929, Zhang Boling sent a letter to his colleagues at Nankai University, describing the recent situation and mentioning that “tomorrow night is Chinese New Year's Eve, and Mr. and Mrs. Kilpatrick will host a dinner.” In addition, to express how much he missed his homeland, the letter also revealed his plans to discuss education issues with American friends and to meet some famous American professors.

William Heard Kilpatrick, the American educator, and professor at Columbia University, was an old friend of Zhang. In the fall of 1917, Zhang Boling went to the United States to study education at Columbia University, where he became acquainted with William Kilpatrick. On April 19, 1927, Mr. and Mrs. Kilpatrick arrived in Tianjin at the invitation of the China Education Improving Institute. Zhang Boling organized a grand welcome banquet for them with the Tianjin education community at the National Hotel. Afterward, he accompanied them to lecture at Nankai Girls' High School, Technical College, and Young Men's Christian Association, etc.

Zhang Boling's trip to the United States in 1929, called a study tour, was actually to engineered to solve the problem of Nankai's operating funds. Nankai was a private school and needed to raise funds from various parties to maintain its normal operation. On November 30, 1928, Gu Lin, a longtime representative of the Chinese Medical Foundation and the acting president of Peking Union Medical College, wrote to George Vincent, an American social activist and former president of the University of Minnesota, about Zhang's good intentions: “You definitely remember Mr. Zhang Boling, President of Nankai University, who is coming to the United States in a few days to raise funds for his university.”

After Zhang Boling's arrival in the United States, Mr. Kilpatrick gave his old Chinese friend a warm welcome. The New Year's Eve dinner on February 9, 1929 was one of the elaborate arrangements made. In his diary entry of that day, Mr. Kilpatrick wrote: “Zhang Boling dined with us. And it was a great pleasure to see him. He told us many things.” During  conversation over the meal, Zhang brought a lot of good news. What interested Kilpatrick most was news of his favorite student, Ling Bing, who had served as president of the China Education Research Association during his time in the United States. At that time, Ling Bing was making a name for himself in Chinese politics, serving as vice president of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Treaty Research Institute. According to Zhang Boling, Kilpatrick noted, Ling Bing went to work for Feng Yuxiang, and later persuaded Feng to cooperate with Yan Xishan and Chiang Kai-shek, and now was assisting Wang Zhengting in Nanjing.

On February 13, the fourth day of the Chinese New Year, Kilpatrick was commissioned by the ailing Dr. Duggan to host a luncheon for Zhang Boling. At the banquet, Zhang Boling met Mr. Brown (the director of New York University), Trevor Arnett, Reed Carnegie, Gamriel, Kandel, Rockwood, Fletcher Bruckner, Alan, Lindsay and other famous American scholars as he had wished to do.

In an interview with an American journalist, Zhang Boling said, “I don't want our young people to be selfish, nor do I want our country to be driven by narrow-minded nationalism. I do not believe in isolation. As a part of the international community, China will soon make its own contribution to modern civilization.” On that Chinese New Year, Zhang Boling finished his “Study Tour” while making more friends and inspiring Chinese education.