Berg, a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, has played pipe organs for more than 30 years, and since he first went to Ningbo in 2008 he has been keen for the city to have an organ of its own. 

Over the years, Berg talked with various churches and district governments about the matter most close to his heart - and one that was obviously driving him to distraction. Asked how he managed to practice when there was no organ in the city, he said: "I practiced in my mind."

Yes, the city should have an organ of its own, he felt. 

"It wouldn't be just for me. I may leave one day, but the organ would stay."

Having a pipe organ is "kind of like having a child", Berg told US newspaper Portsmouth Herald.

"You know, as an organist you have to go to your instrument. You don't have the luxury that, let's say, a trumpet player would have or a flutist, where they can take their instrument with them."

So when Berg saw an online posting, saying the organ was available, he began making inquiries.

[Photo provided to China Daily] "The priest at that church said to me: 'If you want this you have three weeks to come and get it,'" Berg said.

Not only that, but Berg would not have to pay the church a penny for the organ. 

"So there was a mad dash to try and find a builder in the States who could dismantle and pack it and get the insurance for us and all those kind of things. We did find somebody and he was able to do it in three weeks."