 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
|||||
| “The Sister Cities program is an important resource to the negotiations of governments in letting the people themselves give expression of their common desire for friendship, goodwill and cooperation for a better world for all.” |
|||||
|
President Dwight D. Eisenhower |
|||||
|
The Boomerang Box is currently carrying a garden pavilion from Chongqing, China, all the way back to Seattle, Washington. The pavilion was built by craftspersons in Chongqing, Seattle’s “sister city” in Sichuan Province, China. It will be reconstructed in Seattle as part of the Seattle Chinese Garden at South Seattle Community College. Seattle established a sister city relationship with this 3,000-year-old city in 1983. This has led to over 100 exchanges in education, the arts, government, trade, medicine and science as well as plans to build a large-scale classical Chinese garden in Seattle. The garden has been designed and will be constructed by Chongqing craftsmen in cooperation with their professional counterparts in Seattle, and located on state-owned land in West Seattle. A non-profit organization called the Seattle Chinese Garden Society was founded to coordinate the project.
The classical Chinese garden will feature two main halls, one of which will be used for exhibitions and educational purposes, as well as extensive rockery and pathways, a large lake fed by water flowing through a lotus pond and a rocky gorge and ending in a waterfall, a three-story tower, and numerous rustic pavilions. The garden will feature an extensive array of Sichuan horticulture, including pines, maples, bamboo and rhododendrons. | |||||
| | ||||
|
Sister Cities International Sister Cities is a program that helps to increase international understanding and foster world peace. President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded the Sister Cities program in September 1956. It was originally part of the National League of Cities, but due to tremendous growth and popularity, Sister Cities International (SCI) became a separate, not-for-profit corporation in 1967.
Today, 1,200 U.S. communities of all sizes had developed sister city relationships with 2,100 cities in 125 countries. Most of these are in Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Local sister city programs are supported by community volunteers and endorsed by local government leaders. Agreements are signed by the mayor of each city and ratified by each city councils. This process helps people at the local level — citizens, local governments, businesses, media, private voluntary organizations, and educational institutions — become involved in international diplomacy. It promotes a mutual exchange of ideas, people and materials in a wide variety of arts and cultural, business and economic development, educational and youth leadership, sports, health, media, technology and community problem-solving programs. | ||||
| | ||||
|
Seattle’s Sister Cities Seattle has the second largest sister city program in the U.S., maintaining relationships with twenty cities in countries in Asia, Europe and Africa. Metropolitan King County and other Puget Sound cities have also established sister city relationships with other cities throughout the world. Kobe, Japan Seattle’s involvement in the Sister Cities program began in 1957 in an agreement with Kobe, Japan. To commemorate the 30th anniversary in 1987, Mayor Charles Royer led a Seattle delegation of musical performers and presented a sea otter to the Kobe Aquarium. In turn, Kobe Mayor Miyazaki led a delegation to Seattle of 100 Kobe citizens with dancers and musicians. The Kobe Terrace Park in Seattle’s International District has Japanese pine and cherry trees and a stone lantern, gifts from the people of Kobe. | ||||
| | ||||
|
Tashkent, Uzbekistan Seattle was the first U.S. city to establish a relationship with the former Soviet Union. In 1973, Seattle and Tashkent became sister cities. Tashkent is a desert city on the legendary “Silk Road” trade route that connected China and Europe for thirteen centuries. Today, it is the largest city in Central Asia, with a multi-ethnic population of 2.3 million, and is capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a newly independent nation in the midst of profound political and economic change. Over the years, the Seattle-Tashkent Association has organized exchanges with school children and teachers, mountain climbers, physicians, chefs, lawyers, broadcasters, and folk dancers. | ||||
| | ||||
|
Other Sister Cities Seattle’s Sister Cities and the order in which they were established are: | ||||
| | ||||
|
| | |||
|
