Subnational ties forge lasting bonds

Jeffrey Sullivan, director of systemwide athletics for Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, has not taken off a bracelet since February. A Chinese student from a visiting delegation knotted and tied it around his wrist and told him that it would bring luck for the entire year. Sullivan has no intention of removing it.

Across the country in Utah, a young woman named Ellie Phelps once sat in a Chinese-language class and was ready to quit for lack of a personal connection to the language. One summer camp in China changed everything. Today, Phelps is on a Fulbright Scholarship at Tianjin University. This year, she will return to the summer camp as a mentor.

At a park in Liuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, couples take their wedding photos on the replica of a bridge located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In Tacoma, Washington, more than 200 students from Lincoln High School and its sister school in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian province, have taken part in mutual exchanges since 2008. Among them was a young woman whose single trip sparked a lifelong love of immersing herself in other cultures.

In Oregon, a state senator came home from a trade mission to 13 Chinese cities to find that more than 80,000 additional tons of Oregon hay will head to China.

At a moment when China-US tensions dominate the headlines, an expanding network of subnational partnerships, spanning states including Oregon, Maryland, Ohio, Utah, California and Washington, is quietly growing stronger.

In the 47 years since Nanjing and St. Louis forged the first China-US sister city bond in 1979, the two countries have built 238 such pairings and 50 sister province-state relationships.

Built to last

In Tacoma's Chinese Reconciliation Park, an ornate pavilion, the Fuzhou Ting, was donated by the city of Fuzhou.

"We're so proud and grateful for the relationship with our beautiful sister city of Fuzhou," said Tacoma Council Member Jamika Scott. "It's been a privilege to nurture this relationship for more than 30 years, and we continue to learn and grow from our ties."

The ting, a traditional Chinese structure built to provide shelter, rest and viewing points, has since been the site of dragon boat races, welcomed musicians from the Sister Cities International Music Festival, and served as a stage for film screenings and cultural celebrations, said Scott.

In Liuzhou, a different kind of monument has taken on an unexpected role. A replica of the Roebling Suspension Bridge that spans the Ohio River was built in collaboration between Liuzhou and Cincinnati.

Couples in Liuzhou now stand on the bridge for their wedding pictures.

Despite the city's German heritage, Cincinnati formed its first subnational relationship with a Chinese city. Established nearly four decades ago, the sister-city partnership with Liuzhou has touched thousands of lives through teaching and professional exchanges, said Janet Huston, Ohio state representative for Sister Cities International.

More recently, pickleball enthusiast Joe Hamrick, who is also the chair of the Cincinnati-Liuzhou Sister City Committee, recruited seven couples to travel to Liuzhou and introduce the sport. They visited high schools, universities and recreation centers. But, as Huston observed, the games were never really the point.

"The real purpose of any sister city exchange is to foster peace and understanding between two cultures, and what both sides came away with was just this overwhelming sense of kindness and love, changing attitudes, literally one person at a time," she said.