Deepen the exchanges between international sister cities and promote the friendship between Chinese and American teenagers

——Toledo International Sister Cities Committee and the greater Toledo International Youth Orchestra visited Nanchong, Sichuan

From June 18 to 21, a 51 member delegation led by the Toledo International Friendship City Committee and the International Youth string orchestra crossed the mountains and seas to Nanchong, a beautiful silk city and a millennium old city in Sichuan, to carry out cultural exchanges and visits, convey friendship and blessings through music, jointly promote mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations and the people's hearts, and add vitality and shape the future for the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China US relations.

On the evening of June 20, the 2025 Sister City Youth Fellowship Party of "string supporting city sentiment · Le Yong Jialing River" was successfully held. The string orchestra played foreign classical music such as gadamerin, Xanadu Fantasia, memories of Appalachia, Chinese folk songs such as jasmine, good news from Beijing to the frontier stronghold, liangshanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and Nanchong brought martial arts performances such as Chinese youth, Sichuan Opera changing face, acrobatic skills such as the rhyme of the Tai Chi altar, large puppets such as Chan Juan over a thousand miles. The young people of the two countries use art to outline a gorgeous scroll of cultural blending, and set up a musical bridge of friendship between Chinese and American young people.

According to the person in charge of the string orchestra, the performers of the string orchestra are all school students. In order to prepare for this Nanchong performance, they have been preparing since half a year ago. They gather together every week to practice Chinese music. In their eyes, music is a common language and has no national boundaries. They feel the warmth and friendship between China and the United States because of music and art.

During the visit, the delegation also visited Chengdu Research Base of giant panda breeding, Langzhong ancient city, Gaoping silk source and other places. They were deeply impressed by the naive pandas, the millennium old city culture, traditional production techniques, shadow puppet shows and so on. From the pavilions of Langzhong ancient city to the music festival of Nanchong high school; From the production skills of Chinese ancients' wisdom to the historical and cultural context of museums; From the interesting Panda World in the research base of giant panda breeding to the intangible cultural heritage charm of Nanchong... Witness the beautiful friendship across national borders. 

The head of Toledo International Sister Cities Committee said that he learned for the first time that Sichuan has such beautiful natural scenery and Nanchong has such colorful cultural customs. He believed that the members of the string orchestra would share what they have heard, seen and felt with their classmates, relatives and friends, and become the disseminator and successor of the good cause of Chinese and American people's friendship.

It is reported that Nanchong and Toledo established ties in 2001, and the two sides formally concluded international sister city relations in 2018. Since the establishment of ties, friendly exchanges between the two sides have been deepened and the forms and contents of exchanges have been enriched. This friendly exchange was carried out under the framework of the sister cities agreement. (Yi Qinghai, tangmin)