City councilman visits Calabasas’ sister city in China





By Michael Picarella
Acorn Staff Writer

Calabasas representatives visited Anqing, China for the first time last month as part of a sister city relationship that’s been in the works for nearly two and a half years. Calabasas City Councilman Dennis Washburn said the trip was educational.


At the turn of the millennium, Anqing natives Nick and Lisa Yang, (Lisa is a member of International Economic and Cultural Exchange of the USA in San Gabriel) searched via Internet for a sister city in Southern California and discovered Calabasas, according to Washburn.


After agreeing to cooperate in relations, Calabasas hosted Anquing representatives in August 2001. Anqing city and business leaders toured many Calabasas businesses and city landmarks, Washburn said.


"We made a bit of a vacation out of our trip over there," Washburn said, who paid his own way.


"We entered via Beijing, toured the first two and a half days up in the capital, climbed the Great Wall … When we arrived in Anqing at almost midnight, they had a huge banner at the Anqing hotel welcoming the ‘Calabasas friendly delegation’—that was the way they labeled us," he said.


Washburn and 10 other representatives from the area mirrored the Anqing representatives when they were here—they saw businesses and landmarks and spoke to many of the city’s citizens, congratulating their efforts to make the sister city relationship possible.


"We were treated as if we were Bill and Hillary," Washburn said. And everyone learned a lot about Chinese culture and how business is conducted in mainland Asia, he said.


Anqing has a population of about 6.5 million.


The city began to take shape in 1217 and is the hometown of many influential residents including well-known painters, thinkers, writers and leaders. The land is rich with rice and cotton. There are also many forests in the city.


Anqing is also a productive area for freshwater fish. There are plenty of mineral resources in the city because it’s located in the copper and iron ore regions of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.


"We were there eight days," Washburn said, "and we ran from six in the morning until one at night—it was quite a time. We figured we would sleep when we got done."


Anqing is no stranger to sister cities.


It also has a relationship with Ibaraki, Japan since 1985, according to Washburn. And it’s looking for partnerships with other cities, he said.


They want to learn from everyone, Washburn said, and Calabasas is hoping to do the same.


The Calabasas City Council recently approved a sister city relationship with Mevasseret Zion, a small city similar to Calabasas just outside of Jerusalem in Israel. Washburn and others look forward to future student exchange programs and interactions of business and cultural ideas with both sister cities.


No meetings have been arranged with Mevasseret Zion. Anqing representatives plan to return to Calabasas in May and in October.



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