For Immediate Release Contact:
Wendy Chou Le
Sisters Cities of Long Beach
wendy@uclabruin.com
310-948-1450

Long Beach Qingdao Association Awarded Outstanding 
Partner of the Year for Sister Cities With China

[December 1, 2024] LONG BEACH, CA – Long Beach-Qingdao Association was recently named “Outstanding Partner” for its nearly 40 years of sister-city relations with Qingdao, China. Of the 42 awardees, Long Beach was one of only two U.S. cities receiving the award along with St. Louis, by the China International Friendship Cities Association at their recent conference in Kunming, China.

Susan Redfield, President of Sister Cities of Long Beach, accepted the trophy from Mr. Wang Jinfu, Vice Governor, Fujian Province, China, at the 2024 China International Friendship Cities Conference held in Kunming.  More than 700 attended. 

“We are most grateful and honored for Long Beach to be recognized as Outstanding Partner City of the Year with China,” said Redfield. “Our many programs and activities last year included two student exchanges with CSULB students going to China in January and July, our fourth annual digital pen pal program that now has nearly 500 students who have participated, and the 2024 Chinese New Year festival at 2nd&PCH with nearly 15,000 attending.”  

Mary E. Barton, Ph.D., named Friendship Ambassador to Shandong Province in 2021 and long-time member of LBQA had this to say: “With a mission of people-to-people friendships, our shared activities promote our similar interests in the areas of education, the arts and culture, as well as economic development. We are excited about the many opportunities to further advance our partnership with Qingdao in the years to come.”

LBQA member Vivian Wenhuey Chen is currently finalizing production of a collaborative art project with middle school students from Long Beach and Qingdao.  “We were pleased that so many students from both sides of the Pacific submitted artworks reflecting their understanding of the Lunar New Year celebration. Their artwork will be displayed at the LBQA New Year Festival at 2nd&PCH in February 2025 along with copies of the booklet. This project has been enormously rewarding for me.”

Long Beach’s seven sister cities are: Yokkaichi, Japan; Qingdao, China; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Mombasa, Kenya; Sochi, Russia; Taoyuan, Taiwan; and Bacolod, Philippines. 

For more information about the Long Beach-Qingdao Association visit: lbqa.org. For information about Sisters Cities of Long Beach, visit sistercitiesoflongbeach.org.

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