WELLINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's inner city Hastings will celebrate the 40th anniversary of sister-city relationship with China's Guilin between March 1 and 7, Hastings District Council said in a statement.
The ever-popular Lighting of the Osmanthus Gardens, a free show in the Hawke's Bay Opera House celebrating the relationship, and a mini-expo in Functions on Hastings telling the story of Guilin and Hastings's Sister City journey, are in the mix, all happening between the first week of March.
In the same week, Guilin will hold an exhibition celebrating the sister-city relationship in the city's new museum, and large screens in public squares will show video of Hastings and the shared experiences that have grown out of the agreement.
The two cities are similar in a few ways. They are both fertile growing areas and focus on processing local produce, and growing tourism, said the statement.
The Hastings and Guilin sister-city relationship was suggested by Hastings horticultural scientist Dr Don McKenzie, who had links with the Guangxi Institute of Botany in Guilin.
Hastings and Guilin became the first China-New Zealand sister-cities in 1981. To date, China has set up 40 friendship-province or city relations with New Zealand. "For 40 years, sister cities have served as a bridge of communication between China and New Zealand through promoting practical cooperation in various fields and complementing each other's comparative advantages," Wu Xi, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand, told Xinhua.
Hastings District councillor Kevin Watkins said Hastings has strong economic links with China through horticulture exports, international education and many friendly-city relationships, which has been remarkably successful.
"It has helped us to understand each other and, particularly for our business people, enabled an understanding of China's culture that has enabled them to spread their trading wings over much broader areas of China," he said.
Watkins added that the relationship has also raised awareness of Hastings in Guilin.
"As Chinese visitors to our shores have become more independent travelers, it has certainly increased the number of tourists getting off the well-worn Auckland-Rotorua-Queenstown track to come and visit our beautiful part of New Zealand," he said.
Functions on Hastings will host a free four-day exhibition showcasing information on the sister city journey and demonstrations of Guilin and wider Chinese culture, and there will be a free live event in the Hawke's Bay Opera House on Friday night of that week.
"It is always incredibly popular and this year we have additional space and lanterns ready, to help us celebrate what is a very special occasion," Watkins said. Enditem
