A sister in progress

With a moderate climate year-round, a scenic location on the coast of the Yellow Sea and a majestic mountain range that includes the picturesque Mount Laoshan, the city of Laoshan, China, has no problem attracting tourists from around the globe. Hsiao-Mae Weidmeyer, however, hopes it also can attract the attention of the city of Columbia.

Weidmeyer’s group, Friends of China, has been working since October to forge a sister-city relationship between Loashan and Columbia. If it succeeds, Laoshan would become Columbia’s fifth sister, alongside Hakusan, Japan (formerly Matto City); Kutaisi, Georgia; Suncheon, South Korea; and Sibiu, Romania.

“Laoshan is twice as large as Columbia, which is not considered very large in China, but the cities are similar in that they are both interested in the environment, the high-tech industry and quality of life,” Weidmeyer said.

Weidmeyer said Mayor Darwin Hindman expressed interest in creating a relationship with Laoshan after meeting with Laoshan Director Wan Wei Da, who is Hindman’s counterpart. The two met while Wan Wei Da was studying here with MU’s Asian Affairs Center. In December, a five-member delegation will visit Columbia to further explore the sister-city potential.

The relationship would include both cultural and business exchanges; the Laoshan government is most interested in the latter.

“We’re hoping to do an exchange at all levels,” Wiedmeyer said. “There is a lot of interest in China, and we’d like to bring more Chinese culture to mid-Missouri.”

Robert Ross, Columbia’s public communications director, said the success of sister-city relationships depends largely on the community organizations that run them. The city’s involvement, he said, is fairly limited.

“The city establishes the relationship but beyond that has limited involvement, and it relies on the community organization because of limited resources,” Ross said.

The majority of the work will fall on Friends of China, which is creating a nonprofit corporation to run the program. At a meeting Wednesday, it plans to assemble a board of directors to oversee and maintain the sister-city relationship.

“It’s a community-based program, so the community is required to be active,” Ross said. “The key is community support.”

All four of Columbia’s current sister cities have had active relationships at some point, but the arrangements between Kutaisi and Hakusan stand out.

The driving force behind the Kutaisi relationship is the humanitarian nonprofit group “A Call to Serve.” Under the direction of that group, Columbians have donated boxes of salt to the former communist bloc country since 2001. Many Georgians suffer from an iodine shortage that can cause, among other things, goiter, infertility and miscarriages. The salt drives have led to a significant reduction in cases of goiter. Now, A Call to Serve is raising money to build a facility that would handle bulk shipments of iodized salt. During its last fundraising campaign, the group raised $30,000.

Columbia Public Schools has for several years maintained the city’s relationship with Hakusan, Japan. The school district organizes exchange programs for high school students and teachers to spend time studying abroad. In turn, the school district plays host to Japanese citizens.

Weidmeyer said she is confident a relationship with Laoshan can be rewarding.

“We have had a fantastic response from Columbia, MU, the city and even Missouri’s sister-state coordinator has expressed interest,” Weidmeyer said. “China is starting to notice the Midwest, and so a lot is going on.”

Missouri is a sister state of Hebei, China.

Sister-city relationships normally last five years unless the City Council decides to renew them. Weidmeyer said Friends of China hopes to have a formal agreement signed by the spring.