Suzhou Poster Design Exhibition, “Innovative Suzhou, Great Journey”

Portland City Hall - July 27, 2018 to August 3, 2018 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of sister city relations between Suzhou and Portland and also the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up.  iSuzhou, part of Suzhou Daily, organized a poster design competition to highlight Suzhou’s journey in the past 40 years and to promote international exchanges in culture and cultural innovation.  Over 3000 entries were submitted into the competition by Suzhou citizens. The best 50 entries were selected as part of the “Innovative Suzhou, Great Journey” exhibit in Portland City Hall for the Portland-Suzhou Sister City Association’s 30th Anniversary Celebration festivities.

A ribbon cutting ceremony took place in the afternoon on July 27th in the North Atrium of  Portland City Hall. Ms. Chido Dhilwayo, Director of International Relations for the City of Portland, served as Master of Ceremony.  The event was organized by the Portland-Suzhou Sister City Association in collaboration with iSuzhou, Suzhou Foreign Affairs Office, and the Office of Government Relations of City of Portland.

Five Royal Rosarians warmly welcomed the Suzhou Delegation led by Mr. Gu Jie, Secretary General of Standing Committee of Suzhou Municipal Peoples’ Congress to Portland with welcome greetings and a commemorative certificate.   Mayor Ted Wheeler of City of Portland and Secretary General Gu Jie of Suzhou both gave remarks. Mayor Wheeler exchanged gifts with Mr. Jie, also accepted a seal with his name from the exhibit curator and signed a commemorative certificate.  

The ribbon cutting ceremony was performed by Secretary General. Gu Jie, Mayor Wheeler and representatives from both Cities of Portland and Suzhou.  A group photo was taken to mark this special occasion and everyone enjoyed looking through the beautiful poster exhibit before the event ended. 

Original link here (note Chinese language)

My First PediCab Ride at the Portland Grand Floral Parade 2018

Article contributed by Yeshe Versluys

(The son of PSSCA board member JeanLi)

Hi, my name is Yeshe and I attend Lake Oswego Junior High.

On June 9th, 2018, I participated for my first time in the annual Grand Floral Parade, part of Portland’s Rose Festival. I had a great time riding in the pedi-cab representing the Suzhou-Portland Sister City Association. We (My mom and I) arrived bright and early in the morning at the meeting place (which took some effort to find) and immediately got to work, decorating our cab with bundles of bright and scented flowers. Our fellow decorators from other associations commended us on our extravagant bundles of flowers lining the bright orange cab. Finally, our group arrived at the start of the parade, and I saw just how complex, but well organized an operation this was. Horses lined the street, their riders mounted high above everyone else, sporting bright colors and intricate designs in their clothing. I also noticed the various floats that were positioned behind our ensemble of 20 or so carts. Then we started moving.

I have two favorite moments from the parade; the first one was when our caravan entered the coliseum. I remember waving at the massive crowd of people lining the edges of the room, I couldn’t help but smile, taken away by the big audience and grand introduction. As our fleet exited the coliseum, I knew this would be a fun day.

My other favorite moment from the parade was seeing all of the different people, from different backgrounds and a wide range of ethnicities, coming together for this event. It brought a grin to my face as we paraded down the streets smiling, waving, and our drivers cheering their heads off (figuratively). I also enjoyed seeing people’s faces light up when they recognized the various cities being represented, I heard people on the side saying things like “Oh, Oh, Suzhou! I recognize that!”. I even saw some of my classmates there.

All in all, I had such an amazing time and I look forward to attending and maybe even participating next year!

2017 Suzhou Cultural Delegation Visit

The Mayor’s Office, represented by Hector Miramontes, Director of Foreign Relations, and the Portland-Suzhou Sister City Association, represented by President Lynne McIntyre, welcomed the Suzhou Cultural Bureau led by Mr. Jie Li, Director General of the Suzhou Cultural Bureau. Also accompanying the Suzhou delegation was Mr. Shi Hai Chen, Director of the Zhangjiagang Municipal Bureau of Culture and their Assistant Ms. Jincy Chen.

The purpose of the meeting was to restate the commitment of Portland and Suzhou to the enduring friendship between the two cities and to discuss the opportunities provided by the 2018 PSSCA 30th Anniversary Celebrations, and to build upon the two sister city’s cooperation of cultural  exchanges.

After discussing a number of exciting opportunities at this meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed. The ultimate goal, as stated by Mr. Jie Li is to achieve a cultural project that will have an enduring affect for generations to come. Also attending the meeting were Robert Fraser, PSSCA VP; Lisa James, Executive Director of the Lan Su Chinese Garden; Jean Li and Frances Li, PSSCA Board Members,  Cathy Chinn, PSSCA Past President; and Helena Gao, Editor of China Media.

2017 Jiangsu International Youth Art Contest

Principal Julie Rickman of the Hope Chinese Charter School accepted the invitation from PSSCA President Lynne McIntyre and her VP Robert Fraser to participate in the 2017 Jiangsu International Youth Art Contest sponsored by the Jiangsu Provincial Government and Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation.

The purpose of this Contest was to highlight the friendship between the young generation of Jiangsu’s 13 cities including Portland Sister City to Suzhou and those in their sister cities around the world. This Contest encouraged the participation of children aged between 6 and 12 to introduce their hometown by painting in the universal language of art.

The theme of this Contest was “Painting Your Home, Dreaming Your Future”. The selected works will be exhibited in China, and the young artists will be awarded a certificate to celebrate their participation in this Contest. All students participating in the contest from Hope Chinese Charter School will receive a Certificate of Friendship with the City of Suzhou from PSSCA.

Yuan (Yuri) Liu Lead Chinese Teacher & Curriculum Coordinator, coordinated the project with the able assistance of Third Grade Mandarin Teacher Sara Li, Third Grade English Teacher, Carrina Schindler and Kindergarten English Teacher Kelly Matsushima. Approximately 40 students in total from both classes participated. Samuel William's artwork (right) from the Hope Chinese Charter School was one of three drawings submitted from the third grade for the competition.