A seven-member delegation from San Diego, a sister city of Yantai, visited Yantai from December 1 to 6, 2014.

The delegation was led by Shen Juqin, chairman of the San Diego-Yantai Twin City Association, and Carl Bergman, chairman of the American Pacific Rim Park Association.

Song Weining, deputy mayor of Yantai, met with the delegation on Dec 2 and extended a warm welcome. Song said that Yantai attached great importance to the Pacific Rim Park project in Yantai, and local government would promote the construction of Yantai Pacific Rim Park in 2015. Meanwhile, he also expressed gratitude to Shen and the association for their contributions to the exchanges between the two cities.

During their visit, Shen held a discussion with the foreign affairs office of Yantai about how to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Yantai-San Diego relationship. A preliminary plan has been reached that an orchestra with 120 teenagers from San Diego will give performance in Yantai in June 2015. In September, Yantai will hold a week-long campaign in San Diego, involving economics and trade, education, culture and tourism.

Shen and Bergman met with officials of the foreign affairs office, urban planning bureau, city management bureau and Yantai University to discuss details of the 2015 Yantai Pacific Rim Park project. They also inspected the construction site.

During December 3-4, five musicians from the delegation presented two brilliant chamber music performances at Yantai Theater and delivered lectures to the Yantai Wenhua Philharmonic Orchestra. The delegation also visited the Yantai Art School, Yantai Song and Dance Ensemble, Yantai Urban Planning Museum, Yantai Mountain Park and Yantai Changyu Wine Culture Museum.

San Diego sits in Southern California in the US, close to the Pacific Ocean and bordering Mexico. It is the second largest city in California. Yantai established the sister-city relation with San Diego in 1985. It was Yantai’s first international sister city.

The Pacific Rim Park Association, headquartered in San Diego, aims to promote friendship among young students across the Pacific areas by building parks in Pacific Rim regions. Yantai planned to construct Yantai Pacific Rim Park in June 2015, as an important part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Yantai-San Diego relationship.