昆明市与高山市：相隔千里却一见如故 | A Thousand Mile Friendship

Rolling mountains, beautiful environment, long history and colorful folk culture, Kunming and its sister city Takayama in Japan has many things in common, making the “thousand mile friendship” stronger than most.

The friendship between the two cities began in July 2011 when the mayor of Takayama and his delegation visited Kunming and signed the Letter of Intent for Friendly Exchange Cities with the incumbent mayor of Kunming. In September of the same year, the incumbent deputy mayor of Kunming also led a delegation to visit Takayama, which further deepened the friendship between the two cities. In April 2012, the Mayor of Takayama led a delegation to visit Kunming again and signed the Letter of Intent on Developing the Sister-City Relations with Kunming, as well as in July 2012, the Deputy Mayor of Takayama attended the 14th China-Japan-Korea Friendship Cities Conference on behalf the city.

In May 2016, the mayor of Takayama visited Kunming and jointly held the “Kunming–Takayama Tourism Promotion Conference” with Kunming, where discussions on deepening the cooperation in sports, culture and other fields were held. “Kunming is a beautiful city, and I’m deeply impressed by its superior ecological environment, rich cultural resources and unique local customs,” said the mayor of Takayama, who repeatedly expressed his love for Kunming during his visit. He also expressed his wish that the two cities could establish the sister-city relations as soon as possible to give full play to their respective advantages, strengthening exchanges and cooperation, enhancing economic exchanges, as well as carrying out practical cooperation in tourism, culture, education and environmental protection, and other areas, so as to achieve win-win development.

In October 2018, a delegation from Takayama visited Kunming to discuss the signing of the sister-city agreement. On December 21, 2018, Kunming and Takayama officially became sister cities through postal signing. In August 2019, a youth delegation from Takayama visited Kunming and took a tour to the Kunming Municipal Administrative Center where an exchange forum with the Foreign Affairs Office of Kunming Municipal People’s Government was held.

In the future, the two cities will continue to deepen the exchanges and cooperation in tourism, culture and education, allowing the flowers of friendship to bear fruitful fruits.

高山市档案

Snowy winter in Takayama. File Photo

冬天的高山市银装素裹。资料图

Unique folk-custom ceremony in Takayama. File Photo

高山市独特的民俗仪式。资料图

Distinctive architectural features of Takayama. File Photo

高山市别具一格的建筑特色。资料图