City tour held to commemorate 40 years of bilateral relations between China and US

About 50 guests consisting of US entrepreneurs working in Shanghai and members of an association promoting foreign exchange went on a special city tour in Shanghai on Saturday to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US.

"By touring some of the places in the city that are significant to China-US relations, we can further understand the role that people-to-people exchanges have played in non-governmental communication, friendship and mutual trust between China and the United States," said He Jiliang, the director of the board of Eastday.

Organized by the Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the city's online news portal Eastday, the tour started from Jinjiang Hotel, where the Joint Communique of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, also known as the Shanghai Communique, was released in 1972. The Shanghai Communique marked the start of the process of normalization of bilateral ties between the two countries.

Other sites included in the tour were the Shanghai Library, Fudan University, the Shanghai Disney flagship store and the Coca-Cola factory museum. The tour concluded at the Shanghai Municipal Archives where the photo exhibition Trans-Pacific Exchange and Cooperation is currently being held till August 15. The exhibition is being held as part of efforts to mark 40 years of China-US relations.

"I have been to those places many times but I never knew about the stories behind them," said Christie Ho, a Chinese-American working in Shanghai. "Now, all of a sudden, the stories are alive."

Michael Rosenthal, the founder of US Green Solutions, said: "Every place left an impression on me because they speak of the amazing relationship between the two countries and have had tremendous economic and social benefits for the people on both sides. Even though there have been difficult times, there always remains a very strong relationship between the people of China and the US."

Wang Junlin and Tang Xiaofan contributed to the story.