Joining hands across the water

Teachers and students of the Affiliated High School of Fuzhou Institute of Education and students from Tacoma enjoy calligraphy on June 26. HU MEIDONG/CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: Amity between the people holds the key to sound state-to-state relations. China Daily will come out with a series of stories highlighting Chinese cities' special connections with sister cities, mutual understanding, trust and friendship between peoples of different countries and cultural backgrounds, and shining light on "city diplomacy".

It's a relationship forged by history, geography and trade — among other things — and symbolized by a certain fragrance and the way it is produced.

That fragrance emanates from the process of scenting jasmine tea, an intangible cultural heritage of China and a specialty of the city of Fuzhou, Fujian province.

Fuzhou's jasmine tea is a delicate blend of green tea leaves and jasmine blossoms, and scenting the tea involves mixing jasmine buds with tea leaves overnight. In the morning the flowers are removed and the leaves dried. This process is repeated up to nine times to achieve a rich, fragrant jasmine tea.

When Victoria Woodards, mayor of the city of Tacoma in the US state of Washington, visited Fuzhou in June, she was invited to witness for herself part of this exquisite process.

"If you think about it, the scenting process symbolizes building a friendship again and again because you can't just do it once, as it doesn't last," Woodards said. "If you continue to do it over and over again, then the bond is stronger, just like the fragrance gets stronger."

This marriage of taste and fragrance in tea is as serendipitous as the Pacific Ocean currents that play a role in bringing Fuzhou and Tacoma together despite the 10,000 or so kilometers that separate them. In fact, so kindred are the two cities' spirits that 30 years ago the two decided to formalize their relationship by becoming sister cities.

One of those who contributed to establishing that relationship was Connie Bacon, a former commissioner for the Port of Tacoma and a former executive director of the World Trade Center Tacoma. And it was she who in October 1993 welcomed to the city a visiting delegation from Fuzhou.

One member of that delegation was then Fuzhou's Party Secretary Xi Jinping. Bacon invited him to her home for dinner.

That visit, including the close personal relationships it cultivated, bore fruit a year later when Bacon signed the sister-city agreement with Fuzhou on behalf of Tacoma. In the years since then the two cities have engaged closely with each other, with about 100 delegations sent to each other between the two sides. Their collaboration covers many areas, including culture, education, sports and trade.

It is the last of these that has been a cornerstone of the relationship, with both cities being important ports for their countries.