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Current and Recent Programs |
Jiujiang City in Jiangxi Province, is a cultural and historic city situated at the crossing of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway. Jiujiang has a population of 4.13 million people. This two-thousand-year-old city is a noted town in ancient China, for years it served as a communication center along the middle reaches of the Three Kingdoms (220-280 AD). The city was a customs station in the third century and became a country town in 589 AD. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, it was an important center of the tea trade. In 1861 it was opened to foreign trade. Jiujiang now has one city, nine counties, two districts and Mount Lushan Administration Bureau under its jurisdiction. In total the city covers an area of 18.8 thousand kilometers. For additional information on Jiujiang City in China please see the Culture Kit.
Louisville formalized a Sister Cities relationship with Jiujiang, China during the Sister Cities Summit in September 2004. Jiujiang, China was chosen as a Sister City because over twenty years ago Jiangxi Province and Kentucky, USA, became Sister States (Provinces). Both sides receive official visits from their sister regions frequently, and visiting delegations have achieved great successes in many fields. Jiujiang City was first introduced to Louisville in 1996 when a government delegation from Jiangxi province visited Kentucky and decided to develop educational and cultural exchanges with Louisville.
Since the year 2000, the Crane House in Louisville, Kentucky, and Jiuijiang Municipal Education Bureau have developed sound educational exchanges that provide training for the English teachers of Jiujiang City. Each summer the Crane House coordinates the annual Teaching in Asia program. Many Louisville teachers have had the opportunity to travel to Jiujiang as part of this exchange.
The Jiujiang Committee holds several gatherings around Chinese Festivals occurring throughout the year. The committee works closely with the Crane House to develop cultural programs of interest to Louisvillians.
Jiujiang is traditionally an agricultural region with the outputs of cotton, rapeseed, silk, fruit and aquatic products. It has made tremendous progress in chemical and high-tech industries consisting of petrochemistry, electric power, building materials, automobile and ship manufacturing, textiles, metallurgy, and machinery. The Chang-Jiu High Tech Corridor is a special Economic Development Zone in Jiujiang. Currently, SCL is working with the Kentucky World Trade Center and Greater Louisville Inc. to explore potential business partnerships between the two cities.
Jiujiang is a famous tourist city. It is well known for it cultral landscape, which includes Mount Lushan, Lake Poyang, and 273 scenic spots and cultural relics including Donglin Temple, Nengren Temple, Stone Bell Hill, Yanshui Pavillion, etc. It has become a communication hub and transportation network. Jiujiang port is listed as one of the first class national watercourse ports along the Yangtze River. |
