Friendship Cities

  2007-10-10 17:13

　　Toulouse:

　　City with inhabitants 0.7 million and an area 11826 hectares, capital of Haute-Garonne département, Midi-Pyrénées region, France, at the junction of the Canal Latéralàla Garonne and the Canal du Midi, where the Garonne River curves northwest from the Pyrenean foothills.

　　Toulouse progressed commercially with the advent of railways in the 19th century. Diversified industrial development has been augmented by the availability of hydropower from the Pyrénées and natural gas from Lacq. In just a few years, Toulouse has built a reputation as a dynamic, modern city. The aviation and space industries, electronics, information technology and biotechnology are the key sectors that have contributed to our city's solid economic development.

　　Second campus in France, Toulouse University was founded in 1229, so it has had time to form its own personality and its own specific characteristics. Today, over 115.000 students attend courses in its three major faculties, its institutes and“grandesécoles”. The quality life-styles, the varied gastronomic dishes, the chanting southern-accent, all make Toulouse a pleasant town to live and work in. In December 1982, Chongqing and Toulouse started their twinning relationship.

　　Hot links:www.mairie-toulouse.fr

　　Seattle

　　Chief city of Washington, U.S and christened "The Emerald City", The greater Seattle area is home to 2.7 million people. Boeing, Microsoft, Nordstrom and Starbucks coffee are based here.

　　Within Seattle's present diversified economic complex are manufacturing with heavy emphasis on aerospace industries, machinery, and forest products, food processing, banking, insurance, and transportation. Biomedical, ocean science, and electronics-based industries are important as well. Seattle is the headquarters for the Boeing Company and is also the site of Fort Lawton (established in 1897) and Sand Point Naval Air Base. It is also the home port for a large fishing fleet and the Puget Sound and Olympic Peninsula ferries.

　　Seattle Center (site of the 1962 World's Fair) contains the 185-metre - high Space Needle. Seattle is the seat of the University of Washington, the city also has Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, Cornish College of the Arts and four community colleges.

　　Hot links:Http:// www.ci.seattle.wa.usHttp://www.beautifulseattle.com

　　Hiroshima

　　City and capital of Hiroshima ken (prefecture), southwestern Honshu, Japan, on Hiroshima Bay of the Inland Sea. The city is situated on the delta of the Ota River, whose six channels divide it into several islets. Hiroshima, whose name means "Broad Island," was founded as a castle town by the feudal lord Mori Terumoto in the 16th century. From 1868 onward it was a military center, and on Aug. 6, 1945, it became the first city in the world to be struck by an atomic bomb, which was dropped by a B-29 bomber of the U.S. Air Forces. Most of the city was destroyed, and estimates of the number killed outright or shortly after the blast have ranged upward from 70,000. Deaths from radiation injury have mounted through the years.

　　Reconstruction under a comprehensive city-planning scheme was begun about 1950 with the rebuilding of the Inari Bridge. Now the largest industrial city in that section of Japan encompassed by the Chugoku (western Honshu) and Shikoku regions, Hiroshima contains many administrative offices, public-utility centers, and colleges and universities. Industries produce steel, automobiles, rubber, chemicals, ships, and transport machinery. The city is Japan's major needle producer. Now the Hiroshima City has a population of 1,109,000 people

　　Hiroshima Castle was restored in 1957 and houses a museum of city history. Peace Memorial Park, located at the epicenter of the atomic blast, contains a museum and monuments dedicated to those killed by the explosion.

　　Hot links:Http://www.city.hiroshima.jp

　　Leicester

　　Borough of England and City of Leicestershire, located in the Midlands, lying on the River Soar and the Grand Union Canal, Leicester is one of the country’s industrial centers, having a population 0.3 million and an area 74 sq. km., well served by rail and road with London and the Northern England.

　　Being an earlier Nonconformity center, Leicester obtained rapid industrial development in 1832 when the railway linked the city with the Leicester coalfield. On its traditional industry, hosiery and knitwear, Leicester has made light engineering its largest employer now. It is entitled“The First Environmental City”in the United Kingdom. England,

　　Leicester enjoys the distinction of being Britain’s first 'Environment City' and the greening of the city was singled out for special praise at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. Internationally, we are at the forefront of urban nature conservation and sustainable development.

　　There has always been a strong tradition of education in the city. The city’s two universities are engaged in socially relevant research and teaching, and attract around 24,000 students. Add those at further education colleges and it means that, in term time, students make up over 10% of Leicester’s population.

　　Hot linksHttp://www.leicester.gov.ukHttp://www.leicester.co.uk

　　Voronezh

　　Also spelled VORONEZ, city and administrative center of Voronezh oblast (province), western Russia at the confluence of the Don and Voronezh rivers, about 587 km. from Moscow, with a population of 1 million and an area 60 sq. km. With a history of more than 400 years the city was founded in 1586 as a fortress, later forming part of the Belgorod defensive line. Peter I the Great built his naval flotilla there for use in his campaigns against the Turkish fortress of Azov. With the intensive agricultural development of the forest-steppe, Voronezh became a major center for the grain trade and flour milling.

　　Modern Voronezh owns a wide range of aeronautic, auto, metallurgical, chemical and food-processing industries. Power comes from a thermal electric plant and from the Novovoronezhsky atomic power station.

　　The city has over 20 higher education institutions and around 100 prominent scientific academicians including a university (evacuated there from Tartu, Estonia, in 1918) and agricultural, medical, veterinary, forestry, and teacher-training institutes. The center of the city, with most of the administrative, cultural, and educational institutions, is laid out on a gridiron pattern that is broken only near the river by ravines in the steep bank. Industrial areas lie west of the city center or on the low, sandy left bank.

　　Recent years have witnessed the formulation of a series of preferential policies to attract foreign investment.

　　Hot link:Http://www.voronezh.com

　　Toronto

　　City, capital of the province of Ontario, southeastern Canada. It has the most populous metropolitan area in Canada and, as the most important city in Canada's most prosperous province, is the country's financial and commercial center. Its location on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, which forms part of the border between Canada and the United States, and its access to Atlantic shipping via the St. Lawrence Seaway and to major U.S. industrial centers via the Great Lakes have enabled Toronto to become an important international trading center. In the second half of the 20th century the city grew phenomenally, from a rather sedate provincial town--"Toronto the Good"--to a lively, thriving, cosmopolitan metropolitan area. Toronto's geographic situation on Lake Ontario modifies the climate somewhat, although winter temperatures may frequently drop below zero. Heavy snowfall, however, is rare even in January and February, the coldest months. July and August are humid, with temperatures in the 30ºC

　　Toronto enjoys the economic benefits of its position on the Great Lakes and of its development as a rail and trucking center. It is readily accessible to major industrial centers in the United States and to oceangoing shipping. As the capital of Canada's richest and most populous province, the city has a widely diversified economy. Ontario produces more than half of Canada's manufactured goods and most of its manufactured exports; it has immense resources of raw materials--minerals, timber, water, agricultural products, and hydroelectric power. The Toronto Stock Exchange is, in value of trading, one of the largest stock exchanges in North America.

　　The city has several institutions of higher learning--the University of Toronto with its colleges, Erindale and Scarborough, York University with Glendon College, and Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. The Ontario College of Art offers a wide diversity of excellent programs.

　　Hot linksHttp://www.city.toronto.on.caHttp://www.toronto.com

　　Miyakonojo

　　City of Miyazaki ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, on the upper Oyodo River.

　　With a population of 130,000 people, Miyakonojo is a historical and traditional town. Its plentiful greenery and water make it a representative Southern Kyushu city. Miyakonojo became the first "Wellness City" in the world. The slogan is "Wellness Miyakonojo, People, Community, Nature". Moreover, to promote all-round development and a natural aesthetic in all residents, Miyakonojo continues to build and upgrade its facilities in wildderness areas.

　　The city developed around the castle built by the Shimazu family in the early 11th century. During the Tokugawa period (1603-1867), sericulture and silk manufacture were prominent activities. The weaving and textile industries developed after the Meiji Restoration (1868), and synthetic textiles were introduced after World War II.

　　Miyakonojo is now a railway hub and trading centre for southeastern Kyushu. Manufactures include textiles, dairy products, and lumber; agriculture produces sweet potatoes, rapeseed, tobacco, and tea.

　　In November 1999, the friendly city relationship has been established between Miyakonojo and Jiangjing, one of the cities under Chongqing’s municipal jurisdiction.

　　Hot linksHttp://www.city.miyakonojo.miyasaki.jpHttp://210.136.24.69/miyakonojo