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The sister city relationship doesn’t come about by chance. President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid the ground work for the sister city movement here in the States with his People-to-People citizen diplomacy initiative. The official control of sister cities first fell under the jurisdiction of the National League of Cities, and in 1967, as the movement became more popular with the American public, Sister Cities International became its own non-profit entity. The role of Sister Cities International is to help cities find each other and formalize the sister city relationship – which is all about promoting cultural and business opportunities between the two cities. Sister Cities International even has a Cities Seeking Cities section on their website!
San Francisco has 18 official sister cities: Amman, Jordon – Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire – Assisi, Italy – Bangalore, India – Barcelona, Spain – Caracas, Venzuela – Cork, Ireland – Haifa, Israel – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – Krakow, Poland – Manila, Philippines – Osaka, Japan – Seoul, South Korea – Shanghai, China – Sydney, Australia – Taipei, Taiwan – Thessaloniki, Greece – Zürich, Switzerland.
Quite a well rounded group! Personally, I’ve only been to two of them so far – Barcelona and Shanghai – but am hoping to visit them all eventually.
Because of my interest in this movement, I will be starting an on going series here on No Onions Extra Pickles exploring the relationships between San Francisco and its sister cities – and I need your help! If you are from, or currently reside, in any of these cities and want to contribute to a future post on your city, let me know – you can comment below or email me at ashley “at” No-Onions-Extra-Pickles “dot” com.
Update!
I’ve posted interviews on the following Sister Cities:
Phil in the Blank on Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Adriane and Jennifer on Bangalore, India
Runaway Juno on Seoul, South Korea
Vagabond Quest on Sydney, Australia
BUT am still looking for interviewees for the rest of San Francisco’s Sister Cities!
12 comments
Erin De Santiago says:
August 28, 2010 at 2:33 am (UTC -7)
I really miss San Francisco (all of Northern California in general). We live in Taipei now, which I guess I can see some of the similarities. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Erin De Santiago recently posted..Photo of the Week- Chinese Drunken Chicken from Din Tai Fung in Taipei- Taiwan
Ashley @ No Onions Extra Pickles says:
August 28, 2010 at 6:27 am (UTC -7)
Awesome! Thanks so much for offering! You can definitely be of assistance – you’ll have such a great perspective since you’ve spent extended time in both places! I’ll get in touch when I have more specifics
Caroline in the City says:
August 28, 2010 at 1:13 pm (UTC -7)
I’ve been to Cork and I’m going to Sydney in January!
Ashley @ No Onions Extra Pickles says:
August 30, 2010 at 6:04 am (UTC -7)
Ooh, well then I could totally use your help if you’re interested
Might be in a little bit since there are so many cities to go through, but I’ll let you know!
Adventurous Kate says:
September 4, 2010 at 12:11 am (UTC -7)
I haven’t lived in any of those places (yet), but I have been to Assisi twice if you’d like any information on it…
Adventurous Kate recently posted..Travel-Adventure Book Review- Hothouse Flower
Ashley @ No Onions Extra Pickles says:
September 4, 2010 at 4:58 pm (UTC -7)
Great!!! Don’t really know much at all about Assisi, anything you can fill me in on will be wonderful. I’ll get in touch when that post comes up.
Monamie says:
September 11, 2010 at 10:50 am (UTC -7)
hi, im interested to write about manila. check my blog for my writings.
Ashley @ No Onions Extra Pickles says:
September 11, 2010 at 11:07 pm (UTC -7)
Thanks Monamie! That would be great – I’ll email you the details soon.
Adeel says:
September 11, 2010 at 5:46 pm (UTC -7)
I can write about Seoul.
Adeel recently posted..Its the most wonderful time of the year
Ashley @ No Onions Extra Pickles says:
September 13, 2010 at 3:30 am (UTC -7)
That’s great Adeel! I’ll email you soon and let you know what I was thinking for the post.
Craig and Caz says:
September 14, 2010 at 2:58 pm (UTC -7)
Hi Ashley,
Nice idea. We would love to contribute regarding Sydney. We grew up 1 hour north from there. Please keep us in mind if we can be of assistance!
Craig and Caz recently posted..Travel Photo- Our Gorilla Experience- Uganda
Ashley @ No Onions Extra Pickles says:
September 15, 2010 at 3:51 am (UTC -7)
Yay! That would be fantastic! Expect an email from me, sometime in the near future