On December 19th, the Friendship Delegation from Anhui province held the 2023 Anhui Culture and Tourism Promotion event in the U.S. state of Maryland.

More than 100 participants attended the event, including Minister Jing Quan from the Chinese Embassy in the United States, Senator Clarence Lam of Maryland, representatives from relevant American business communities, as well as teachers and students from the University of Maryland.

Attendees experienced the cultural fusion between China and the United States through creative activities such as tea art teaching and interaction, and a performance by students at the University of Maryland about Eastern and Western beverages.

Twinned in 1980, Anhui province and the state of Maryland are the first pair of sister province/state relationships for Anhui.

Sun Yong, Deputy Provincial Governor of the People’s Government of Anhui, said the friendship between Anhui and Maryland achieved fruitful results over the past 43 years. The friendly relations have been writing a wonderful story of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.

Minister Jing said the event will promote people-to-people exchanges and enhance the friendship between China and the United States, representing the spirit of the China-U.S. leaders’ meeting in San Francisco.

Jing said China is working to facilitate people-to-people exchanges between the two countries through measures such as increasing flights, simplifying visa application procedures, and steadily advancing tourism, interaction, and communication at various levels.

Senator Clarence Lam of Maryland noted that the exchange between Maryland and Anhui has a long history with abundant cooperation achievements. He hoped that the event could further deepen cooperation between the two regions in fields such as culture, tourism, and education.

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