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– What’s New / Ongoing Programs –

18th Annual National Committee on U.S.-China Relations CHINA Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections

April 9th, 2024 from 6:30 to 9:00pm

National Speaker (via webcast):

Dr. Kurt Campbell
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (2024-present)

 

Local Speaker:

Robert Daly
Director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center

More details coming soon!

Bard High School Early College Baltimore Partnership

2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years

The 2022-2023 school year program featured a calligraphy demonstration and class by master calligrapher Bing-jib Huang 黃秉驥, a luncheon featuring food from long-time Charles Village institution Orient Express, and awards for top students.

The 2023-2024 school year program includes:

• Sep. 20th: Exhibit featuring photos previously shown in the lobby of Baltimore’s World Trade Center

• Sep. 29th: Fall Dean’s Hour featuring lantern-making for the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

• Dec. 1st: Field trip to Washington, DC, including a visit to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and an exploration of Chinatown; see the BSC website for details

• Dec. 13th: Chinese Embassy reception in honor of the 50th anniversary of “ping pong diplomacy” hosted by Ambassador XIE Feng

• Jan. 26th, 2024: Lunar New Year Family Teacher’s Union (FTU) Community Event including fall semester Chinese language and culture awards for top students, performances, and special guests; see the BSC website for details

• Spring field trip

• Spring Dean’s Hour

• Spring semester Chinese language and culture awards for top students

The BXSCC and BHSEC-Baltimore thanks participating students, parents, colleagues, and our corporate partner BGE Asian American Resource Group for their support of this programming.

More details coming soon!

Youth Ambassadors Student Travel Program Resumes!

July through August 2024 Details coming soon!

– Other Highlights –

Baltimore Welcomes Guests from Xiamen

December 13th and 14th, 2023 After four long years, the BXSCC again welcomed guests from the Xiamen Bureau of Education and Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition to Baltimore! During productive discussions including at Bard High School Early College – Baltimore and Baltimore City Hall, the BXSCC and our partners both local and from Xiamen laid the groundwork for future exchanges.

For details regarding the eduation delegation visit, see the Xiamen Bureau of Education’s social media post (all in Chinese).

Baltimore Sister Cities & Friends Fall Social

October 19th, 2023 Thank you to all who joined or supported us at R. House (301 W 39th St., Baltimore, MD) for a fantastic fall meet-and-greet! We were excited to bring together friends, old and new, to celebrate our city’s diverse cultures and connections through food traditions from around the world. This in-person gathering comprised of an evening filled with fun, laughter, and community spirit.

Registration was conducted via Eventbrite.

The NCUSCR CHINA Town Hall Returns to Baltimore City Hall!

October 11th, 2023

National Speaker (via webcast):

R. Nicholas Burns
U.S. Ambassador to China (2021- present)

 

Local Speaker (in person):

Mary E. “Mendy” Nitsch
Director, International Affairs, Maryland’s Office of the Secretary of State

 

China’s rapid development and Sino-American relations have a direct impact on the lives of nearly everyone in the United States. CHINA Town Hall is a national conversation about China that provides Americans across the United States, and beyond, the opportunity to discuss issues in the relationship with leading experts.

This year’s event featured current U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in a national conversation on how the U.S.-China relationship affects our cities, towns, and communities. In Baltimore, Maryland’s Director of International Affairs Mary E. “Mendy” Nitsch led an intimate conversation about Baltimore and Maryland’s subnational exchanges with localities in China and beyond.

Thank you for joining us for the 17th annual CHINA Town Hall, hosted nationwide by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) and in Baltimore by the Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee!

Registration was conducted via Eventbrite.

BXSCC Visit to Fujian Province

July 2023 To kick off the resumption of in-person exchanges after the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, BXSCC Chair Xin (Cindy) Wang met with both the Xiamen (City) Foreign Affairs Office and the Fujian (Province) Foreign Affairs Office on the first in-person trip to Xiamen by a BXSCC representative in four years. In addition to reviewing the past few years of exclusively-virtual exchanges and thanking Xiamen partners in person for their support of Baltimore’s pandemic efforts, the meetings also laid groundwork for future exchanges in business, the arts, education, healthcare, and many other areas.

The BXSCC also thanks the Maryland Department of Commerce Office of International Investment and Trade as well as Maryland Center China for their support of this visit.

See the Xiamen Foreign Affairs Office social media post (in Chinese) for more details.

Baltimore City Asian / American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebrations

May 23rd, 27th, and 31st, 2023 This May, the BXSCC and our partners at the BGE Asian American Resource Group and Constellation Asian American Resource Group co-hosted a by-invite-only AAPI Heritage Month happy hour at Water Song Yunnan Kitchen in Baltimore’s Federal Hill neighborhood. The program featured remarks from organizers/sponsors and state & city officials, as well as the presentation of a new Chinatown oral history project by Professor Jacqueline “Jacky” Shin of Towson University / Goucher College.

In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, Mayor Brandon Scott visited local AAPI-owned businesses Dear Cafe Leon and NiHao in Canton over Memorial Day weekend. The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA) facilitated these visits, with input from community partners including the BXSCC.

To close out Baltimore’s celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, Mayor Scott also hosted a reception Baltimore City Hall featuring special remarks by MIMA Director Catalina Rodriguez-Lima, Mayor Scott himself, and BXSCC Chair Xin (Cindy) Wang. The program included presentation of certificates of recognition to local AAPI-serving organizations and individuals.

The BXSCC thanks our members, guests, and local partners for sharing in the celebration of Baltimore’s AAPI community throughout May 2023 and beyond!

Asia North 2023

May 5th to June 3rd, 2023 The 5th annual Asia North community exhibition and festival celebrated Baltimore’s Charles North (a.k.a. Station North) neighborhood’s constantly evolving identities as a Koreatown, arts district, and creative center. Inaugurated in spring 2019, Asia North is a collaborative community celebration that recognizes, showcases, and honors the art, culture and the Asian heritage of Greater Baltimore, especially the Korean history of Baltimore’s Charles North community. Regional AAPI artists and organizations presented exhibitions and a festival of events including opening & closing parties, performances, makers market, a Filipino feast, film screening, readings of plays, and networking.

The 2023 program was presented by the Towson University Asian Arts & Culture Center and the Central Baltimore Partnership, with participation and support from organizations including Baltimore Sister Cities’ Asian committees (Changwon, South Korea; Kawasaki, Japan; Xiamen, China). Catering by NiHao for the closing reception was sponsored by the BXSCC. See the 2023 festival webpage for more details.

Sister City Book Club

April 24th to May 25th, 2023 In spring 2023, BXSCC members and friends joined the Village Learning Place (VLP), the Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee, and readers around the world in a multinational book club!

Readers in Baltimore, Xiamen (China), Sarasota (Florida), Richmond (Canada), Wellington (New Zealand), and Sunshine Coast (Australia) read Florida native William Brown’s Off the Wall: How We Fell for China, which describes his family’s experiences in China over the course of three decades. Readers were invited to pick up a complimentary copy of the book from Charles Village’s library and community center VLP and join a virtual meet-the-author event the evening of May 25th.

Quantities of the book were limited; distribution were on a first-come, first-served. “Best reader” swag bags were gifted to select program participants. See the corresponding VLP webpage for more details.

Sister Cities International Young Artists & Authors Program on Food Security

April through August 2023 Youth in Baltimore, our sister cities around the world, and other locales participating in the Sister Cities program were invited to join this annual contest. The 2023 theme was “Peace by Piece: Food Security in My Community”.

In August 2023, 16-year-old ZHANG Jingwu of Xiamen was named the second-place winner of the photography category for his piece “On the Field of Hope”. Jingwu described his photo as portraying “A bountiful harvest and boundless hope. The yellow grains in the sun form a golden ocean, and the terraced fields transformed from the hills are layered on top of each other, showing the hope of thriving in the sunlight. The golden sunlight renders the banana trees in the field emerald and gold, and the rich colors show the joy of the harvest in the mountains.”

See the corresponding Sister Cities International webpage, winners announcement, and Xiamen Foreign Affairs Office social media post (in Chinese) for more details, including depictions of the young artists and their work.

BXSCC Featured in Maryland Curiosity Bureau (WYPR) Radio / Podcast Episode ‘Baltimore’s Sister Cities: Where are they? And why them?’

March 21st, 2022 In February and March, the BXSCC and fellow sister city committees were contacted by Aaron Henkin for his WYPR program The Maryland Curiosity Bureau, where members of the public are asked “What’s got you curious about Baltimore, the region, and its people? Is there a local mystery that’s always left you scratching your head?”. The result: An eye-opening tour of Baltimore and its sister cities worldwide.

To listen to the program, visit the episode link on WYPR’s website.