Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096125th Anniversary of the Guangzhou-BristolSister City RelationshipMemories of 25 years
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 95670962Guangzhou is known as China’s Southern Gateway to theworld, listed as one of the first batch of National Historical andCultural Famous Cities in China and one of the starting points ofthe Maritime Silk Road. With a history of over 2000 years, it iscrowned as the Millennium Commercial Capital.Bristol is the largest city of Southwest England and is thecommercial, educational and cultural center in the region. The year 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the twinningbetween Guangzhou and Bristol. Let’s turn the pages of thisdigital book to discover the exchanges between Bristol andGuangzhou.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709632001-Signing the AgreementOn May 23, 2001, Mr. Lin Shusen, then Mayor ofGuangzhou signed the agreement on establishing the sister cityrelationship between Guangzhou and Bristol at City Hall.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709642002-Beitang ProjectIn 2002, the summer English teaching camp, alsoknown as Beitang Project, jointly organized by theMedical Schools of the University of Bristol and SunYat-sen University, officially became an exchangeprogram under the Guangzhou–Bristol sister citypartnership, aiming to improve English proficiencyamong students in rural areas of Guangdong Province.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709652003-Training Program StartingAs of 2026, a total of 18 students from Guangzhouhave received training at UWE under the cooperationscheme between UWE and GZFAO.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709662004-Fire Balloon GiftIn November 2004, Bristol presented a photographrepresenting Bristol’s Hot Air Balloon Festival toGuangzhou.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709672005-Educational ExchangesIn May 2005, Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, Chancellor ofthe University of the West of England, led an 11-memberdelegation to visit Guangzhou. Gu Shiyang, DeputySecretary-General of the Guangzhou Municipal People’sGovernment, met with the delegation at the GardenHotel.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709682006-Honorary CitizenIn November 2006, Mr. Kam Wong, Chairman ofthe Bristol–China Partnership, was elected an HonoraryCitizen of Guangzhou.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709692007-Manufacturing CooperationIn July 2007, the DPS Company in Bristol, UK,entered into a successful collaboration with GuangzhouGuangzhong Enterprise Group Co., Ltd. to manufacturepressure vessels for floating production storage andoffloading (FPSO) units.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096102008-10th AnniversaryThe Director General of the Guangzhou ForeignAffairs Office was invited to visit Bristol to attend the10th Anniversary Celebration of Bristol & West ofEngland China Bureau (the Bristol–China Partnership).
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096112009-UWE Students at GuangzhouIn December 2009, Mr. Wang Fuchun, DeputyDirector General of the Guangzhou Foreign AffairsOffice, presented the Guangzhou International SisterCities Foreign Student Scholarships to four students fromthe University of the West of England who were studyingat Guangzhou University.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096122010-the 16th Asian Games Held in GuangzhouIn November 2010, a delegation from Bristol wasinvited to Guangzhou to attend the opening ceremony ofthe 16th Asian Games.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096132011-MOU SignedIn 2011, to mark the 10th anniversary of thesister-city relationship between Guangzhou and Bristol,UWE signed a Memorandum of Understanding on TalentDevelopment Cooperation with GZFAO.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096142012- the Brunel Gorilla Sculpture UnveiledIn November 2012, Mr. Peter Main, Lord Mayor ofBristol unveiled the Brunel Gorilla sculpture, which waspresented by Bristol to Guangzhou to mark the 10thAnniversary. The first business delegation from Bristolalso visited Guangzhou organised by Institute ofDirectors in collaboration with the China Bureau.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096152013-Orchestra ExchangesIn November 2013, a 46-member delegation of the windorchestra from Guangdong Experimental High School took partin a summer camp in Bristol.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096162014-Bristol Winning the Guangzhou AwardOn the evening of November 28, 2014, Bristolreceived the Guangzhou Award for its “Smart City”project in the Second Guangzhou International Award forUrban Innovation.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096172015-Webinar on Smart CityIn August 2015, a video conference was convenedfor the second phase of the “Smart City” cooperationproject between Guangzhou and Bristol in the UK. Themeeting aimed to exchange experiences in open urbandata and digital infrastructure development, with aparticular focus on the development of the Internet ofThings (IoT).
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096182016-Shaun the Sheep Figure UnveiledIn December 2016, the Mayor of Bristol, MarvinRees, led a delegation to Guangzhou to attend the 3rdGuangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation. The then Mayor of Guangzhou, Wen Guohui, met withMayor Rees and his delegation, and together theyunveiled a Shaun the Sheep figure presented by the Cityof Bristol to the City of Guangzhou as a commemorativegift for the 15th Anniversary.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709619Guangzhou presented Bristol a symbolic sculture of theKapok Flower – the flower of Guangzhou
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096202017-Fortune Global ForumIn December 2017, the Mayor of Bristol, MarvinRees, led a delegation of two members to Guangzhou toattend the Fortune Global Forum and met with the Mayorof Guangzhou.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096212018-Sister SchoolsIn October 2018, eight school principals from Bristolvisited Guangzhou with the aim of establishingsister-school relationships with schools of Guangzhou.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096222019In October 2019, Kam Wong led a three-memberdelegation to Guangzhou to receive a certificate ofrecognition from Liu Baochun, Director General ofGuangzhou Foreign Affairs Office honoring his morethan ten years of engagement in sister-city exchanges andhis significant contributions to Guangzhou’s internationalsister-city initiatives.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096232020-Jointly Combating the PandemicCreated in December 2020, the painting above wasmade by Huang Junyu, a student of the GuangzhouChildren’s Palace, and was presented to Bristol as asymbol of hope and solidarity in overcoming thepandemic.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096242021In 2021, marking the 20th anniversary of the sister-cityrelationship between Guangzhou and Bristol, the RoyalHorticultural Society (RHS), organiser of the Chelsea FlowerShow, announced that the “Guangzhou Garden” had won theGold Medal and the Best Show Garden Award. The garden hasnow been reimagined at the University of Bristol’s BotanicGardens and our next major event will be held at the Garden inJune.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709625The Guangzhou Hall at Bristol City Hall was officiallyinaugurated.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096262022-Voices from GuangzhouIn April 2022, the Guangzhou Tianhe District“Moxinglun” Choir submitted a video performance ofthe choral piece “The Little River Flows” to the BristolFestival of Voice. During the festival, the children’sperformance video from Guangzhou was played inBristol.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096272023-Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Bristol MuseumIn September 2023, the Bristol Museum in the UKhosted the inaugural cultural and artistic exchangeperformance of “Under the Same Moon – Mid-AutumnFestival” by a Guangzhou troupe, coinciding with the200th anniversary of Bristol Museum.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096282024-Twinnig SignpostIn April 2024, Bristol City Hall hosted theunveiling ceremony of a twinning signpost. Atwinning signpost pointing to Guangzhou wasinstalled in front of Bristol City Hall, indicating thedirection and distance to Guangzhou as well as theother 6 cities twinned with Bristol.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 9567096292025-the 15th National Games Held in GuangzhouIn November 2025, the opening ceremony of the 15thNational Games took place in Guangzhou. Kam Wong wasinvited to attend and gave a media interview.
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 95670963025th Anniversary Year Celebrations in 2026In 2026, marking the 25th anniversary of thesister-city relationship between Guangzhou and Bristol,the two cities will continue to carry out exchanges andcooperation with the facilitation of Bristol & West ofEngland China Bureau.
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Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709634No. Events Dates Location1 Chinese New YearExtravaganza Banquet26 February, ThursdayWongs Restaurant, Bristol, BS1 5DQ2 Chinese New Year Festival 28 February, SaturdayBritish Museum & ArtGallery3University of BristolGuangzhou Twin-CityCelebratory Lunch. 23 March, MondayHosted by VC atHKUST425th AnniversaryCelebration Event atGuangzhou Garden3 June, WednesdayUniversity of BristolBotanic Garden, BS91JG5 Dragon Boast Festival JuneBaltic Wharf, Cumberland Road, Bristol BS1 6XG... TBCJoin US
Bristol & West of EnglandChina BureauTechnology Co., [email protected]+44 (0)117 956709635The West of England China Bureau (WoECB)works unstintingly to connect the people of Bristol andthe South West of England with the people of China andin particular Bristol’s Sister City Guangzhou in SouthernChina to encourage greater mutual understandingbetween our two countries. Follow us on the followingsocial media:Website: https://www.chinabureau.co.uk/Rednote ID: 5291281691Wechat ID: wxid_99okxgoffp3e72Email:[email protected]