Initiated by the Foreign Affairs Office of Shenyang Municipal People's Government initiated and co-sponsored by the International Department of Sapporo General Affairs Bureau, the Planning and Adjustment Office of Daejeon City and the International Cooperation Committee of Novosibirskaya Oblast City, the 1st China-Japan-South Korea-Russia Four Sister Cities Youth Friendly Exchange Activity was held in Shenyang, Sapporo, Daejeon and Novosibirskaya Oblast on December 7. The main venue of the event was located in the Nanjing Street No.1 Primary School in Heping District.

More than 200 people from the Consulate General of Japan, South Korea and Russia in Shenyang, the Consulate General of China, South Korea and Russia in Sapporo, guests from the international exchange departments and education departments of the four cities and representatives of teachers and students from each city met online to talk about friendship.

At the event, students from Nanjing Street No. 1 Primary School in Heping District gave talent performances such as dance, Beijing Opera and calligraphy, and demonstrated the art of straw weaving, an intangible cultural heritage of China. Students from Sapporo, Daejeon, and Novosibirskaya Oblast also presented colorful performances such as singing and dancing, ethnic culture demonstrations, and musical instrument playing. At the end of the event, the youths of the four sister cities sang "Auld Lang Syne" together, conveying sincere friendship and playing a moving music.

"Young people are the future of the country and the nation, and the hope for world peace and development. The holding of this event is another innovative move by Shenyang to carry out multilateral friendly exchanges and build an international exchange and cooperation mechanism for young people. "The person in charge of the Foreign Affairs Office of Shenyang Municipal People's Government said that Shenyang, Sapporo, Daejeon and Novosibirskaya Oblast are geographically close to each other, and their people are close to each other, making them sister cities. Over the years, the four sister cities have worked hand in hand and cooperated in good faith to continue to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of economy, culture, education and elderly care, and the relationship between the sister cities has become increasingly close. The event once again allowed the youth of the four sister cities to meet online, to see the diversity and colorfulness of the world, the richness and plurality of cultures in mutual learning and appreciation, to further enhance mutual understanding, develop friendship, achieve mutual success, thus contributing to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Reporter Qu Junzheng, Song Yu