Sacramento and its sister city Jinan, in China’s Shandong Province, are similar. Both are capitals, both have rivers and both share rich cultural scenes. Grace Liu knows this firsthand.
Liu is a Jinan native. She attended Shandong University before coming to Sacramento State¬. The J Street campus was the only U.S. school she applied to, due to its sister city status. She earned a master’s degree in management information science.
When Liu arrived in 1996, she was contacted by the Jinan-Sacramento Sister Cities Corporation, a nonprofit set up in 1984 to “foster mutual understanding, cultural awareness and friendship” between Sacramento and Jinan.
Today Liu is president of the organization. She’s instrumental in expanding the group’s reach through annual trips and cultural programming, such as the Harvest Moon Festival.
“The international sister city program was established during the Cold War by President Eisenhower back in ’50s,” Liu says. “They wanted to encourage people-to-people relationships as another channel for international relationships, for people to understand each other’s perspective and lifestyle.
“If there’s a misunderstanding nationally between governments, the people could be a buffer, to have a dialogue and help for peace and understanding.”
Liu helped found the nonprofit’s Youth Ambassador Program in 2006 when participants were invited to Jinan’s international youth festival. The event went defunct the next year, but Liu decided to keep the program going since “it’s good for our youth and our community.”
She’s made it happen every year since.
“Fourteen-to-18-year-olds need that experience to open up their eyes to the bigger world,” Liu says. “It also gives them something to write about when applying to university. This year, we opened it up to college students, too. They also need opportunities to expand their horizons.”
Many of Liu’s young participants study Mandarin, but the language isn’t a requirement. Students from around the region make the trips, including youth from Folsom, Roseville, Davis, Elk Grove and University of California campuses.
Visits combine sightseeing with cultural programming to give participants a diverse experience. Guests stay with host families when possible. While based in Jinan, trips to Beijing to see the Great Wall and Forbidden City are combined with visits to smaller towns such as Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius.
Students attend local schools for a day and, in partnership with Liu’s alma mater, Shandong University, they can take classes in Chinese culture and cooking, and participate in a youth leadership summit.
The trips designed for adults are equally busy and often led by local officials.
“It’s a good channel to promote our city as both a capital and a sister city,” Liu says. “Otherwise, how would people know about Sacramento?”
Liu has made it her mission to make sure as many people as possible get involved. She secures scholarships from fundraising and partnerships with organizations that include Flying Tigers, a group that honors American pilots who served in China in World War II.
Her goal is to continue the annual trips and expand the sister city program.
“Even as average citizens, we can help make an impact on the people around us and the community at large,” she says. “In my case, I fell into this place naturally and I’m so passionate about it. This is my joy, my pride, my passion and my legacy. I want to pass it down to other people, to the generations after me.”
For information, visit jsscc.org.
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
