Christchurch City
OChristchurch City has two sister relationships with China, based on the tangible connection through Rewi Alley; that have been nurtured over the decades.
Christchurch City is the gateway to the South Island, with a population of around 480,000 people nestled on the Canterbury Plains with the Southern Alps as a majestic backdrop and the Pacific Ocean lapping its shores.
Wuhan City
Wuhan City has 27 sister city relationships globally, however, the relationship forged with Christchurch has it’s linkage to Rewi Alley and the famine and flood work of the 1930s.
Wuhan City is both the capital and largest city of Hubei Province. It sits on the banks of the Yangzte River. Wuhan has a population of over 11 million and is the most populous in Central China.
Gansu Province
It is very unususal the have a sister relationship with a Chinese Province, because of the work of Rewi Alley in Gansu between 1942 until 1951 an exception was made.
Gansu is a landlocked province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou in the southeast part of the province. The population of Gansu is 26 million.
Rewi Alley Connection
Rewi Alley was voted one of the top ten western friends of China in an online poll by the citizens of the Peoples Republic of China in October 2009. Yet in his native birth country, not many New Zealanders know who he is or of his achievements in China. Rewi Alley had strong linkages to Canterbury his birth region throughout his life. Hence our region has the sister city and district connections with China we have today.
Selwyn District - Shanden
The sister district fosters cultural interaction between the two regions initially linked through New Zealander Rewi Alley, born in Springfield in 1897. Rewi’s legacy is very tangible, with the training school he started in Shandan County, Gansu Province, China, during the 1940s.
Be Involved with our Activities
The Canterbury-China Sister City and Sister District relationships have been nurtured over years and provide opportunities for people of all walks of life to be involved in people-to-people diplomacy, in a way that serves the advancement of global citizenship.
Hurunui District - Hong Hu City
The sister district relationship between Hurunui District and Hong Hu City has been forged on both places’ tangible connection, New Zealander Rewi Alley. This is the youngest of the five Rewi Alley-inspired sister city relationships in the Canterbury region with China.
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Explore our Connections & the Depth of Relationships
In this website you will find a compete resource for Sister City relationships.
Rewi Alley Book
Order yours now!
Written by Rewi Alley’s niece Philippa Reynolds in 1997, it details the life of the New Zealand-born writer, educator and political activist who dedicated 60 years to humanitarian causes in China and written as an easy and engaging read by people of all ages, interests and walks of life.
Over 200 pages detailing the life of Rewi Alley starting from his birth in Canterbury in 1897 through to his death in China in 1987.
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