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In February of 2006 a group of seventeen officials from Xicheng District, led by Mr. Xiaopeng Ma, arrived in Pasadena for an intensive two week training course in the workings city government; the training was organized by Cathy Wei, Professor of Chinese at PCC and USC, and Michael Woo, Adjunct Professor from USC and Los Angeles City Planning Commissioner Member of the delegation visited city offices, universities, nonprofit foundations, and commercial ventures in both Los Angeles and Pasadena.  The city offices they visited were those concerned with planning and development, building and safety, emergency response, sanitation, transportation, and historical preservation.  A community reception was held for them at the Pacific Asia museum.
 

Several people from Pasadena City College, current and retired, visited Beijing in November of 2005 for an Art Exhibit sponsored by Pasadena's sister city in Beijing, Xicheng District, which invited its sister and friendship cities to send works of art in three categories-paintings, calligraphy, and photography.  

Among those in the delegation from Pasadena were Jane Hallinger, President of the Pasadena Sister City Committee, Alan Lamson, Chair of the China Subcommittee, Dean Alex Kritselis from Visual Arts, Xiaodan Leng from Math, and Rob Bowman from the Media Center.  Dean Kritselis curated the exhibit, most of the works contributed by members of his division, though Vice President Lisa Sugimoto contributed two of her works for the exhibit.  In addition to the contributions from Pasadena, works were displayed by sister cities in Japan, Korea, Australia, Italy, and Spain.

The exhibit opened on November 4 at the Working People's Cultural Palace, originally the Imperial Ancestral Temple where the emperor would offer sacrifices on important occasions during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its name was changed in 1951 after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
 
The Gold Sail Chinese orchestra comes from #35 Middle School in Xicheng District, Beijing. Composed of over 100 members, it is the largest among all the middle school orchestras in Beijing. Forty students from the orchestra performed at a number of locations in Pasadena during their week long stay--at Pasadena City College, at the Huntington Gardens, and at the Pacific Asia Museum. They also performed at Disneyland.

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Jane Hallinger and Alan Lamson from the China subcommittee of the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee, took part in the recent (April 10) Marathon Relay in Beijing. The race, sponsored by Beijing's People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, was the 20th anniversary of the race which began as an exchange between China and Japan but now includes teams from many other countries, especially those with friendship ties to Beijing or one of its districts. Xicheng District, a sister city of Pasadena, invited Pasadena and its other friendship cities to participate. Runners came from cities or districts in Japan, Russia, and Australia. Jane served as team leader for the mostly Chinese team, Alan being the only runner from Pasadena and the oldest runner in the race. He led off the race with a 5k run from historic Tiananmen Square. His team came in 13th place out of 25 Friendship teams that competed. Next year Pasadena hopes to field at least one full team of six runners.
 
On February 9, 2005, a group of sister city members travelled by the Gold Line with a group of students, a teacher, and an administrator from 161 High School in Xicheng to the Southwest Museum in Highland Park. The teacher Zhong Rong stands at the far left front and Vice Principal, Xia Jie, is on the far right front. The students in the front row are Zhang Yanxin (Tina), Du Xiao (Olivia), Dong Jingjing (Rain). In the back row are Shao Shua (Shuai), Yang JiaJiang (Jim), Wang Xiaopeng (Iris), Chang WeiWei (Vivian), Wang Liu Ning (Crystal), and Cheng Fangge (Fayer).
 
Five Chinese dignitaries will be guests of honor at this year's Rose Parade, while hundreds of millions of people back home will have their first opportunity to watch the parade on television. Officials from the Tournament of Roses and the city of Pasadena have been working for the last few years to build bridges with China, and now those efforts are paying off.
 
Bill Bogaard, mayor of Pasadena, and Yunsheng Bai, Executive Deputy Governor of Xicheng (on behalf of Governor Lin Duo) have just signed a Memo of Understanding regarding the sister city relationship on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of their sister city relationship. The document was also signed by Alan Lamson, Chair of the China Subcommittee of the Pasadena Sister Cites Committee and Xinhua Teng, Director of the International Exchange Center of Xicheng. In addition to pledging to continue "to foster friendly relations between the two cities," Xicheng indicated that it plans to participate in the 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade. A delegation from Pasadena spent a week in Beijing (Oct. 11-16) to celebrate sister city activities, culminating in the signing of the MOU.