Taizhou, China
Fort Wayne and Taizhou signed an agreement in 2012 making it the fourth sister city of Fort Wayne. The process had many twists and turns, and it spanned over three years.
On May 10, 2012, the formal sister city agreement was signed in Mayor Henry’s office with Mayor Henry, Tom Herr, Xue Xianchu and Xiang Wenmin signing their names on the agreement. About 70 Fort Wayne local community leaders were present at the signing ceremony. Media was there; the news was broadcasted via local newspapers and television channels.
HISTORY
On August 22, 1994, Taizhou Municipality was set up in place of Taizhou Prefecture and approved by the State Council. In 1999, Taizhou was approved by the State Council to be a leading city in Zhejiang's urbanization structure and the center of sub zone of the first-class economy. Approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, Taizhou formally became one of the 16 cities of Yangtze River Delta area on Aug.15, 2003.
TERRAIN & CLIMATE
Taizhou has a long coastline dotted with numerous islands. Coastal areas in the east tend to be flat, with an occasional hill. Eastern and northern parts of Taizhou are mountainous. Taizhou has a humid subtropical climate with four distinctive seasons. Occasionally struck by typhoons in the summers, the climate characterised by hot, humid summers and drier and cold winters with occasional snow.
EDUCATION
The speed of China’s emergence as one of the world’s most important countries in international education has been nothing short of phenomenal. Within two decades, from 1998 to 2017, the number of Chinese students enrolled in degree programs abroad jumped by 590%.
LANGUAGE
Like the majority of areas in Zhejiang, most people from Taizhou speak a dialect of Wu Chinese, known as Taizhou Wu. There is also a small portion of Min Nan and Wenzhou dialect speakers in the southern regions. The linguistic diversity of some regions has resulted in a segment of the population becoming fluent in speaking up to four languages, when Mandarin is included.
