Leisure

TRAVEL & LEISURE : WORLD CITIESROYAL PALACE IN PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIAFamily AroundThe WorldWRITTEN BY Cheryl ScottTo date, Long Beach has developed relationships with eight cities locatedin places as far away as Russia and China, all in an effort to develop strongconnections abroad. Long Beach Sister Cities, Inc. was founded in 1963when the city established a partnership with the city of Yokkaichi, Japan.Since then, it has formed relationships with Bacolod in the Philippines;Ismir, Turkey; Manta, Ecuador; Mombasa, Kenya; Phnom-Penh, Cambodia;Quingdao, China; and Sochi, Russia.“Our sister cities are chosen for their similarity to Long Beach,” Vaughnsaid in a recent interview. “They are port cities with diverse populations, aswe are. We also choose cities with a large population in Long Beach. Forinstance, we have one of the largest Cambodian populations in the U.S.This makes for exciting cultural events, like the Cambodian parade heldrecently. Dignitaries from Cambodia came and Cambodian residents ofLong Beach participated by dressing in native costumes and preparingCambodian food.”The organization is currently managed by an eight-person board oftrustees. Chairman Michael Vaughn, who also heads the committeefor Yokkaichi, said the organization was first formed in responseto President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s request that we expandcultural exchange programs that foster people-to-people contactbetween countries.The organization is responsible for more than 20 cultural exchangeprograms every year.The Sister City relationship is established formally by the Long BeachCity Council at the behest of a committee of at least 15 citizens whocontribute toward a deposit of $1,000. The entire process takes one ortwo years. “It’s necessary to have an extremely enthusiastic group of26JUNE 2010 TRAVEL & LEISURE