Updated at 2023-06-21
Over the past seven years, Taoyuan City has continued to strengthen its international exchanges, raise its international visibility, and gradually enhance the international perspective of the public and private sectors to create business opportunities. To date, it has forged alliances with 33 cities around the world, laying a solid foundation for city diplomacy. In addition to sharing governance expertise, it also maintains ties through various exchange activities.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, international cities have only been able to communicate with each other online through video conferencing. The "Meet Our Friendship Cities in Taoyuan" Exhibition had participation from 14 sister cities and friendly cities from five countries in Asia, the Americas and Europe. Commemorative gifts and wonderful products from various countries were on display, enabling visitors to the Taoyuan exhibition to enjoy a taste of cities overseas and feel the glow of warmth and friendship from afar.
Irvine is located in the middle of Orange County, California. Asian people account for more than 40% of the city’s total population. Irvine is very attractive to immigrants and is best-known for its top educational resources, high safety ranking and expertly planned livable environment. Irvine has a well-developed technology industry, with the headquarters of famous online game developer Blizzard Entertainment and semiconductor giants Broadcom (US) and Toshiba (Japan) all located here.
The photograph on the left shows Irvine's South Lake; the one on the right, the North Lake. Together with the wooden bridges that straddle them, the lakes are well-known tourist sites. Visitors can enjoy boating, swimming, and fishing on the beautiful lakes with their glistening waves.
Sister cities since February 2, 2001, Taoyuan City and Irvine have a long history of deep friendship and close exchange.
On September 23, 2017, Director-General Yen Tzu-chieh of Taoyuan City Government Secretariat headed a delegation to the opening ceremony of the Irvine Global Village Festival. Yen presented Donald P. Wagner, mayor of Irvine, with an oil painting depicting an indigenous couple in Taoyuan picking peaches.
Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan visited Irvine on March 1, 2019, to attend the opening ceremony of the Irvine branch of Royal Business Bank together with Irvine Mayor Donald P. Wagner.
The city of Irvine has three emblems. The one on the right is often mistaken for a tree, but is in fact an asparagus stalk, Irvine's iconic crop, which symbolizes the beginning of the city's prosperity after Spanish colonizers brought their agricultural and animal husbandry techniques in the mid-18th century. The emblem on the left shows parents with children and symbolizes the importance of family. The emblem in the middle carries the letter "I" for Irvine.
The jigsaw puzzle on display is a reproduction of California impressionist painter Granville Redmond's famous work Flowers Under the Oaks, which captures the warm sun and rolling mountains of California with light, bright, bristly strokes. Redmond was a close friend of renowned comedian Charlie Chaplin, and they often collaborated creatively: Redmond featured in Chaplin’s silent films and made props for Chaplin.
The plate rim shows images of various Irvine landmarks and historical events. Clockwise from top left: Irvine Business Complex, Orange County's original landowner Don Jose Andres Sepulveda, ranch map of Orange County during Mexican rule, founder of the city James Irvine, the livestock industry in Bommer Canyon, Irvine's first city council meeting, the Irvine Civic Center, and the Great Park Balloon, the first tethered helium balloon in the US. (Not a hot air balloon. It’s painted orange because it's in Orange County.)