The 2019 Beijing Day Cultural Festival in Washington DC. [Photo provided to China Daily]

During a concert at the Ronald Reagan Building on Nov 22 to kick off "the Beijing Day" event, Chinese artists performed an ensemble with the guqin, a classical Chinese musical instrument that has a history of thousands of years.

Beijing and Washington DC "have developed a strong friendship with each other, and become a role model of sister-city exchanges," said Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the United States.

Long-running friendship

For the past 35 years, Beijing and Washington DC have deepened exchanges and cooperation in various areas, allowing them to "forge a friendship as solid as mountains and as long-running as rivers," according to Lin.

Sister-city ties between China and the United States began shortly after the two nations established a diplomatic relationship in 1979. Beijing and Washington DC twinned in 1984.