In 1994, La Crosse attorney Chuck Hanson was contacted by the Wisconsin Department of Development and was asked to begin to explore the possibility of a sister city relationship with Luoyang, China. Luoyang is a city in north-central China, about 350 miles south of Beijing, on the Yellow River. More than five million people live in the city and the surrounding area.
At the time, La Crosse already had sister city relationships with Dubna, Russia, and Epinal, France. Hanson had been an influential member of the La Crosse/Dubna Friendship Association.
In January 1996, the city of La Crosse received a request from officials in Luoyang, China, requesting permission to send a delegation to La Crosse. The first delegation of five men and a woman arrived in La Crosse on July 18, 1996. The delegates met with La Crosse city council president, Roger Plesha, and signed letters of intent to become sister cities. In addition, the group took a tour of the city and several local businesses.
After the Luoyang delegates visited in July 1996, local residents formed the La Crosse-Luoyang Friendship Association to support the sister-city relationship. Articles of incorporation were drawn up in December 1996. A formal La Crosse City Council resolution was adopted on September 12, 1996, making Luoyang a sister city of La Crosse.
More visits from Luoyang delegates soon followed. In September 1997, agricultural officials spent five days in the area touring a variety of agriculture related businesses. Two Chinese doctors visited La Crosse's medical facilities in 1998. A delegation of five visited Viterbo College focusing on education in 1999. During another visit in November 2002, delegates were given the opportunity to explore agriculture, schools, and medical facilities in the area.
Delegates from La Crosse also visited Luoyang. In October 1997, sixteen delegates toured Luoyang and a formal agreement between the two cities was signed. Tod Edwards, a La Crosse business owner, visited Luoyang in January 2001 to offer condolences to residents after a fire broke out in a shopping center that killed over 300 people. During another visit in April 2002, sixteen delegates toured schools, hospitals, and businesses.
Other programs include a teacher exchange program. Each year two teachers come to La Crosse from Luoyang to teach Chinese and a La Crosse teacher travels to Luoyang to teach English. The program began during the 1998-1999 school year when La Crosse high school teacher Thom Sandvick taught English in Luoyang while Bai Fan and Zhi Guanjun came to La Crosse to teach Chinese and international business. The program has continued with more teachers from Luoyang coming to teach in La Crosse schools.
Beginning in 2002, through a U.S. China Youth Exchange Program, an exchange program was started for small groups of La Crosse high school students and students in China. Students were able to attend school and compare life in each other's countries.
