Nicaraguan Park unveiled in Luzhou

The Nicaragua Embassy was once established in Luzhou during the '80s, and the park in front of the embassy building, originally named Ji Xian, changed its name to Nicaraguan Park as a reminder. To date, the park remains the only public park in Taiwan named after a foreign country.

To celebrate the occasion of unveiling the Nicaraguan Park and signing the declaration of goodwill relationships between Luzhou and Masatepe City of Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan ambassador, mayors of Masatepe and Masaya, along with other local officials, all gathered together at the park to show how much they valued this relationship and to strengthen tourism and cultural ties between their people.

“This unveiling ceremony speaks a tight bound between Taiwan and Nicaragua,” said Javier Ho, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, “it is just a beginning; more events introducing the Nicaraguan cultures to Taiwan are expected,” Ho added.

As the first exchange student from Nicaragua to Taiwan, William Tapia, the ambassador of Nicaragua to Taiwan, witnessed drastic changes on the island.

“I had visited Luzhou once during my exchange years, and it was just a small town at that time; a lot of farmlands, like my birthplace. But see how much Luzhou has developed, I thought I was in New York or Los Angeles,” Ambassador Tapia said and owing this credit to Luzhou City mayor, Li Weng. For Tapia, what delights him most is that the park offers not just a recreational center to Luzhou citizens, but a “paraiso de los ninos” — a paradise for children.

It seemed that not only the ambassador is a good friend of Taiwan, both Masatepe and Masaya are also tightly bound to the island.

Masaya City has been a sister city with Luzhou for years, and to further consolidate bilateral relations, Felix Trejos, mayor of Masaya, yesterday promised to build a public park named after Luzhou in Masaya, “as best wishes for our relationships.”

Besides unveiling the Nicaraguan Park, Luzhou City also hosted this ceremony for celebrating the signing of a declaration of goodwill relationships with Masatepe City. “Signing this agreement, both Luzhou and Masatepe will continuing to provide more access, opportunities and resources for people to better understand the cultures of each city,” said Luis Manuel Morales, mayor of Masatepe, “and hopefully, this contact can successfully pave the way for a sister city relationship.”

As one of the 23 countries that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Nicaraguan officials hope that signing the friendship agreement can not only promote tourism, but also to share its diverse cultures with its ally, Taiwan.

As for Luzhou residents, they were pleased to be a part of the ceremony, and were most excited about experiencing Nicaraguan culture, enjoying dance performances of Nicaraguan students and community groups of Luzhou, and having the opportunity to taste Nicaraguan food. “Feels good,” said a local who has been dwelling in the neighborhood for more than 30 years when asked about her feelings on this event and the name of the park.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email