In 1986 Newport twinned with a city in China. Here Jim Dyer describes what was done to look after an official visit by them before the twinning. UNTIL a possible twinning was suggested by the Chinese Embassy few people, if any, in Newport had ever heard of Wuzhou. A little research showed it was a city of some 250,000 inhabitants in the beautiful province of Guangxi, some 400 miles from Hong Kong. This last fact could prove to be a positive advantage when Hong Kong is given back to China. In October Newport Borough Council sent a small party to Wuzhou with the objective of promoting friendship and trade. Impressed with what they saw there, the scope for twinning was clear with great possibilities of mutual benefits on both sides. The next step was to invite a small delegation from Wuzhou to see Newport which led to a visit of five top officials under the Deputy Mayor, Mr Ni Longsheng, on February 9. A busy detailed programme mainly based on business and education was put together and an exchange of telegrams sealed the visit. So it came to pass.