Journey to the West goes East and then back again

For Greg Youtz, friendship between the East and West is of high importance to him.

"Many people in Tacoma and many people in Fuzhou value our friendship very strongly," Youtz, chairman of the Tacoma-Fuzhou Sister City Committee, said. "It's very important for individuals in both the US and China to remain positive and interested in each other."

Youtz's interest in China began in the 1960s when his parents returned from a seminar on China with books in hand. One of them was the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, which Youtz read, leading to his lifelong fascination with Chinese philosophy and culture.

Youtz has visited many Chinese cities and said he considers China his second home. On his first trip to China in 1991, he was part of a faculty delegation from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma to visit Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.

In 2008, with support from an organization called The Freeman Foundation, Youtz conducted educational projects and student exchanges, enriching teachers' understanding of China through visits to Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Shanghai.