Cheonan, South Korea Beaverton’s sister city since 1989

Dankook University performs at ACMA Korea Independence Hall Cheonan cityscape

Overview: By far the largest of our six sister cities at nearly 600,000 inhabitants, Cheonan is the gateway to the area around the Seoul national capital region of South Korea. The city lies on a relatively flat plain, but is flanked to the east by the Charyeong Mountains. Fun Facts: • There are more than 9,000 foreign residents residing in Cheonan City, many of who are students attending one of Cheonan’s 10 large universities.

• Cheonan has many civic symbols: The tree is the Weeping Willow; the flower is the Golden Bell Flower; the bird is the dove; the animal is the dragon.

• Cheonan’s Postal Museum is one of the city’s main attractions. It displays artifacts dating back to 1884 when the first Korean postal services began.

• Cheonan is home to two soccer clubs: Cheonan City FC of the National League and Cheonan FC of the K3 League.

• Agriculture is a very important part of Cheonan’s economy. It is a large producer of walnuts, melons, grapes and pears. However, Cheonan is also fueled by many high tech companies, including the LG Group and Samsung.

Please visit www.BeavertonOregon.gov/SisterCities for more information. Of note: Every year, Cheonan hosts the Cheonan World Dance Festival, complete with Dance Contest and Street Parade. More than 23 countries participate over the course of a week in early October.

The city of Beaverton often hosts official visitors from Cheonan for conversations with city staff on a variety of topics including public administration, finance and education!

Did you know? The capital of Korea is Seoul. The national bird of Korea is the black-billed magpie. The national animal of Korea is the tiger. The official flower of Korea is the Rose of Sharon. The national currency of Korea is the won.