Bendigo is located in the Australian state of Victoria, 90 miles north of Melbourne. Founded as a mining town in the 1850's, Bendigo currently has a population of 85,000.

Bendigo's economy is based on agriculture (including wineries), light manufacturing and tourism. It is home to the largest neo-gothic cathedral in the Southern hemisphere, a Chinese museum and an outstanding art gallery.

Visit Bendigo Sister Cities web site.

Rustington is a small community in West Sussex between Portsmouth and Brighton. The village is a charming mix of modern houses, shops and historic thatched cottages. The mainly flat, fertile landscape makes for wonderful gardens. The local area has an interesting, well-documented history.

The center of Rustington is half a mile from the English channel. The population of 13,000 is a mixture of retirees and young families. There are numerous churches and civic groups.

Shihlin is the largest district within Taipei, the capital of the Republic China (Taiwan.) The name Shih Lin means scholar/forest and its population of 320,000 includes many of the countries' business and governmental elite. The city is currently inactive as a sister city.

Shihlin's mountains and valleys contain light manufacturing as well as major commercial areas, the Palace Hotel, two universities, the Yangming Shan National Park and the National Palace Museum with its priceless collection of 6,000 years of royal Chinese art.

Syktyvkar is located in the northern part of European Russia, approximately 630 miles northeast of Moskow. It is the capital of the Komi Republic, a sparsely populated territory the size of Alaska, rich in oil, gas and forest.

Syktyvkar hosts the Komi cultural center and several small museums. Major employers for its 250,000 residents include lumber mills and Europe's largest paper mill. Syktyvkar is also a college town, with a university, academy of sciences, teacher's college and several trade schools.