SCRANTON -- It turns out the city of Scranton and a county thousands of miles away in Taiwan have a lot in common. So much so, that leaders there wanted to see the electric city in person.
Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty and Charles Tsao Chi Hung live thousands of miles apart and speak different languages. However, their day to day lives and their desires are really one in the same.
Translated from his native Mandarin, Charles is a magistrate, more like a mayor of a place called Pingtung County, Taiwan.
"My County has similar similar beauty like this. So, we want to learn about Scranton's mayor," said Charles Tsao Chi Hung.
The magistrate said he hails from an old railroad town too. So, fitting that Doherty would take him to the Steamtown National Historic Site and Trolley Museum in Scranton.
Tsao Chi Hung and his top administrators came all the way from Taiwan to take some notes on how Scranton reinvented its industrial past.
The group finished their tour at Nay Aug Park after checking out the museums and the downtown.
"We heard about a lot of important renovations which have become nationally known. We wanted to have a personal experience visiting them," said Jerry Huang of the Taiwan Pingtung Association of America.
Scranton's successes have spread internationally, that's why the group from Taiwan was here, but they're really hoping to learn from Scranton's and Mayor Doherty's struggles.
Mayor Doherty has actually been to Taiwan before on business, before he got into government, but he never thought Taiwanese government would be in Scranton.
"It is very humbling, and it's very exciting because it allows us to tell the story of Scranton, because we want them to come here and start businesses," said Mayor Doherty.
"We will encourage our county magistrate to follow his step as much as possible in the future to come, and we hope our county can be a model for the whole country of the Republic of China," added Hueang.
The Taiwanese group left Scranton encouraged, and headed to New York City. They left some encouragement behind too, since there's something in Scranton worth emulating.