Meet the twins
It's an odd idea, twinning towns; two places in completely different parts of the world with no apparent relation to one another are linked, supposedly with the goal of fostering better international relations and cultural understanding. Ok, but is the process of choosing a twin completely arbitrary, as it seems to be? Manchester, for instance, has seven twins (actually that would make the lot octuplets then, wouldn't it?).
But does Manchester have anything in common with its international siblings, or is it the black sheep of the family? Itchy set out to do a little internet-based research on a few of these foreign relatives.
Cordoba, Spain: Football. Manchester's got Man United, and we all know the Spanish are crazy about the sport as well.
Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan: We'd imagine you can get curries there, question being are they as good as the ones you can get in Manchester?
Saint Petersburg, Russia: Both are 'second cities' in their respective countries: Saint Petersburg in terms of size after Moscow, and Manchester officially in terms of importance after London (though don't tell that to the Brummies, who reckon they're in the running for the title).
Wuhan, China: Fabric. Manchester is famous for producing cotton, and China had the whole Silk Road thing. We're not positive Wuhan specifically produced silk at any point, but close enough.
Oh and in case you were wondering, Manchester's other twins are Chemnitz, Germany; Rehovot, Israel; and Bilwi, Nicaragua, none of which we've ever heard of.
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