On April 21, both Chinese and Swiss national flags were raised in a senic zone near the Yulong Snow Mountain in Lijiang, southwest China’s Yunnan province.

(Photo/Ma Dengke)

A banner hung among the flags signaled that Lijiang and Zermatt stand together through the current difficulties in defeating the COVID-19 outbreak.

Such moves are a response to Switzerland’s recent light projection of the Chinese national flag on the country’s famed Matterhorn Mountain in Zermatt.

In the small hours of April 19, Matterhorn was illuminated with China’s national flag by Zermatt Tourism, as a symbol of Chinese people’s solidarity during the outbreak.

(Photo/Official weibo account of the Embassy of Switzerland in China)

“The population of China had to suffer greatly, now it is on the road to recovery. We send out best wishes - especially to Lijiang, the Chinese sister city of Zermatt. For years we have maintained a cultural exchange and look forward to the times when we can visit each other again,” the tourism organization said on its official website.

Early in February, Zermatt Mayor Romy Biner-Hauser sent a message to Lijiang Mayor Zheng Yi, expressing sympathy to the Chinese city for the epidemic outbreak, donating $1,000 in her name to the city for the purchase of medical protective materials.