Life in the city

Beijing Rotary in March

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Wine Tasting Party

Beside our regular meetings, Beijing Rotary in March had an exciting party in ROOTS on 23rd of March.
Cassidy, one of the only five Wine Masters in China gave us an introduction on new world versus old world wines.
To make the concept real he brought a Pinot Noir from New Zealand (cheaper and screw cork) and another one from France (more expensive and real cork) and explained the intricacies of each type of wine and wine processing; key aspects are acidity, transparency, alcohol content, body, hint of earth, hint of oak, hint of berries, tannin content and aroma.

Cassidy also gave a historical overview on how “Wine Masters” are selected and appointed worldwide and how they have to pass theoretical exams along with rigorous tasting tests.
We received two nice wine glasses marked I and II to taste (blindly) the two Pinot Noir wines and to give our opinion.

Good attendance, with members of the Rotary Club of Beijing and Rotary Club of Beijing East, along with visiting Rotarians and guests. It was a fantastic fellowship, a delicious dinner, high quality wine tasting. Zeyu Zhu, a cellist from the Juilliard School (New York famous school) entertained us with a nice classical music.

Kempinski 30 March 2021

Acting President Didier chaired the meeting and gave an update on the upcoming events of the club.
Our latest member was inducted, Kevin Gouldmann. He received his certificate and pin from Didier.

Kevin was also the speaker of the day, to tell us about his unusual profession as a “Klavierbaumeister” (master piano maker).
Kevin studied piano and music in USA but left for Germany when 21 because he felt he was not good enough to play piano. Instead of playing the piano he later chose the guitar instead.

What makes a good piano? Design, choice of materials and workmanship are the key factors. He learned the different aspects to achieve the right result, first as an apprentice in Berlin for over two years. He then moved to Hildesheim, for several years. Later he followed the complete Ludwigsburg Master Program as a master piano maker. He graduated successfully after a second tough exam.

He worked in a piano factory until he was recruited by a Danish company where he became owner and partner. Later he moved again to Germany and then to China. In China he is one of the only three master piano makers. He is still active with manufacturers in Europe and also did a stint in Abuja (Nigeria), where he lived colorful experiences.
He explained some of the key issues in making a good piano and also explained the different piano types.
He had to field many questions from the audience.

Gilbert let our visitor Sarah Wagner announce the publication of her book “Unleash Today”, that came out exactly on this day in all the major Amazon shops. We look forward for Sarah to give us a talk about her book that she wrote together with Kate Surala.

I already bought the Kindle version!

Migas Mercado in CBD

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

A gorgeous view

Migas Mercado in CBD (Beijing) is a Spanish/ Mediterranean restaurant on the 7th Floor, North Zone, of China World Mall in the Beijing World Trade Center group of buildings.
The restaurant is one of several in the same building with a terrace that offers a great view of the new CBD area and the CCTV Tower.
Better keep the pictures of the area as in a very years it will change again dramatically and buildings such as the BTV Tower will be hidden by even more high-rises.
When we were there on a Saturday, 8 May 2021 we were told window seating, inside and outside, – demanded minimum consumption of 500 RMB per person. The next rows are 300 RMB minimum consumption, where we finally got a table. Most tables were already reserved.
See one of the many reviews: https://www.therooftopguide.com/rooftop-bars-in-beijing/migas.html

Nice food

I was there before and wanted to check the food again. We were not that in the blood sausages – Morel’s are better – but batatas bravas with chorizo, the salad and the mushroom paella, among other, were nice. With the many dishes ordered we reached the required 600 RMB easily. Service was reasonable while we were very early to get a table. A bit strange but we were told the minimum fee does not apply to afternoon tea…

The building China World Mall has a wide range of restaurants spread over several floors. I feel always a bit lost in that building, trying to find the right floors and the best entry/exit. A bit of a complicated labyrinth, worse if you try to come through the maze of underground levels walking from the other connected WTC buildings.

Old China Hands 4 June lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Full house for an anniversary

For our Old China Hands 4 June lunch we again had some surprises, celebrating our 8th anniversary with a group picture and an unplanned musical performance.
Actually the lunches started in April 2013 but we were too busy in the previous lunches and wanted the celebration to be the main focus. Again with team work we got a banner that we used for the group picture. Some new faces but happy to see again our Aussie friend Geoff back and out of quarantine.

As Morel’s Restaurant had some staff issues I had to be the cashier at the door and forced to have part of my lunch while raking in the money.
And mobilizing the gang for the group picture demanded some calls to order, made easy as I am the Sergeant-at-Arms in Rotary. We were 35 exactly with a special table for the Flemish gang.

Impromptu performance

Our member Peter has some remarkable talents in shooting music videos. He surprised us by setting up a short trio performance. He has his own band, music studio and video company (more than 100 songs where he did composition and Chinese lyrics). He certainly has a very interesting professional background too…
See the vimeo clip, need VPN in China.

Our lunches are never boring!

Another author among our members

Our (new) member Caroline surprised me with her book: “Les trente glorieuses chinoises de 1980 à nos jours – Caroline Puel”. See here: https://www.france24.com/en/20110120-caroline-puel-journalist-author-30-years-that-changed-china

I promptly bought the book and I started reading it – looks very interesting. So few people know about the real history of modern China.

And yeah back back again

Honestly, a bit too much of Morel’s Restaurant?

The same evening back, to have dinner with friends. I had the spaghetti, the best one in town, really. And see what else came on the table.

Old China Hands 7 May lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Always something special

Our Old China Hands 7 May lunch was again in an unusual week: though a “working day” it was for many still in the middle of the May 1 holiday week. Others were just back at work and super busy but we were exactly 29 total.
We surprised Tibor with a Happy Birthday mini-firework…
The previous day Luc and me had our second vaccine shot; a Dutch friend who had it too was too unwell to attend the lunch. Everybody has different reaction to the vaccine…

Saying bye to Kent

I had prepared a special gift for our friend Kent (musician, chef, painter) who is leaving Beijing soon to be reunited with his wife in USA.

As always a happy crowd in the fully packed Morel’s Restaurant.
Next lunch planned for Friday 4 June.

Discrimination in International School Education

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Rotary Club of Beijing meets

On 11 May 2021 Lucas Roberts gave us a talk on “Perceptions of Discrimination in International School Education and Rotary International’s Drive for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”.
Location: Morel’s Restaurant and Café.
I had to do magic as the restaurant was overbooked and we had 21 attendants for our 18 seats. We managed…

Lucas aka Luke was also officially inducted as our new member of the Club.
Members and guests enjoyed the food, drinks and dessert!

Luke’s talk

Luke is currently the Head of Primary at Tsinghua University High School International (Chaoyang). Since coming to China to work as a Humanities teacher with a liberal arts major background in 2009, Luke has served as Vice-Principal and Principal in four international and bilingual schools and amidst all those positions, has also acquired a master’s degree in educational administration. Luke also serves on international school accreditation /inspection committees around Asia. Having witnessed the hiring practices first-hand, Luke wanted to share the research findings from his doctor’s dissertation, still in progress, on discrimination in international schools. Additionally, he wanted to highlight Rotary International’s drive on DEI and how this drive amplified the phenomenon of discrimination.

Luke started the talk by sharing the origin of his dissertation and the current lack of research on gender and racism in international education. There has been a growing awareness of racism and diversity within international education in recent years as part of the response to Black Lives Matter.  For his dissertation, Luke investigated the experiences of racially and ethnically diverse international educators who experience discrimination (e.g., racism, native-speakerism) in recruiting, hiring, and promotion opportunities, thus limiting their professional path in international education.

Luke was careful not to take positions in his research but to show the phenomena of discrimination, so as not to compromise the findings of his research. He did, however, share his own experience of fighting for his recruiting for qualifications over skin color in his work. Lastly, Luke showed how his research dovetailed with Rotary International’s statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which showed the value RI places on building community across cultures and ideas.

(As reported by Piper)