Life in the city

Beijing 2016 British Ball

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Many balls in Beijing

The 2016 British Ball is one of the many in Beijing, each month there are several to choose from. Most are pretty expensive (over 1000 RMB per ticket) and formal.
As we had never been to a British Ball, we were happy to join the Rotary table on 22 October in the Kerry Hotel Grand Ballroom.
Rotarians were: President Daniel R., Joergen, Klaus, Eli, Helen, Russell.
Also happy to see our Belgian friend Ruben playing the violin!

A fully packed ballroom

While some balls have a hard time selling their tickets, the Beijing 2016 British Ball was sold out (750 seats I was told). Thanks to Rotarian Russell Brown for arranging our table. He was also the MC of the evening.
For me also great to meet again the UK Ambassador H.E. Barbara Woodward: we closely worked together on the preparation of the 2008 Olympics when she was posted here previously.
Food and drinks were great. Of course we did not win any prize, as usual, but it was a fun evening with many friends!

Gastronomic wine dinner in Morel’s

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Why a wine dinner?

Beijing is a city full of surprises, I have been organizing a few “gastronomic wine dinners” as I happen to have a very unusual collection of old Spanish and French wines. I mean, REAL old.
We invite normally two couples, close friends, to experiment the old wines while Renaat, the chef of Morel’s restaurant, serves some of his exceptional dishes.
I have been lucky till now: I always prepare several bottles as it is likely some have turned into vinegar but that has not happened yet.

Dinner on 19 October

This time we had a “Belgium-Greece Friendship Dinner”. Our Greek diplomat is an “old friend”: we worked together on the preparation of the 2008 Olympics and we went both to Athens for a large China seminar.
See the list of wines for the gastronomic wine dinner
The Spanish red I had listed as 1950 turned out to be 1930, the date was basically gone but the picture showed it was a 3 instead of a 5. That wine was pretty good but with a lot of sediment. Though called a “Moscatel Tiebas” it was red and not sweet.
The Château Lafite-Rothschild 1949 was finally not that great anymore. The Château Gruaud Larose 1989 (Saint Julien) and the Señorio de Arganza 1964 were both great.
The surprise (not planned!) was that one of the wine years was the birth year of one at the table…

Year of the horse

We were asked our opinion about some calligraphies intended for the office of the well-known Chinese CEO. See for yourself.

The dinner menu

For the Gastronomic wine dinner a copious menu. Appetizer: small balls made with Belgian Beef Stew. Starter: Belgian endive with foie gras; cream soup of small mussels; main dish: Beef Wellington (Beef Wellington is a preparation of filet steak coated with pâté and Duxelles, which is then wrapped in puff pastry and baked – Wikipedia). Desert: berries cake. Followed by digestive (special reserve of Renaat).

Beijing car accidents and biking

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Chinese drivers

Chinese drivers are generally just bad. Most don’t know how to drive (ever seen one doing a u-turn as it should?), don’t respect anything (laws, other people). They are normally ALWAYS on the phone, even when turning into another direction. Basically all Chinese think they are actually alone on the road and if anybody comes in their way, well, they have priority.

Beijing car accidents: a bit spectacular!

Not to be surprised accidents are pretty frequent but somehow cleaned up pretty quickly.
More difficult to understand how cars can be turned upside down as shown in the picures. OK, on a highway that could make sense, but in the middle of the city like Xindong Lu (near Heaven Supermarket) and Dongzhimenwai (near the EU Delegation)?

Biking in Beijing: dangerous at times but convenient

Being on a bike at least one gets somewhere without all the traffic jams but many cyclists end up hurt or more as nobody respects any traffic rules: cars, mopeds, pedestrians.

I have been pretty lucky so far. One evening I was violently hit on my left side by a deliveryman on his electric bike. His front wheel hit my left boot, absorbing the full shock. I managed to still stand while both are bikes were on the ground. The guy was pretty scared I would call police. We finally found a piece of wired to put the boot together and so I went to a networking event. Oh well, I actually hated those boots… So no big deal.
And yes, at least I try to be a little on the safe side: with my helmet (always) and gloves, in case of hitting something or falling down.

Old China Hands at end Golden Week

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Our Old China Hands Lunch at Morel’s Restaurant

There was some doubt at first for our Monthly Old China Hands Lunch: the first Friday of October was on 7 October, being the last day of the Golden Week holidays of 1 October. Maybe many people would not be in Beijing, and other doubts.
Well, as I always say, the strange days indeed bring a lot of people!

We were over 30, a nice and enthusiastic crowd from all corners of the world. According to the participants, a success as always. Our Belgian ambassador and his wife also gave us the honor of joining, among some other well-known faces of Beijing. Two journalists had to skip at the last moment due to urgen matters.
Next Old China Hands lunch will be on 4 November.

Expat Life Awards by FCGroup

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Expat Life Awards on 10 September

China Expert International Ltd. and the FCGroup were the organizer of the 3rd Annual ELAs (Expat Life Awards). The Awards were presented on 10 September 2016 at the Expat Life Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner which was held in the Capital Club Athletic Centre 3rd floor Ballroom. Thanks to Colin for the nice evening.
See here the full results: http://fcgroup.org/the-results-of-the-2016-expat-life-awards/

Am I famous?

The 2016 Expat Life Awards also saw the first two people inducted into the Expat Life Awards Hall of Fame for their outstanding services to both Beijing’s foreign and local populace. And yes, there I am!
Sun even won the raffle with a bottle of white from Chile!