Rotary

14 December 2021 Rotary dinner in Schindlers

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Schindlers Tankstelle –  Sanlitun

For the 14 December 2021 Rotary dinner in Schindlers we had Thierry Raymaekers as a speaker on the Winter Olympics. See the dishes I chose. Pretty nice! Gilbert presided the meeting and acted as Sergeant-at-Arms.

The New Year Party is planned for 11 January 2022 in Kempinski 7:00 pm, with a buffet, non-stop drinks and live music.
Price RMB 350, children half price. Guests and friends are welcome.

Speaker: Thierry Raymaekers

Topic:  Background on “ Winter Gold “ documentary ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
With less than 60 days till the opening of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, lots of companies and people are involved around the clock with preparations. One of the companies, Thierry works with is in post-production phase of a 6 series documentary that will be aired on Jan 14 on CCTV.
In his presentation he gave a behind-the-scene look on how this co-production came to existence, and challenges they have been facing due to COVID-19 restrictions and 2022 Winter Olympics operational protocols. he introduced the athletes that are featured in the video.

Thierry is an astute executive with 20+ years of boots-on-the ground China experience. He is founder and principal of a Beijing based media consulting company in providing strategy and M&A services to clients that are in need of assistance when entering China’s media scene and driving profitability.
Known as a thought leader on China’s media & entertainment industry he is a public speaker at various events and conferences, and contributor to many articles.

7 December 2021 Rotary Beijing AGM

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Rotary Club of Beijing

On 7 December 2021 Rotary Beijing AGM in Kempinski Hotel for the Election of the 2022-23 Board and Officers.

With 13 members representing 29 members, the Beijing club Rotarians voted the following board members and club officers.

  • President: PE Benoit
  • IPP: P Didier
  • PE – Still to be filled
  • Treasurer – Rtn Kevin
  • Secretary – Rtn René
  • Vice-President – Rtn Jose
  • Membership – Still to be filled
  • Events Chair – Rtn Vivian
  • Foundation – Rtn Mike K.
  • Service – Rtn Ralf
  • Youth / International –Rtn Gilbert

It is noted that PE and the membership chair for 2022-23 are still vacant and members are encouraged to volunteer.

Membership and events

At the meeting, the membership chair Hans reported on the changes and challenges of membership for the past six months. With many expatriate members moving out of China, it is increasingly difficult to recruit and retain members. It is paramount that our members bring in their friends and colleagues to continually renew our membership.

Event Chair Vivian reported on the previously held and soon-to-take-place events, presenting the diversity of speakers and topics. The members recognized and appreciated Rtn. Vivian’s effort and good work on organizing interesting and lively meetings and events.

New Project Announcement

The board has in the last month agreed for members to donate to Yuhua Home for the Mentally Challenged. Yuhua Home has a history of 20 years, nursing children and young adults with mental disability. With the funding dwindling since the start of the pandemic, Yuhua Home, like many other such institutions, faced the same dilemma of staying open and providing food and shelter for those in need. The donation will go toward buying the food during the winter months.

Rotary Club of Beijing memories

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Cleaning up my paper mountain

As many friends know, I have this annoying statement since a few years that I am trying to clean up the mountain of files in my office. Annoying because I always mention it but failed to make any progress. But I am discovering a lot like Rotary Club of Beijing memories, among many other. It seems like a huge jigsaw puzzle as papers are all mixed up, sometimes with no date stamp. But yes I am making progress and my tricycle recycling friend has more waste paper to collect.
But sometimes I am left puzzled about those hazy memories.

A gold medalist

I stumbled on this small newspaper clipping:

I think the small article is from China Daily. I found the longer version here:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-08/18/content_6945218.htm

I had nearly forgotten about it. I found back the old post on my website, see here the updated version:
Sergey Bubka, the IOC and Beijing Rotary Club, https://www.beijing1980.com/2013/08/20/sergey-bubka-the-ioc-and-beijing-rotary-club/

Few of our present members ever heard about Sun Children Village… One of the projects we supported. We even had a Rotary Villa there…

GSE 2008

GSE is “Group Study Exchange”. We did that in 2008 when we sent a Chinese team to New Zealand and we then received their team in Shanghai and Beijing. It was a difficult and complicated organization with our Kiwi friends staying all over the city in different locations and changing then from one family to the other. One, Jo, stayed with me and I found back her note, see the pic. I had also organized for her a meeting with one of the most important pharmaceutical companies involved in diabetes medicine; Ms. Joana Young BSc, PG Dip SCi was doing her PhD – Clinical Scientist, Lipid and Diabetes Research Group, Christchurch Hospital.

We had a very varied and full program for the group, but also filled with fun: I took them to a big lesbian evening where we had a great night. To say farewell to our New Zealand GSE team we organized a dinner on Friday 25 April 2008 in Restaurant Sahara (long gone, close to Salsa Caribe, also gone). We had a large VIP room with our own buffet of Middle East cuisine plus belly dancing in our room.

See some of the many pics (never published). One is during our Rotary lunch with the whole team presented; one in Pipe Cafe, long gone and razed, gongti nan lu, that time the biggest lesbian bar where I had privileged access; one in Sahara Restaurant.
Overall it was a big success but it also proved to be too much work for the Club.

Exploring Encuentro replacing Red Rose

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Again a change

On 4 April 2021 I went exploring Encuentro replacing Red Rose. It’s the new restaurant on Beijing Gongti Bei Lu, Encuentro, basically South American food. Just in front of the North Gate of Worker’s Stadium, in the small alleay. Our friend Rtn Jose had suggested it, the place had just opened on the location of a former Muslim restaurant, then followed by another restaurant, Red Rose, American cuisine.

I tried the ensalada de tofu (nice), the ropa vieja cubana (very good) and the picarones peruanos (can be improved). Rather soft opening without a full a la carte menu.

The former Red Rose Restaurant

Beijing is not a good place to run a restaurant. Sky-high rents, unreasonable landlords and annoying government “inspections” to make life miserable – often only targeting foreign restaurants: reason why restaurants open, go bust, other open, restart the cycle. Chinese restaurants generally less bothered. Inspectors always find a new reason to mess: need other electric plugs (the safety ones have the wrong color), the gas pipes should be moved and painted in a different color, the trash cans are not OK (while a few hundred meters away trash litters the street with stinking trash. (un)Welcome to Beijing.

See a visit to the former Red Rose Restaurant with friends, July 2019. The place was actually very nice, food at first so-so, later improved a lot and I started liking it. A pretty ugly kind of bulldog was always around to check us out, in a very friendly way. I guess it closed, victim of the virus economy.

I fail to understand why new tenants always must break down everything and remodel. Like in this case, there was nothing wrong with the design. Screw the environment! (see my book Toxic Capitalism).

Rotary Club of Beijing in April

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Rotary lunch 6 April

Rotary Club of Beijing in April had a busy month, started with the board meeting before the lunch, in a private room of Kempinski Hotel on 6 April 2021.

Lunch was in Via Roma, the Italian restaurant of Kempinski. PE Didier inducted our new member Vivian.

A new venue: Encuentro

The dinner on 13 April 2021 was held in the new South American restaurant Encuentro, located opposite Worker’s Stadium North gate.

Happens that our guest Iris from Panama is a professional food expert and has been advising the restaurant. She also tried an impressive and colorful cocktail, or was it a fruit cup…

Two new members were inducted by PE Didier, Hans and Chris.

A Spanish evening in The Roots

On 27 April 2021 the Rotary Club of Beijing had a Spanish-themed evening party, attended by visiting Rotarians, guests and Rotaractors. Full house at The Roots Restaurant that did a good job with the food, drinks and service.

PE Didier presided the dinner and brought along two guitarists (both from … Xinjiang, not Spain) who entertained us during the evening.

See here a short video (VPN needed in China):
Rotary Spanish evening in Beijing The Roots on 27 April 2021, https://youtu.be/0YBakPzOmQQ