Australia China Night and a Beijing secret revealed

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On 28 May our friend Barry took us along to this special event in the China National Convention Center in the Olympic Green: Australia China Culture & Art Night.
Since its construction I went never back. I actually have a unknown story to tell about that building.

When I was involved in launching the major Olympic venues for 2008, we ran into a brick wall. The NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) had refused to approve the project of the BDRC (Beijing Development & Reform Commission). Over a private lunch with the president of the BDRC we reviewed this hiccup. Initially we wanted to launch it as the “Beijing Exhibition Center” but the NDRC refused on the grounds the surface area was too small and there were already other large exhibition centers in the pipeline. So I suggested to simply change it to a “Convention Center”. That worked… and soon we launched that tender as such, approved this time by the NDRC.

The Center is great but personally I regret the logistics, as it is the case with all venues in the area. Reaching it and leaving it is so difficult with all the security and access restrictions, for cars and even pedestrians. So I really don’t like to go there…

The evening was nice, with some VIP guests such as the Australian Former Dty PM Mark Vaile (we took pictures with him…) and Yu Xiaosong, former Chairman of the Chinese Chamber (among other functions), I met him many years ago.
The performances were creative: a mix of rock & roll and Chinese Opera. Cool! Explains the electric guitars…

Internations event at Mercedes me

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

The InterNations Beijing June Mid-Week Mixer was held on 7 June in Lighthaus @ Mercedes me, on Workers Stadium North Road at the corner of Sanlitun South Street, opposite Uniqlo Beijing and next to Sanlitun SOHO.

About 127 people attended, I was curious to see this new spot and was really surprised, to find such a vast space dedicated to Mercedes. Pretty cool, it has a restaurant and bar (Lighthaus) on the second floor, downstairs the exhibitiuon area plus coffeeshop and what looked like a juice bar.

Met a couple of old friends and the conversation was great, despite being on my no-alcohol period…

How to move a heavy piano: Chinese way

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Our daughter’s piano had not been used for many years and as she left Beijing we decided to give it to our close family living in the same compound, for their young son.
Now that piano I can tell you is SUPER heavy as it has a large iron cast frame. Even removing all panels one can remove, still a monster, despite its modest size. The piano has turned around the world and we saw many people struggling together to move it in or out.

Well, till we found these two Sichuan guys who do it every day and just the two of them.
They work very professionally and well organized.

They had to go down 4 floors, in our house the staircase is pretty narrow.
All done without a scratch. On 27 May in what I consider record time.
Not to wonder those guys are in demand all day…

Concert at Peter Ritzen home: The Medici Salon

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On the evening of 11 June a special concert at the home of Peter Ritzen and Stella Chang in Shunyi. See here the background:
160611TheMediciSalon

Stella opened the event, introducing the history and special character of their Medici Salon. The Peter gave a brief history overview of the piano as a musical instrument over the centuries, and in particular the history of the picture used in the evening: it is over 100 years old and after a long journey around the world ended up in their Beijing home.
An exceptional boy of 15 years old, a prize-winner, gave an impressive performance of his skills, playing Bach and Chopin. Then Stella, the soprano, song a famous Italian opera aria. That was followed by me who read and explained two French poems, as a tribute to Peter.
Peter, while handicapped with his left hand out of services still gave us a brief demonstration of his piano skills.

Some of the guests introduced themselves and one gave a short singing performance.
Our beloved chef Renaat Morel (Morel’s Restaurant) gave an overview of the Belgian dishes he prepared for the buffet that followed. Great food as usual!

Morning Tears: 10 years in China, past and future

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On 8 June Morning Tears, a well-known Belgian NGO gave an update on their operations in China. Location: Hilton Hotel (also their sponsor).

Morning Tears was born in China. From 1998 it has been working for children whose parents are in prison or have been executed. It now has operations in other countries such as Cambodia.
Children are innocent to the crimes of their parents but often lose everything when their parents are sent to prison. From one day to another they can lose their home and school. In many developing countries the streets become their only option to survive. The risk to become a victim of physical, sexual, mental abuse or forced labor increases substantially. In the own community they often no longer find acceptance and  their friends don’t want to play with them. Family is often no longer family because the children remind them of what happened, give the family a bad reputation or are considered to bring bad luck.
Their website: http://morningtears.org/

Koen Sevenants gave an overview of what was achieved in the past ten years and introduced the setup of Morning Tears China (in Zhengzhou), the new independent Chinese entity that will carry out the ideas of and spirit of Morning Tears.

Morning Tears China gave an overview on how they will continue their important work, as explained in some of their slides shown here.
Our Rotaractor Gau (Rotaract Beijing West Club) presented her plans to work with Moring Tears for their Summer Camp.
The Beijing Rotary Club has been working with Morning Tears in the past.

Thierry of Beer Mania handed over the proceeds he collected for Morning Tears, through an event he did in his well-known Belgian Café.