SPEAKER: Andy Xie, economist
DATE: Friday, March 26th 2010
TIME: 16:30-18:00
VENUE:
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business 长江商学院
Oriental Plaza, 12th floor, Tower E3 (Ernst&Young Tower 安永大楼)
1 East Chang An Avenue, Beijing 100738, China
Tel: 010-85188552 (website)
中国北京市东长安街 1 号东方广场东 3 座 12 层
English map, Chinese map
ENTRANCE: free to FCCC members, 50 rmb on the door to non-members
REGISTRATION: email fcccadmin@gmail.com so we know numbers and for security clearance
Hutongs, traditional courtyards, the Drum and Bell Tower, local residents – all of these traditional characteristics make the Gulou neighborhood a classic cultural representation of Old Beijing. Despite Gulou’s cultural importance, Beijing has now reportedly allocated 5 billion RMB to convert 12.5 hectares of the Drum and Bell Tower area into a ‘Beijing Time Cultural City’ – putting the neighborhood in serious danger. Such a massive scale development will include large infrastructures like public squares and a museum. As a result, there will be extensive evictions, demolition, and construction in this ancient area, and gone will be the traditional courtyards, hutongs, and local residents. Once again, Old Beijing is facing another serious threat of demolition. On one side we have well-established laws and regulations that stand to protect Beijing’s history and culture. On the other side, however, there is a 5 billion RMB project waiting to commence. Please join us for a talk by Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center founder and chairperson He Shuzhong.
Note: The speech will be in English, with questions answered in Chinese with English translation.
DATE: Monday, March 29 2010
TIME: 7-8.30pm
VENUE: CHP’s Office, Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP)
Room 309, Building E, No.46, Fangjia Hutong, Andingmennei Dajie, Dongcheng District, Beijing
北京市东城区安定门内大街方家胡同46号E座309室
ENTRANCE: free to FCCC members, 50 rmb on the door to non-members
REGISTRATION: email fcccadmin@gmail.com so we know numbers and for security clearance. CHP’s office can accomodate a limited number of people, so please RSVP in advance to reserve your seat. Members and people who RSVP’d will get priority if the event becomes overcrowded.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
He Shuzhong is a passionate cultural conservationist and one of China’s leading experts in cultural heritage law. In 1998, working as a teacher at China University of Political Science and Law, he launched a small volunteer group called Cultural Heritage Watch, which later evolved into CHP. In 2003, Mr He founded Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center as an NGO (legally registered with the Beijing Bureau of Civil Affairs). Mr He received his Bachelor’s Degree from East China College, Shanghai, in 1984, and then became Associate Professor at China Political Science and Law University in Beijing. In 2004 he received the Outstanding Public Service Award from the Archaeological Institute of America, and in 2005 was awarded the Outstanding Administration Award by the government of the People’s Republic of China.
This event is part of an ongoing series of talks by journalists about culture, organised by UCCA and FCCC.
Please join fellow journalist Marcus Muhariwa and Tanaka Masayoshi for a discussion on reporting in Africa. Marcus covered politics and society in his native Malawi and will return to journalism there after a year studying in Beijing, while Tanaka-san was stationed in Kenya and Paris before moving to China for NHK in 2004.
DATE: March 21
TIME: 11 am (Sunday)
REGISTRATION: no
VENUE:
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, 798 Art District, JiuXianQiaoLu No.4, ChaoYang District, Beijing, 100015, 北京市朝阳区酒仙桥路4号，798艺术区，尤伦斯当代艺术中心 100015
Spring has already arrived in Beijing even if you can’t see it out your window. Spend this cool Friday evening in warm company at The Bookworm. One week later, one hour later. We will start at 7 pm instead of the usual 6 pm starting time. See you there!
DATE: Friday, March 12
TIME: 7-10:30pm
VENUE: The Bookworm
ENTRANCE: Free. Non-members very welcome as always
DRINKS DISCOUNT: FCCC members wielding a valid membership card get the usual crazy discounts on draught Carlsberg and Yanjing, bottled Tsing Tao, house wine and mixed drinks.
TITLE 1: Is China “Unhappy”? (TITLE 2: “Coming Currency Wars?” please see below)
DATE: Thursday, March 11 – 19:30-21:00
SPEAKER: Mr Wang Xiaodong (王小东), author of “China is Unhappy”
International news reports on the riots in Tibet and Xinjiang, and on the 2008 Olympic torch relay, caused a stir among young Chinese, who accuse the Western media of distorting the truth and the real China. Washington’s recent arm sales to Taiwan and President Obama’s meeting with Dalai Lama saw a robust response from Beijing, which issued an unprecedented public warning of sanctions against US arms companies. Has China changed or have we ever really known the real China? What is the real China? Mr Wang Xiaodong, one of the co-authors of the controversial book “China is Unhappy”, asks these questions. He argues that it is better for the “Western press” and China to enhance their understanding of each other, “rather than stick to banal opinions”. He will seek to explain why China is “unhappy”.
TITLE 2: Coming Currency Wars?
DATE: Friday, March 19 – 12:00-13:30
SPEAKER: Gong Shengli (巩胜利), author of “China is Very Happy”
Fending off foreign pressure, China’s central bank has said at least three times that the Yuan will not appreciate. But Mr Gong Shengli will show why it must — and soon. Come hear him give his reasons for that, and why he also thinks the Yuan “will have to fight for its place on the global stage”. Will the Yuan one day become as accepted as the world’s currency as the Dollar and the Euro? He will seek to answer that in this talk.
VENUE for both talks: Face Bar
26 Dongcaoyuan, Gongti (behind the Cervantes Institute)
工体南路东草园26号 (map, website)
ENTRANCE: free to FCCC members, 50 rmb on the door to non-members
REGISTRATION: email fcccadmin@gmail.com so we know numbers and for security clearance. When you sign up for these talks, please specify which of the two sessions you’ll be attending.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Wang Xiaodong (王小东) is a researcher at the Communist Youth League-affiliated China Youth and Children Research Center. He is better-known as one of the co-authors of the controversial book “China is Unhappy” and is widely seen as a leading thinker among China’s nationalists.
Gong Shengli (巩胜利) is an independent scholar and the current chief researcher of Guoqing Neican (国情内参), a weekly magazine published as internal reference for China’s ministries. Mr Gong has been studying international and Chinese social and economic issues for over 30 years. His articles have been published at home and abroad in several publications including People’s Daily, Southern Weekend, Fortune Magazine, Newsweek. He is also the main author of the book “China is Very Happy”.
