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Thursday, December 7, 2006 - 19:30

China Shakes the World: Economics and China

James Kynge
Former Bureau Chief, Financial Times (China), Chief Representative, Pearson (China)

In early 2004, slowly at first but with gathering velocity, manhole covers began to disappear from streets around the world. In Ulaanbaatar, someone got out of a taxi and fell into a hole. In Chicago, 100 manhole covers disappeared in a month. In Scotland, there was the "Great Drain Robbery". Thieves everywhere, working under the cover of darkness had the same idea: they levered up the covers and sold them to feed the demand of an industrialising nation for scrap. The manhole episode describes one of the first palpable expressions of the international pull of China's appetite. To...
Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 19:30

Peking Opera's Most Famous Star

Professor Katerina Clark
Professor of Comparative Literature, and of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Yale University

Mei Lan Fang, the most famous actor in the Peking Opera, was known for his interpretations of female roles. But he also proved to be perhaps the most successful ambassador for Chinese culture in the West. During his tour of America in 1930, he became so wildly popular and fashionable that society ladies rivaled each other in hosting lunches for him. Then, when he visited Soviet Russia in 1935, his performances inspired Eisenstein, and also Brecht who built his theory of Alienation in acting around Mei Lan Fang's stage performances. Clark's lecture will discuss Mei Lan Fang's artistry and...
Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 19:30

China's Brief Moment of Glory on the High Seas: The Early 15th Century Voyages of Zheng He

Carl Crook

Carl Crook, a long-time enthusiast of China's early maritime history, will talk about the remarkable voyages of Zheng He, a Muslim born in Yunnan who rose to prominence in the Ming Court and led a series of seven maritime expeditions between 1405 and 1433. It was a short-lived period of Chinese history, as, shortly after the seventh voyage, the Ming Emperor forbade further overseas voyages, stopped the building and repair of ocean-going vessels, and destroyed available navigational records. Drawing on a wide variety of Chinese source material, including three accounts believed to...
Thursday, November 9, 2006 - 19:30

Wine and Poetry in China

David Bartel
Sinologist

Wine has a long history in China: rice and sorghum based wines have been produced for over 4000 years and famous poets have celebrated it. David Bartel will introduce us to the history of wine production in China through the ages, with a particular focus on the resurgence of grape wine production since the early 1980's and its newfound popularity with China's growing urban middle class. Through recitation of a few of their poems, we'll meet the Tang Dynasty poets, Du Fu and Li Bai, who wrote about wine and exile in very different ways, although both equally brilliant. David Bartel,...
Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 19:30

New Insights into the Reign of China's First Emperor

Carol Michaelson
Assistant Keeper of Asia Department
British Museum

Since the Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China was discovered by accident in 1974, millions of visitors have marveled at it in the on-site museum opened in 1979, and warriors have been sent abroad as part of Chinese exhibitions. It is evidence of the organizational power of the Qin dynasty that unified China in 221 BC and has become a symbol of China's long and coherent cultural history. Now that China is developing so rapidly, it also reminds the world of China's future potential. In 2007 the British Museum will present a re-assessment of China's First Emperor and his...
Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 19:30

Reflections on China's Leadership

Sidney Rittenberg, Sr.
Veteran China Hand

Sidney Rittenberg has known virtually every Chinese leader in China, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, the notorious Gang of Four, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji. He was even acquainted with the last Emperor of China, Pu Yi. Mr. Rittenberg first came to China in 1945 with the US Army and stayed for the next 35 years, mainly in Beijing. Since moving back to the US in 1980, Mr. Rittenberg and his wife have commuted regularly back and forth to China, providing consulting services to major corporation and public figures. The story of his eventful life is told in his...
Saturday, October 14, 2006 - 19:30

Outing: Hall of 10,000 Buddhas and Nearby Sites

Ginny Anami
Historical Geographer

BIS is delighted to have Ginny Anami return from Japan to lead us on our Autumn outing. Ginny is a lecturer of Chinese History at Temple University in Tokyo. She has given talks and led BIS outings many times over the past 20 years. Her popular book, “Encounters with Ancient Beijing”, will be on sale with proceeds going to support an orphan village in Shanxi. We are in the process of seeking special permission from the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau to visit the Hall of 10,000 Buddhas, a one-room stone hall containing magnificent marble bas-relief carvings from the Tang dynasty (770...
Thursday, October 12, 2006 - 19:30

Reforming China's Family Planning System

Dr. Zhao Baige
Vice Minister of National Population and Family Planning Commission

China has been changing dramatically since the early 1980s, thanks to the reform and open-door policy pioneered by the late Deng Xiaoping. The country is now linked globally through diplomacy, business and trade, tourism and academic exchanges. The society is becoming more and more pluralistic. How is China adapting to these changes? How is the government changing its role and functions from what used to be focused on top-down administration to a new approach that needs to be service-oriented and human-centered? Dr. Zhao Baige will discuss China's long-term challenges and goals when she...
Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 19:30

Chinese Language Semantics

Dr. Jason Patent
Director of Stanford Program in Beijing

"Cultural difference: What is it?" Research over the past two or so decades, mostly in psychology, has shown that cultural differences affect human behavior on a profoundly deep level. In his talk, Dr. Patent summarizes some of this research and presents convergent findings from his field; linguistics. Dr. Patent's research uses language as a window into how Chinese and Americans reason differently about the family and the state. Dr. Patent also explains how his findings relate to that most contentious of issues in U.S.-China relations: human rights. Dr. Patent directs the...
Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 19:30

Contemporary Women Artists of China

Li Wenzi
Owner of the ¾ Art Gallery

Curator Ms. Li Wenzi left her career in the business world to open ¾ Gallery in Beijing, to represent the works of contemporary Chinese women artists. She felt that women artists in the modern Chinese art world were being marginalized at galleries in Beijing and wanted to provide a platform for their ideas by featuring their work at her ¾ Gallery. Ms. Li will speak about some of the artists she represents and give an overview of their standing in the contemporary art community in China. An exhibition of some of the artists’ works will accompany her presentation. A number of artists will...
Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 19:30

The National Grand Theatre of China

Francois Tamisier

One of the most spectacular new buildings in Beijing is the National Grand Theatre, on the Westside of the Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen Square. It is designed by French architect Paul Andreu and nicknamed the ‘Eggshell’. The Grand Theatre is hidden beneath an ellipsoid dome and appears to float in the center of a large rectangular pond within a vast green landscaped park. The various lights of the Beijing sky will illuminate the shell, made of titanium and glass. The dome is 220 meters long and 45 meters high (the height of the neighboring Great Hall of People) with no...
Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 08:30

Outing: Tomb of the Seventh Prince and Nalan Family Temple

Michael Crook

Tour Leader

This late spring outing will take BIS members to the Tomb of the Seventh Prince and the Nalan Family Temple in North Haidian district. The Seventh Prince, Prince Chunxian, was the grandfather of the Last Emperor Pu Yi, who was born in Prince Chun's Palace on the banks of Houhai. That palace was previously the mansion where Nalan Xingde, (whose father, Ming Zhu was Prime Minister to Emperor Kangxi), spent his youth. After Kangxi's death, the family fortunes declined and their mansion was confiscated by the Imperial Family and became Prince Chun's Palace. The Seventh Prince's...
Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 19:30

Life in China in the '50s & '60s

Sirin Phathanothai

Author of The Dragon's Pearl

Sirin Phathanothai was born into one of Thailand's most politically prominent families. At the age of eight, however, her life changed dramatically as her father, seeking to build a bridge to China, sent Sirin and her older brother to Beijing as wards of Premier Zhou Enlai. Their stay was to extend for fourteen years. During this time, Sirin became familiar with the legendary founders of Communist China, including Mao himself. One of Zhou's closest advisors, Liao Chengzhi, became her “father”. She attended school with the children of top leaders and lived through the Anti-Rightist...
Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 19:30

How We Map Our Worlds

John G. Blair and Jerusha McCormack,

Historians, Authors

Everyone carries a map of the world in the head, probably since their school days. Most people forget that these maps are just maps and think of them as giving the actual shape of the world. For example, it is very hard to convince Americans that Mexico is much larger than Alaska, or Russians that Africa is much larger than the Soviet Union at its largest extent. By comparing world maps from around the world, we can see at a glance how differently people look at things. How, then, to cope with these competing world views? By analogy, how are we, as outsiders who have come to...
Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 19:30

Together with Migrants: Urban Integration of an Engine of Chinese Economic growth

Genevieve Domenach-Chich
Senior Programme Specialist
Social and Human Sciences
UNESCO Beijing

In 2003, China's floating population reached about 130 million. By 2020, an estimated 350 million migrant workers will have relocated to urban areas. Over the past 20 years, labor migration has contributed to about 16% of the total growth in GDP. Migrant workers play a chief role in the development of industries and services and also improve the quality of life for urban residents. However, the living and working conditions of most migrant workers in cities remain tough. Genevieve Domenach-Chich will talk about UNESCO's “Together with Migrants” research-action project which...
Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 19:30

How Healthy is China? Public Health Challenges and Opportunities at a Time of Transition

Henk Bekedam
China Representative
World Health Organization

At a time of momentous transition and transformation, the government of the world's most populous nation is taking a long, hard look at a health care system that itself has experienced, and continues to experience, significant change. Market-oriented economic reforms have taken a toll on China's health care system, resulting in huge challenges and unexpected opportunities. The SARS outbreak of 2003 provided some valuable lessons for China's current battle against avian influenza. Dr. Henk Bekedam, the WHO Representative in China, will address these issues. Dr. Bekedam, who hails...
Thursday, March 9, 2006 - 19:30

Recovery and Preservation of Ancient Chinese Ceramics in Malaysian Waters

Sten Sjöstrand
Naval Architect

How does one find ancient shipwreck sites from the depths of the South China Sea? What vital information do these time capsules bring to the surface? Swedish Naval Architect Sten Sjöstrand will present video excerpts of the remarkable discovery of ten sunken ships and how their construction and design features help scientists decipher maritime trading practices of ten centuries ago. Sten will also show how the thousands of recovered Chinese ceramic objects facilitate more accurate dating of antique pottery. An expert diver, Sten will share his experiences in the dangers and excitement of...
Thursday, March 2, 2006 - 19:30

Restoring Emperor Qianlong's Lodge of Retirement: A Look into the Private Forbidden City

Henry Tzu Ng
Executive Vice President, World Monuments Fund

From the thousands of tourists who each day stream down the central axis of the Forbidden City, it is hard to imagine that entire areas of the site, which covers 180 acres with 1,000 buildings, remain hidden from public view. This is the case with Emperor Qianlong's Lodge of Retirement, an eighteenth-century jewel box of richly-adorned quarters tucked away in the Qianlong Garden of the northeast quadrant of the Forbidden City. Neglected for over a century, the exquisite interiors of the Lodge were in serious danger of deteriorating beyond repair. Today the Lodge is the subject of a...
Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 19:30

The Inner Palace

Prof. Yan Chongnian
Qing Dynasty Expert
and Author

Professor Yan Chongnian is one of the foremost experts on the Qing Dynasty and has done extensive research and published many authoritative books on the subject. Among his most well-known publications are The Biography of Nurhachi; Beijing – the Treasures of an Ancient Capital; A Chronology of Important Events in the Qing Dynasty, and Famous Capital Cities in China's History. Professor Yan has lectured extensively at universities in the US, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong on subjects relating to the Qing Dynasty. He hosts a very popular Chinese TV program...
Thursday, February 16, 2006 - 19:30

Beijing's New Capital Museum: The Inside Story

Mr. Yan Ruiyuan
Senior Consultant
Capital Museum

Beijing's new Capital Museum recently opened with fanfare and to glowing reviews. Although the museum itself was established over two decades ago, it was housed for many years in temporary quarters, including the Confucius Temple. Construction of the massive new museum located on West Chang An Avenue began over four years ago. For the first time, the extent of the Capital Museum's rich holdings is on display and Beijing has a museum to reveal its thousands of years of history. Mr. Yan Rui Yuan was brought in from Hong Kong as Senior Consultant to the Museum. A lecturer on Museum...
Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 19:30

Preservation of Wild Birds: Siberian Crane Wetland Project

Dr. Patricia Gleason
Environmentalist

We are very pleased to invite Dr. Gleason, the Operations Manager of the UNEP/ Global Environment Facility Siberian Crane Wetlands Project for the Chinese Academy of Forestry. In 2003, the International Crane Foundation secured a $10 million grant from GEF for the conservation of the Siberian Crane and its wetland habitats. The Siberian Crane is critically endangered - it is estimated there are only 2,500 - 3,000 "Sibes" remaining in the wild. The main threats to the bird include loss and degradation of habitat along its migratory routes, development of industries in their habitat,...
Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 19:30

Women in China: Past and Present

Professor Wu Qing, Social Activist

Jaime FlorCruz

Did you ever imagine what it was like to be a woman in feudal China? What impact did the old custom of foot-binding have on her? What new problems and challenges does she face in contemporary China? BIS will start 2006 with a lively chat with award-winning Professor Wu Qing who will share valuable insights drawn from her work with disadvantaged women. She will cover topics like the high suicide rate among rural women, as well as how Chinese women benefit from the social reforms of the past 20 years. Wu Qing has been a professor of English and American Studies for 40 years at the...