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Thursday, December 9, 2010 - 19:30

The Perfumed Palace: Islam's Journey from Mecca to Peking

Michael Aldrich, Attorney and Writer

Islam first arrived in China in the 7th century and rapidly became an integral part of China's social fabric. By 996, Muslims had established a presence in Beijing and so began a process of cultural accommodation so far-reaching that today, casual observers of northern China, whether Chinese, Muslim or Western, might be completely unaware of their existence. Michael Aldrich has written The Perfumed Palace: Islam's Journey from Mecca to Peking as five essays that are loosely themed around the Five Pillars of Islam and explores the life and culture of the Muslims of China's capital...
Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 19:30

A Photographic History of Shanghai

Karen Smith, Art Historian and Author

The end of the Opium war in 1842 effected a dramatic transformation on China's coast, turning the sleepy backwater of Shanghai into a bustling treaty port. Over the intervening 160 years, Shanghai has been shaped by outside forces: foreign concessions, the Japanese invasion, the arrival of the Communists and the cult of Mao—all playing their part in sculpting today's cosmopolis. Karen Smith's recent book, Shanghai: A History in Photographs 1842-Today, tells the story of modern China as witnessed by this romantic city through evocative, beautiful and sometimes painful images...
Thursday, November 11, 2010 - 19:30

Pagoda, Pavilion and Gate: Traditional Chinese Forms and the Future of Chinese Architecture

Eugene Geinzer, Academic Advisor and Visiting Professor of Fine Arts,

The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies

What do spirit, tradition and face mean as they relate to Chinese architecture? Can traditional architecture propagate new and creative ideas? Is it possible to retain the meaning behind ancient forms without being bound to their exterior appearance? Professor Eugene Geinzer will examine three prototypical Chinese forms—the pagoda, pavilion and gate— and discern their originating spirit, exploring examples from the past 500 years. He will further examine how a revitalizing Chinese culture can conspire with Western technology to invigorate and express future architectural forms....
Thursday, October 21, 2010 - 19:30

Reporting China to the World – 1820-1949

Paul French

Writer; Analyst

A debate rages today as to whether or not foreign journalists and the international media accurately report on China. Do they have hidden agendas and display bias or do they tread too softly and fail to criticise enough? It was ever thus. Based on his most recent book, Through the Looking Glass – China's Foreign Journalists from Opium Wars to Mao, Paul French traces the history of the foreign press corps in China from its beginnings through its 120-year tumultuous history until 1949 and considers whether today we are better served when it comes to interpreting China than we were a...
Thursday, September 16, 2010 - 19:30

China 1912-1949 and Its Lessons for Today

Jonathan Fenby

Author and Historian

For over a century from the 1850s, China endured as victim to oppression, invasion, civil war and natural disasters. This makes its current position as the newest and, arguably, most important global superpower all the more extraordinary. Distinguished historian Jonathan Fenby will present a comprehensive account of China's past, articulate its remarkable contemporary transformation and draw the links between that tumultuous backdrop and the China of today. Jonathan Fenby is author of fourteen books, including the recent, Penguin History of Modern China. Formerly editor of...
Thursday, September 9, 2010 - 19:30

When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind – or Destroy It

Jonathan Watts
Journalist, Asia Environment Correspondent,
The Guardian

Jonathan Watts will discuss his new book, When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind – or Destroy It—a down and dirty look at China's environmental challenges and a bird's eye perspective on why they are different from anything experienced by other countries during a similar stage of development. Drawing on more than 200 interviews with senior politicians, scientists, businessmen and individuals the length and breadth of the country, Watts considers four questions: How has environmental destruction become the new China threat? Why are history and geography conspiring...
Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 19:30

In Celebration of Matteo Ricci: Choral Concert and Readings

In collaboration with The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies

Jesuit missionary, scholar, cartographer, musician and scientist, Matteo Ricci (1552 - 1610) was the first European to enter the Forbidden City and the first foreigner to be buried in Beijing. Before the 20th century, the West owed most of its knowledge of China to this remarkable man. On the 400th anniversary of his death, BIS is pleased to present a special evening of music composed in memory of Ricci by Luca Uggias, SJ and performed by the North Cathedral Sacred Music Choir, as well as readings from Ricci´s letters. We look forward to welcoming you at...
Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 19:30

Microloans for Micro-Business: Helping China's Rural Poor

Courtney McColgan, Co-founder, Wokai
Sara Jane Ho, Business Development Associate, Wokai

The number of people living below the poverty line in China is larger than the entire population of Russia. Enter two young American women who founded Wokai (“I Start” in Chinese) in 2007, now a media darling that is termed “the Facebook for Farmers.” With the rural population left behind in China's runaway growth, Wokai's founders identified microfinance as the only viable solution to closing the rural-urban income gap. Wokai's online peer-to-peer fundraising portal allows individual donors to finance micro-entrepreneurs to start small businesses, with a focus on Sichuan and Inner...
Thursday, May 6, 2010 - 19:30

China's Soft Power Abroad: Messages, Methods and Impact

David Shambaugh

Professor of Political Science & International Affairs, and

Director, China Policy Program,
The George Washington University;

Senior Fulbright Research Scholar, China Academy of Social Sciences,

Institute of World Economics & Politics

As China's rise continues and its global cultural footprint expands, journalists and scholars around the world have paid increased attention to China's soft power and public diplomacy. Meanwhile, China's government and scholars have become increasingly attuned to its international image and the role that it plays in China's foreign relations. In an effort to improve its image abroad, the Chinese government has begun to pour large financial assets into a broad range of government, media and cultural instruments involved in getting Beijing's messages out to the world. Yet, despite...
Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 19:30

Saving China's Tigers: Protection and Preservation

Li Quan
Founding Director,
Save China's Tigers

To mark the Year of the Tiger, increasing attention is being paid to the South China tiger—the origin of all tiger subspecies, dating back 2 million years. It is now the most endangered tiger in the world with fewer than 100 remaining in the wild and in captivity in China. BIS is delighted to present an evening with Li Quan (全莉), founder of Save China's Tigers, who leads ambitious and innovative tiger re-wilding and reintroduction programs, relying on wildlife management expertise in South Africa to help prepare the zoo-born South China tigers for eventual re-introduction into the...
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 19:30

Rise of the Virtuoso: Classical Music Education in China

Dr. Tamás Ungár

Professor of Music,

Texas Christian University;

Founder and Executive Director,

Piano Texas International Academy & Festival

In an article published in April, 2009, The New York Times reported that 39 million students are studying piano in China. The same article singled out the Middle School affiliated with the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music as the most fertile ground for training future young musicians. Ten years ago we would have been surprised to see an Asian in any of the world's major orchestras; today, Asians, and particularly Chinese, are also sweeping prizes at prestigious international competitions, including the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—causing quite a stir in...
Thursday, April 8, 2010 - 19:30

China and Climate Change: The Way to a Low-Carbon Economy

Justin Barrow
Co-Founder and Director,
Climate Action

China is now the world´s largest producer of carbon dioxide. How will China address the challenges of global warming and the threat it poses to its water and food supply? Can China reduce its dependence on coal and become a low-carbon economy while still ensuring economic growth and stability? What can individuals do to reduce their own carbon emissions? Justin Barrow, co-founder and director of Climate Action, will talk about the particular obstacles to fighting climate change in China and explain the role of carbon offsets and carbon markets in confronting climate change. ...
Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 19:30

Chinese Cosmology: Tales of Life in the Loess

Peter Lighte, Ph.D.
Chairman, JPMorgan Chase Bank (China) Company Limited

To live in Beijing is to live in loess, the silt particular to Northern China which not only colors the Yellow River, but the air, as well. To gain insight into China's philosophical traditions, Peter Lighte maintains that we must remain at the level of loess—in the knowable world—our eyes not aloft. The Chinese language itself tells us that, unlike in the West where the very word 'cosmos' alludes to an abstract concept of the universe, here the notion goes only as far as the eaves and ridge poles of a roof. Peter Lighte will share his insights on the Chinese concept of cosmology,...
Thursday, March 4, 2010 - 19:30

China Museums: Off the Beaten Track

Miriam Clifford
Photojournalist

China is currently experiencing an explosion of museum building and expansion. In 1990, there were about 300 museums in the country; today, there are well over 2000, excluding the newly-permitted private museums, new art centers and districts. Combined with the recent policy of free entry to most state museums, this has led to a huge increase in visitor numbers as well as the challenge of higher expectations of the museum experience from both Chinese and foreign visitors. CHINA: museums is a guide to over 200 museums around the country, many of which are off-the-beaten...
Thursday, February 4, 2010 - 19:30

China After Mao, 'Seek Truth From Facts'

Liu Heung Shing
Photojournalist

In 1977, Deng Xiaoping urged the Chinese people to ‘seek truth from facts.’ The slogan was coined to steer the people away from pure ideology towards new—and radical for the times—economic and political policies of a practical nature. In time, this strategy succeeded in rallying society behind Deng's modernization program and building the socio-political momentum necessary to carry forward economic and political reform. Liu Heung Shing will reveal how the process of unleashing the nation's resourcefulness and energy began. Liu Heung Shing began his career as a photojournalist for...
Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 19:30

Traveling the Ancient Tea Horse Road

Jeff Fuchs

Explorer and Author

Explorer and author Jeff Fuchs will speak about his 8-month groundbreaking journey and his experiences on one of the world's great trade routes, the Tea Horse Road. Fuchs is the first westerner to have completed the entire route stretching almost six thousand kilometers through the Himalayas, a dozen cultures and two dozen dialects. His talk will highlight the importance of oral traditions in tea and mountain cultures. Jeff Fuchs’ photos and stories have appeared in World Geographic, Kyoto Journal, The Spanish Expedition Society, The Earth, Silkroad Foundation, The China Post...
Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 19:30

Ending Educational Inequity in China: An Innovative Approach

Mr. Andrea Pasinetti

CEO, China Education Initiative (CEI)
and
Ms. Rachel Wasser
President, China Education Initiative (CEI)

Every day, tens of millions of Chinese children are faced with severely limited educational prospects. Rural children are more than three times less likely to graduate from high school than their urban peers, and in some parts of western China children drop out of school at a rate that is 10 times the national average – making the challenge of escaping poverty an even more insurmountable task. Established in 2008 under the auspices of Princeton University, Tsinghua University and the Ford Foundation, the China Education Initiative (CEI) is an innovative non-profit organization...