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Thursday, December 6, 2018 - 19:30

A History of Beijing in 10 Maps with BIS Winter Reception

Lars Ulrik Thom

We would like to remind you that it is now necessary to register before each event by writing to info [at] beijinginternationalsociety.com The deadline for registration is midday (12.00pm) on Thursday 6 December, the day of the event. We cannot accept RSVPs after this time. BIS events are open to foreign passport holders only, please remember to bring your passport. Reservations are valid only upon receipt of a confirmation email from BIS....
Thursday, November 15, 2018 - 19:30

The Human Bridge Built by Premier Zhou Enlai: The Life Journey of Sirin Phathanothai, the adopted daughter of Zhou Enlai

Sirin Phathanothai

Sirin Phathanothai’s unexpected involvement with China began more than 70 years ago when, as a child, she was sent to China as a diplomatic offering at the height of the Cold War. At the time, Thailand was a close ally of the United States against Communism, particularly China. Yet Sirin’s father, Sang Phathanothai, chief advisor to the Thai Prime Minister, felt insecure with China as its enemy next door. While pursuing pro-US policies against China, Sang also secretly looked for a way to reduce the animosity with China by offering up two of his own children to become the wards of Zhou...
Friday, October 19, 2018 - 19:30

China and the World: the Era of Great Change as the PRC aims to be number one

DUE LIMITED SPACE THE REGISTRATION FOR THE EVENT HAS BEEN CLOSED.

Speaker: Dr. Kerry Brown

In the next decade China's actions on the world stage will affect us all. A new superpower, with the largest population and GDP on the globe, there are now fears that China is becoming increasingly assertive. This talk will guide us through China’ s foreign policy, from its skirmishes with US Navy destroyers in the South China Sea to its arguments with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands and its increased displays of military prowess-including huge investments in cyber warfare. It will also assess China’ s extraordinary plan to create a “ New Silk Road” across Central...
Thursday, October 11, 2018 - 19:30

Absorbing Cultures

Speaker: Tanya Crossman

Culture is a broad term – it includes our external habits such as how we speak, eat, dress, and interact with others, and also our internal value systems. When we live in a different culture, the way we naturally do things, and expect things to be done, comes into conflict with different ways of being. How we react to this conflict affects how we feel about living abroad, and how we are shaped by it. Learning to recognise and appreciate deeper levels of cultural values enables us to learn from a culture, even be changed by it, without losing who we are and what matters...
Thursday, September 20, 2018 - 19:30

Finding One's Dream in Rural China: an American family's effort to preserve China's heritage

Brian Linden

The focus of the talk will be Linden family’s attempts to inspire a more balanced approach to the development of rural China and the ways this family came up with a model that includes the government and communities in the decision-making process and helps to ensure a win-win situation for all. Brian Linden 林登 Brian is a Chicago native who began working in China with CBS News in 1984. From 1984 -1987, he was involved in interviews with Chinese leaders and also found time to play the leading role in a...
Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - 19:30

Ladies of the Chinese Republican era and the women of Dashilan

Speaker: Lars Ulrik  Thom

In China’s last dynasty, Beijing was a segregated city. Walls and gates kept people of different ethnicity apart. Even inside the Chinese courtyard houses, the family hierarchy was set in stone. Women lived in the back, tied to their homes not only by tradition but by their tiny bound feet. But the abdication of the 6-year-old Emperor Puyi in 1912 set in motion a wave of change that washed away these old rules. Republican women had freedom and opportunity as never before.  Newspapers, cigarette packets and movies inspired a whole new idea of what it meant to be a woman....
Thursday, May 31, 2018 - 19:30

As China celebrates its 40 years of reforms, the leadership is stepping up with more reforms and more opening up. What will be the implications for ordinary Chinese and the rest of the world?

A panel discussion with Ian Johnson and Zhang Lijia DU

DUE LIMITED SPACE, REGISTRATION TO THE EVENT HAS BEEN CLOSED.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform era, which has seen the country move from an isolated impoverished country to the world's second-largest economy and a global power. But behind such headlines, what has this meant for ordinary people--how have their lives changed and what are their prospects in the coming decades?  Pulitzer-Prize winning writer, Ian Johnson, and Chinese Author Zhang Lijia will talk about the impact of the reforms and opening up, both the benefits and the challenges it has brought along....
Thursday, May 17, 2018 - 19:30

China 2048: A Portrait of China' s Millenial Generation

Carol Li Rafferty

Due limited space, the application process to the event is closed.

Twenty years from the advent of President Xi's New Era, what would the new generation of China's change-makers, entrepreneurs, and leaders look like? Fresh from speaking at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos, Carol Li Rafferty will share her perspectives on China's up-and-coming millennials.  Carol Li Rafferty is a member of one of Hong Kong's most prominent business and political families, graduated from Yale and Stanford, and worked in finance, law, and government. When Carol opened the...
Monday, April 23, 2018 - 19:30

24 Epic Solar Adventures Around China

Speaker: Dominic Johnson-Hill

About 3000 years ago the Chinese mapped the movement of the sun and created the 24 solar terms. This is considered to be China's fifth great invention and helped farmers to plan their crops and China become a great civilization. Today these 24 solar terms are still a big part of Chinese culture. Dominic Johnson-Hill has been on an epic adventure for Xinhua hosting a television program for which he is visiting 24 places around China uncovering how these 24 solar terms are ingrained in Chinese culture and history, experiencing old and new and the...
Monday, March 26, 2018 - 19:30

The Vatican and China: Eminent normalization?

 

A panel discussion with Carlo d’Imporzano and Francesco Sisci

 

THIS EVENT IS BY RESERVATION ONLY. PLEASE SEND YOUR RESERVATION REQUEST TO  info [at] beijinginternationalsociety.com . Reservations are valid only upon receipt of a confirmation email from BIS.

 

Despite its small population of over 800, the Vatican makes decisions that affect more than 1.3 billion Catholics around the world, roughly the size of China's population. It is unique that such important international actors do not have diplomatic ties. In fact, normalization of bilateral relations seems essential for both China and the Vatican. On the eve of this normalization, come and find out first hand from experts in the field, working as a bridge for both sides, the context and impact this historical move will have on both countries. The...
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - 20:00

China' s World: What Does China Want?

Professor Kerry Brown

Please  be aware that there have been changes and event will start at 20.00.

Due limited space, the application process to the event is closed.

 

In the next decade China's actions on the world stage will affect us all. A new superpower, with the largest population and GDP on the globe, there are now fears that China is becoming increasingly assertive. This talk will assess China's main foreign policy narratives, and its extraordinary plan to create a `New Silk Road' across Central Asia - one of the biggest infrastructure projects in modern history. In doing so Kerry Brown will seek to answer a simple question: what does China want? The answer lies in understanding better the unique way China thinks about the...
Friday, March 9, 2018 - 19:30

Breaking with social norms: a perspective on China's gender equity from the feudal to the contemporary

A panel discussion with Wu Qing and Cai Yiping, moderated by Hong Huang

 

Due limited space, the application process to the event is closed.

 

Confucius, viewed through a Western prism is often portrayed as a “wise” old man with a long beard. Yet, traditional Confucianism promoted some of the most patriarchal family systems that ever existed. Later, Mao’s adage that “women hold up half the sky” was also taken with a grain a salt by many women who lived in those times and contemporary Chinese Women Scholars. In recent times, however, legislative progress and a change in attitudes are starting to displace this patriarchy.  It is undeniable that deep-rooted patriarchal Confucianism still plays a significant role...
Thursday, March 1, 2018 - 19:30

Transitional Urbanism – How Creativity and Social Innovation are changing the Chinese City

Beatrice Leanza Co Founder and Creative Director of The Global School

This event is by reservation only. Please send your reservation request by CONTACT US  on https://www.beijinginternationalsociety.com/contact. Reservations are valid only upon receipt of a confirmation email from BIS. Over the past two decades, the development of the creative industries in China has been part of national economic policies devising urban making and a rejuvenation of ‘mass innovation’ with...
Thursday, January 25, 2018 - 19:30

“Laowai" in the movies: Life in the trenches of Chinese film production

Luc Bendza and Andy Friend

A panel discussion with Luc Bendza and Andy Friend You may already have heard that the Chinese film industry has entered an unprecedented "golden age". With box office revenue well over RMB50 Billion , China is the fastest growing film market in the world. And you may also know that by 2020, China's box office is expected to reach RMB200 billion and will exceed North America as the world's largest market in box office revenue and audience numbers. But did you know that behind the scenes of many of those great Chinese movies there are also some great “laowai" film...