Rotary Club of Beijing 102 years

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Gala Ball

The Rotary Club of Beijing 102 years Gala on 7 March 2026 in the Kempinski Hotel was again a success, Nearly 200 guests had a great night of entertainment, food, and fellowship to celebrate 102 years of the Club.
The generous donations from the guests, through raffle tickets and silent auction delivered around RMB 120,000 to the Hebei Children’s Hospital. They are our partner for two of our projects, scoliosis and hypospadias.

autism
Beijing Huiling
hypospadias
LiXioaqing
MCFFutureThinkers
scoliosis

See short introductions of some of the projects we support.

Welcome to all guests

During the reception in ballroom foyer guests were registered and offered champagne. UWEE had its own registration for its 40 guests.
In the first part of the evening we had as speakers: Rob, President of the Rotary Club of Beijing, introducing our Hypospadias and Scoliosis Partners, Dr. Xinping Zhang, Hebei Children’s Director and Party Secretary and Ms. Xiaowei Cui, Director. IPP Didier also took the stage. And also banner exchange with the Rotary Club of Beijing Dynasty and a surprise birthday boy congratulated by our MC David and the Club President.

registration_proceedings

UWEE reception
with Jane
Philippines ambassador
the foodies
Rob
Didier
Gilbert
Beijing Dynasty
Rob & birthday boy
David & birthday boy
group picture

A film showed the Rotarians visiting the Hebei Children’s Hospital on 1 March 2026.
Of course we had a group picture of the Rotarians!

Entertainment and food

Provided by UWEE Group:

  • Italian opera by Mr. Zhan Ying, Baritone, Dr of Musicology, “La donna è mobile” from Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto
  • Mongolian Folk Dance by Dongzhimenwai ANGRAN Dance Group (twelve senior ladies), “Blessings of the Grassland”
  • Chinese classical instruments orchestra by  “Zi Yan Folk Ensemble” (ten musicians), “The whip urges the horse to hurry and transport grain”

Other entertainment:

  • Voca-Liszt Vocal Ensemble (15 performers)
  • SWG Ensemble – a high energy live band led by vocalist Ting Luo, with guitarist Xin Xiang, award winning bassist Dima Tang and drummer and composer Johanthan Chang
  • Dancing to DJ Music
Screenshot

The Kempinski served a full course dinner, much appreciated.
Yes we had fun, see the video: Rotary Gala Dancing
In a next post, more pictures!

Old China Hands Lunch 8 May

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

After the holidays

The Old China Hands Lunch 8 May was on a different date. As the first Friday was 1 May – special holiday – we had the lunch a week later. Turnout was reasonable with 25 guests.
We had two birthday boys who got a special desert: Raja and Khee Liang.

The great menu, see the pics:

  • Russian eggs salad OR salad Niçoise OR fresh daily soup
  • pork piccata Provençal style served with grilled tomato and pan-fried potatoes OR beef tenderloin Stroganoff served with market vegetables and steamed rice OR red snapper Provençal style served with vegetable and mashed potatoes
  • daily desert

Thanks to Morel’s Restaurant for a great lunch as always.
The following lunch is planned for Friday 5 June 2026.

The musical duo is back

Very happy to have Fu Han back, as she was away in the USA for over six years, where she was mostly flying around in all kinds of small airplanes.
She joined Mark for the lunch.

The fans

On 4 May we went to watch their performance at the Juicy Burger Fest in Chaoyang Park. They attracted quite an enthusiastic crowd.
Welcome back to the “In Side Out” musical duo, they have been performing all over China.

In August 2019 I took along Mark and Fu Han to the city of Qinyuan in Shanxi Province where they performed for a big crowd in the center of the city. The trip was organized by UWEE Group.
See here on YouTube some short clips from the event.


























































After the holidaysThe Old China Hands Lunch 8 May was on a different date. As
the first Friday was 1 May – special holiday – we had the lunch a week later.
Turnout was reasonable with 25 guests.We had two birthday boys who got a special desert: Raja and Khee
Liang.260508 OldChinaHandsThe great menu, see the pics:Russian eggs salad OR
salad Niçoise OR fresh daily souppork piccata Provençal
style served with grilled tomato and pan-fried potatoes OR beef tenderloin
Stroganoff served with market vegetables and steamed rice OR red snapper
Provençal style served with vegetable and mashed potatoesdaily desert

Thanks to Morel’s Restaurant for a great lunch as always.The following lunch is planned for Friday 5 June 2026. The musical duo is backVery happy to have Fu Han back, as she was away in the USA
for over six years, where she was mostly flying around in all kinds of small
airplanes.She joined Mark for the lunch.PICSOn 4 May we went to watch their performance at the Juicy
Burger Fest in Chaoyang Park. They attracted quite an enthusiastic crowd.Welcome back to the “In Side Out” musical duo, they have
been performing all over China.PICSIn August 2019 I took along Mark and Fu Han to the city of Qinyuan
in Shanxi Province where they performed for a big crowd in the center of the
city. The trip was organized by UWEE Group.See here on YouTube some short clips from the event.
(https://youtu.be/o5SoCPGxWfw)

Old China Hands Lunch 3 April

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Good Friday

The Old China Hands Lunch 3 April was on Good Friday, before the Easter weekend and the Chongming holiday, so many could not make it. We had only 19 attendants with Renaat away. On the other hand we had the gracious presence of our Belgian ambassador.
The menu was really special and making a choice was difficult, thanks to  Morel’s Restaurant.
The menu, see the pictures :

  • tomato stuffed with fish salad OR cooked ham roll stuffed with Russian potato salad OR fresh daily soup
  • sliced roast beef with gravy served with cauliflower and pan-fried potatoes OR Belgian vol-au-vent with chicken in rich cream sauce served with daily vegetables and Belgian fried OR Waterzooi of fish served with boiled potatoes (dish from my hometown Gent)
  • daily desert

Next lunch is planned for Friday 8 May, because of the May First holiday.

Spotlight on Mr. Trains

Our famous train expert David Feng was again in the news recently.
He was featured on the South China Morning Post, talking about China building new high-speed rail lines that dive underneath major waterways, providing fast services without disrupting shipping traffic,
See the article here. 260401 tunnel.pdf
He was also featured on Swiss and Chinese media.

Information Office
SwissChat
SwissChat
SwissChat

Chinese media, The State Council Information Office, see here the link.
The post on Swiss media is on WeChat (no link available).
David is posting on this substack:
David Feng | The Chinese Rail Briefing by Trains Plus <chineserailbriefing@substack.com>

Old China Hands Lunch 6 March

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Three birthday boys

The Old China Hands Lunch 6 March had a nice turnout of 29 despite the Double Meetings.
Great food by Morel’s Restaurant as always, see the pictures:

  • one local draft OR glass of house wine OR soft drink
  • slice of smoked salmon stuffed with seafood and garden greens OR scrambled eggs Provençal style OR fresh daily soup
  • ox tongue in Madeira sauce served with vegetables and sauteed potatoes OR pork piccata Provençal style served with grilled tomato and pan-fried potatoes OR red snapper Grenoble style served with daily vegetable and mashed potatoes
  • daily desert
  • coffee or tea

The set lunch price is RMB 180, a bargain.
We had three birthday boys: Christopher, Michael and Matthew. They got a waffle!
The following lunch is planned for Friday 3 April 2026.

Harvey has a book

Our friend Harvey who has been away is launching his book this month in Beijing. Details:
Book Launch Roundtable “Dreaming Dragons or Meddlesome Mandarins – A Journey Together to Uncover China’s Soul” by Harvey Dzodin.

When: 15:30-17:00, Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Where: CCG Office in Beijing, 12fl, West Wing, Hanwei Plaza, No.7 Guanghua Rd,
The invitation: 260317 HarveyBook.pdf
See here an earlier introduction:  Dreaming Dragons or Meddlesome Mandarins summary.pdf

Old China Hands Lunch 6 February

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

The Horse is coming

With the Year of the Horse approaching the Old China Hands Lunch 6 February had a modest attendance of 23.
Only one birthday boy: Mark.

The menu, see the pictures:

  • ham salad Andalouse OR puff pastry with chicken curry Indian style OR fresh daily soup
  • farmers pork sausage with onion sauce served with cabbage and roesti potatoes OR chicken cordon blue served with daily vegetables and pan-fried potatoes OR red snapper Meunière served with daily vegetable and boiled potatoes
  • daily desert
  • coffee or tea

Great food as always by Morel’s Restaurant.
Next lunch planned for Friday 6 March.

Influencer and independent food vlogger

On Saturday 31 January 2026 TheBeijinger gave out Influencer Awards during its Culturopolis Event. I could not attend in person as I had a Rotary lunch. My friend David (“Mr. Trains”} also got it. They showed my video of the Georgia Restaurant dinner event.

Screenshot
Screenshot

Here on Vimeo a short clip of the event.

I started my WeChat Channel, first video on 11 April 2020. By 26 October 2025 I scored 2 million plays.

Screenshot
Screenshot

I also reached the top level – Level 8 – on Dazhong Dianping as a food critic in late December 2025. It is pretty challenging to reach that level! My video & media manager Sophie has been a great help over the years. I also post on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) and Kuaishou.