Life in the city

Birds visit Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Adventures with my birds

Birds visit Beijing  see earlier posts:
Beijing birds visiting
and
Beijing birds

Nothing dramatic has changed but I had some new visitors.
Eurasian tree sparrows and spotted doves are the regulars. The Eurasian magpies are afraid to visit except sometimes for drinking, they are a lively gang in the big tree in front of my office.

The Eurasian magpie or common magpie (Pica pica) is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of the Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of “monochrome” magpies. The Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds, and it is believed to be one of the most intelligent of all non-human animals.
The other one is the Azure-winged Magpie.
The azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) is a bird in the crow family. It is 31–35 cm long and similar in overall shape to the Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) but is more slender with proportionately smaller legs and bill. It has a glossy black top to the head and a white throat. The underparts and the back are a light grey-fawn in color with the wings and the feathers of the long (16–20 cm) tail an azure blue.

Another intruder in the kitchen

A small azure-winged magpie fell down our chimney landing in our kitchen through the gas stove air exhaust. My wife tried to catch it but only managed to catch its feathers from the tail. It then hid in a small corner

Before going to bed I made sure there were no any lights in the kitchen and left the window open. By the morning it had left.
Yes, I told my wife several times we need to install some screen on the chimney and just now a worker came to soon solve the problem… The birds are attracted by the warm air…

A new visitor

I spotted a new bird on my balcony and finally succeeded to take a picture.

The light-vented bulbul, also called the Chinese bulbul, is a species of bird in the bulbul family found in central and southern China, Hong Kong, Macao, and other. Scientific name: Pycnonotus sinensis,
Looking forward to more different visitors, attracted by the corn and drinking water.

Old China Hands Lunch 3 January 2025

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Pretty good attendance

Despite last minute cancellations – several people sick, the Old China Hands Lunch 3 January 2025 had 21 participants, not bad as many people were still away.
The menu, see the pictures:

  • vegetable quiche OR Morel’s chef salad (ham, blue cheese and pan-fried chicken, beef on lettuce) OR fresh smoked  salmon croquettes  OR fresh daily soup
  • beef tenderloin stroganoff served with market vegetables and steamed rice OR meatloaf with black pepper sauce served with market vegetables and mashed potatoes OR red snapper provençale style served with vegetables and mashed potatoes
  • daily desert

Thanks to Khee Liang for the extra pictures.
It was our first lunch in 2025. Next lunch is on Friday 7 February at the start of the Year of the Snake. Chinese New Year is on 29 January, public holiday is from 28 January to 3 February.

The benefits of our monthly lunch

Our lunch combats a change in society that affects Americans, as well as other nations. See here copy of interesting article. Our lunches bring people together – again.
In The Atlantic‘s latest cover story, “The Anti-Social Century” Derek Thompson illuminates America’s loneliness epidemic.
The big thought: Loneliness is no longer a temporary problem in America. Staying home and being alone has become a way of life.
Some eye-popping stats:

  • Americans’ time spent socializing in person dropped 20% between 2003 and 2023, per the American Time Use Survey. Among people younger than 25, it plummeted more than 35%.
  • In that same time, the share of U.S. adults having dinner or drinks with friends on a given night has declined 30%. And the National Restaurant Association says that 74% of 2023 restaurant traffic came from takeout and delivery.
  • A typical teen spends 270 minutes on weekdays and 380 minutes on weekends looking at a phone screen, according to Digital Parenthood Initiative. That’s about 30% of the time they’re awake.

The bottom line: “Practically the entire economy has reoriented itself to allow Americans to stay within their four walls,” Thompson writes. “This phenomenon cannot be reduced to remote work. It is something far more totalizing — something more like remote life.”

Old China Hands Lunch 13 December 2024

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

The Old China Hands Lunch 13 December 2024 was a week later than normal, as I was away to USA in early December. It was also a celebration for Christmas, New Year and 25 years of Morel’s Restaurant. The following lunch is planned for Friday 3 January 2025; the price of the lunch will be slightly increased to RMB 180.
Turnout was modest as many were starting their holiday travels. The 23 participants had a good time as always.

See the menu, refer to the pictures:

  • scrambled eggs Provençale style OR Morel’s chef salad (ham, blue cheese and pan-fried chicken, beef on lettuce)  OR green split peas soup
  • veal sausage with onion sauce served with daily vegetables and hotchpotch potatoes OR Christmas ham with gravy vegetable and gratinated potatoes OR red snapper Provençale style served with vegetables and mashed potatoes
  • daily desert

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and see you all in 2025.

Old China Hands Lunch 1 November 2024

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Everybody busy

Our Old China Hands Lunch 1 November 2024 had only 22 attendants as many were busy and several of our members had to cancel last minute. Nevertheless always great to see everybody happy chatting and enjoying the great food of Morel’s Restaurant. See the menu and the pictures:
– Russian eggs salad OR fresh smoked salmon croquettes OR fresh daily soup
– pork piccata Provençale style served with grilled tomato and pan fried potatoes  OR thin sliced beef tenderloin with wine merchant sauce served with marker vegetables and Belgian fries OR pan-fried snapper with mustard sauce served with daily vegetables and mashed potatoes
– dessert: profiteroles

The following lunch is planned for Friday 13 December 2024 as I will be returning from USA on 6 December. We will then also celebrate upcoming Christmas and the New Year. But also 25 years of Morel’s Restaurant!

Halloween

Our sclerotic Chinese goons were doing their best to ruin Halloween activities in most cities, arresting people dressed up and prohibiting outdoor decorations. Sad really.
That did not stop most restaurants and clubs having Halloween activities.
Morel’s Restaurant had indoor decoration and organized pumpkin carving. You don’t have to be a kid to do the carving!

Susan’s brother, an artist at work!

Rotary Club of Beijing in 2024

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Low profile

With the Chinese legal framework for foreign NGO it has been till now impossible to register our clubs in China. We cautiously observe the Chinese regulations so our permitted activities are limited.
The Rotary Club of Beijing celebrated a milestone in history, a 100 years anniversary.in a magnificent event at the Kempinski Hotel Beijing, on Saturday April 20, 2024. See here for the details.
It has completely changed the work we operate. See as an example the 080819_bulletin of 19 August 2008, previously posted on our website with pictures. We had to stop all that.
Rotary China has however now a general homepage.

Change of guard

According to Rotary rules, all clubs have a new team starting on 1 July, for one year.
On 25 June 2024 during a dinner in the Capital Mansion Club we thanked the old team with president René and welcomed the new team with president Ralf.

On 2 July 2024 the new president Ralf hosted his first meeting.

At the occasion he showed the congratulatory letter from the RI president Stephanie Urchick for the 100 years of the club; it was admitted to the Rotary family on 30 August 1924.
It was also the day to celebrate the birthdays of the month.

Lunch 3 September 2024

Mr. Yves Nzeyimana, AG for District 9214 (Uganda and Tanzania) and from the RC Arusha Mount Meru visited our club during our lunch in Kempinski Hotel.

In his newsletter he gave a nice overview:

RC Beijing has been involved in several community projects among which “Gift of Life” (350 surgeries for children with Congenital Heart Disease); “The Library Project” (over 160 libraries to migrant schools); the Maple Women’s Psychological Counseling Center (hotline for women who need urgent assistance); China Literacy Project (assisting poor families); Morning Tears House in Zhengzhou; Sun’s Children Village; aiding schools for developmentally disabled children (the Minkang and Fortune Schools teach basic living skills to developmentally disabled children); providing 1250 new wheelchairs to needy people; a medical van to the Hebei Children’s hospital, in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province; matriculation and fees for a student  in Henan University of Chinese Medicine, among others.

Lunch 10 September 2024

During our lunch in Kempinski Hotel we had as speaker Mr. Billy Gao.
Topic: “A Brief Introduction to Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in the PRC”.

Billy is a lawyer with GAOPENG & PARTNER (Beijing office) and he is also an arbitrator in China. He has practiced Chinese law for over 15 years and his practice areas cover dispute resolution, M&A, international trade, and competition law.

Lunch 24 September 2024

During our lunch in Kempinski Hotel Fernando gave a talk: “Real Estate Development in UK and EU”.

Fernando de Zuniga, a Spanish architect spoke about his company, specialized in real estate development and investment projects in Poland, UK and Spain. He also spoke about his new project, a padel club in London. Fernando has moved to Beijing a year ago.
We had the visit of a delegation of several Rotary clubs in Germany, led by our former member Monica who is now with the RC of Berlin-Kurfürstendamm.