Old China Hands 5 November lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Numbers are steady

Our Old China Hands 5 November lunch saw a total of 26 familiar faces, recent numbers have been steady but below the past average of 30-35. Members still (stuck) abroad, or busy or even worried to go out with the recent massive COVID cases of less than ten in Beijing.
Anyway all enjoyed the chat and the food.

See a few of the dishes from the special lunch menu. I happened to choose different ones. In view of the ridiculously low price we enjoyed (thanks Renaat) the cost will go up a little in January, So, take advantage of the old price on 3 December, the last lunch of 2021.
I was pictured exactly when my camera went on strike, never happened before. Later back home I managed to get it back to work normally but good to have my iPhone as a backup.

One more famous OCH member

From time to time I introduce some of our illustrious members. This time the honor goes to Melinda!
“20 for 20: Newsweek Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu”
See her story here in TheBeijinger:

“Newsweek’s Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu once considered Beijing a stop on her way to living around the world. Over 20 years later, she’s in awe of how Beijing has changed, whether how the culinary scene has developed or the diversity of the population. Besides her work taking Liu to places both historical and new, during her time here, she turned her curiosity about the American aviators who spent time in China during WWII into a short documentary film. But it’s really been Liu’s chance to witness Beijing’s evolution while visiting ancient sites that have sustained her interest over the years.”

Read the rest of the story in theBeijinger!
Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4uAxBSlEyuqwBBIKqvPV8Q

Old China Hands 8 October lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

One week later

Our Old China Hands 8 October lunch saw 29 attendants, one week later than normal because of the 1 October holiday.
A special event as a crew of five from BTV (Beijing TV) is making a documentary with me and wanted to shoot a bit during our lunch. Some of our OCH were interviewed.
The BTV people came to my home office around 9 am, went to the lunch, went back to my home office after the lunch. They left 6:30 pm and I was really exhausted. The joke I made, they shot about anything except me going to the toilet. Curious to see what they will make of it.
I don’t have good pictures of their shooting day as I was alone at home.

Other shooting planned soon, along with our Dutch architect John, see:
“John van de Water talked to Rotary”, https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/09/22/john-van-de-water-talked-to-rotary/
No idea when it will be finished and shown.

Great get together as usual and all happy with company and the food.

The documentary

The theme of the documentary is the “Beijing Central Axis”, also about myself and about John. The shooting plan was first discussed in my office on 19 September 2021.
Today many people even don’t know what it means. I was involved with the idea during the preparation of the 2008 Olympic Venues. See the pic from Beijing This Month magazine.

I also have the detailed study done in 2002 by the German architect Albert Speer Jr. for the Beijing Government

Albert Speer Jr. was a German architect and urban planner. He was the son of Albert Speer, Adolf Hitler’s chief architect before assuming the office of Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich during World War II. His grandfather, Albert Friedrich Speer, was also an architect. Wikipedia
I met him in Beijing in 2005 and he wrote a very kind thank you letter for the meeting. He passed away in 2017.

Next lunch

The next lunch is planned for Friday 5 November. Stay tuned!

Bloomberg Caution in Sanlitun

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

A hidden pub bistro

Through a Wechat group I learned about Bloomberg Caution in Sanlitun and I went to check it out.
It is a bit hidden but it is actually easy to find if you know it is through the East gate of Zhaolong Hotel.
The place is a bit unusual and pretty large. It has a large outside terrace, two separate inside seating areas; on the other side of the alley there is a large covered bar area and a kind of ball room area, all actually in the back of Zhaolong Hotel.

It is open for dinner only and it seems most customers tend to come in the late evening. Also a favored place of one of the major motorbike groups.

Many connections with friends

Talking with the friendly owner Jason, a Beijinger with fluent English, I learned he is close friend of Kent and his sons. Several paintings of Kent are displayed. Kent’s sons also are regulars, as well as Dieter, one other of our Old China Hands. Small world!
See: Old China Hands 7 May lunch https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/05/16/old-china-hands-7-may-lunch/
Several of the friends had parties there, for birthdays of playing music. Jason showed the picture of Kent making one of his tasty dishes.

Food and drinks

Extensive menu, many different dishes. I tried the beef salad and fried tongue. Being on an alcohol-free week I could not try the beers. Other friends find their beer prices a bit high

VIW hosted 3 Flemish China Old Hands

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

VIW

In the evening of 28 September 2021 VIW hosted 3 Flemish China Old Hands in the Belgian Embassy of Beijing.VIW – “Vlaanderen in the Wereld”, see https://www.viw.be/en.

I am not sure but I think I am member of VIW since the early eighties. We now have a dynamic representative in Beijing, Tina, who organised the succesful event in collaboration with the Belgian Embassy. Thanks Tina, thanks to our embassy!

Gilbert, one of the speakers

I found it a challenge to give an overview of my 40 years of China in less than 20 minutes… (I think I talked for about 22 minutes). I had a valuable help from Tina’s son who was the “clicker”. I also brought “3 exhibits”.

I never did a similar presentation but my talk was a bit like the following talk I gave:

“In the evening of 29 May 2018 Gilbert spoke for the Rotaract Club of Beijing West, in a lecture hall gently provided by Beijing University. The audience of 45 young people listened to the story of two major projects Gilbert was involved in, to understand how the Chinese administration works and how one can succeed in “Mission Impossible” through perseverance, innovation and continuous learning. One project explained how subway building resumed in China in 1998 through his success in getting Shanghai Line 3 approved by the central government. The other case explains how Gilbert received the challenge to look for funding for the 2008 Olympics, to build the major venues, and how the contracts were awarded.
The two projects are part of his seminars on how to do successful lobbying in China.”
(I still need to write a post about it… see the picture)

The other speakers

Johan from the embassy welcomed us all and Tina hosted the rest of the meeting. Snacks were sponsored by TRB and beers by Duvel Moortgat.

Two other seasoned expats with an impressive career presented their story:
Pol Castermans, Sales Director, North China at Duvel Moortgat – Beijing, China
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pol-castermans-a435a146/
and
Kris Van Goethem, Managing Director MICE, LEISURE & SPORT at Thomas Cook – Shanghai, China
https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisvangoethem/

Le Petit Prince in Chinese

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Revisiting Maxim’s

On 22 September 2021 we were invited to the official launch of Le Petit Prince in Chinese (“The Little Prince”), a new Chinese translation. I also had the chance to visit again Maxim’s de Paris. So many memories…

The Chinese book is beautifully done, the bag is also very cute.
See the original extract compared with the Chinese version (Chapter one).

I was asked to go on stage to tell my own story with the book. Indeed, I was something like 9 or 10 years, in a boarding school in Enghien (Collège Saint Augustin) where I took part in a performance based on the book. It was a shadow play. While I obviously lost the details (60 years ago!) the small theater performance always stayed in my mind.
We met old friends during the event and a new Russian contact who was connected to the stay of our aunt Sun Weishi in Moscow, with Chairman Mao. Small world!

Le Petit Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

See: https://bookmarks.reviews/a-childrens-fable-for-adultsantoine-de-saint-exuperys-the-little-prince/
A Children’s Fable for Adults: Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince
“All grown-ups were once children…but only few of them remember it”
And now here is my secret, a very simple secret:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.The full French version can be downloaded here:
http://www.cmls.polytechnique.fr/perso/tringali/documents/st_exupery_le_petit_prince.pdf

The mystery of his plane crash

I now read the final story of what happened to the author. His plane had disappeared in 1944 and for decades nobody knew what happened. Read the story:
Plane Wreck Of the Author Of ‘Prince’ Is Discovered – By Agence France-Presse
7 April 2004
A French underwater salvage team has discovered the remains of the plane of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of ”The Little Prince,” six decades after his disappearance, government researchers said Wednesday.
The pieces of the Lockheed Lightning P38 aircraft, which vanished July 31, 1944 during a wartime reconnaissance mission, were found off the coast of the Mediterranean city of Marseille, the Culture Ministry’s Department of Subaquatic and Submarine Archaeological Research said.

The full story: https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/world/plane-wreck-of-the-author-of-prince-is-discovered.html

Maxim’s de Paris

I enjoyed many evenings there since its opening in 1983. I also knew the Chinese lady who worked with Pierre Cardin, she sadly passed away years ago.
See a bit of the story here:
“Beijing Maxim’s: a miniature of China’s reform and opening-up. Restaurant evolving from a ‘crazy move’ into affordable dining.
Global Times Published: 28 October 2018/
See: https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1124799.shtml

The place is now less famous, I hadn’t been there for years. Happy to see they kept the interior in excellent condition. Opened in 1983 as a joint-venture between Cardin and Beijing’s restaurant administration, the dark wood flourishes and Tiffany-style stained glass windows have not changed in over 30 years; nor has the tiny stage set into the back wall.
No idea how the food is there now, the previous French chef left.