Belgium in China

In the footsteps of Ferdinand Verbiest

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

400 years

The Provincial Governor and the Mayor of Pittem organized a commemorative event entitled ‘In the footsteps of Ferdinand Verbiest’ on Friday 20 October 2023 in Beijing.
This event is an initiative of the Province of West Flanders and the Municipality of Pittem, with the support of the Howest Confucius Institute and the Embassy of Belgium.

On 9th October 2023, it was exactly 400 years since Jesuit Father Ferdinand Verbiest was born in the West Flemish municipality of Pittem, Belgium. Starting out in Pittem, he eventually became an advisor to Emperor Kangxi in the 17th century. Ferdinand Verbiest did more than practice astronomy, he also managed to surprise with numerous new and revolutionary instruments.

A large delegation from Flanders visited Hangzhou and Shanghai before the event in Beijing, with delegates from the Province of West Flanders,  the Municipality of Pittem, the University of Ghent and others.
Governor Carl Decaluwé became a Douyin sensation with his clip about Hangzhou!

The program

Prior to the visit the Belgian Ambassador Bruno Angelet visited the Beijing Ancient Observatory. The Director of the Observatory, Mr. Qi Rui, gave the ambassador a tour of the premises and recounted the observatory’s history and the development of Chinese astrology. See here the report of the visit with the background of Ferdinand Verbiest: 231016 Verbiest

October 9 marked the 400th of Ferdinand Verbiest’s birth. On this significant day, an international symposium took place in Beijing, where the Belgian Ambassador Bruno Angelet, esteemed sinology experts and scholars from various fields came together to honor the extraordinary legacy of Verbiest. See here the report of the symposium: 230921 FerdinandVerbiest.

The memorial event was organized in the afternoon of 20 October in the garden next to the Ancient Observatory. The delegates first visited the Observatory.

Morel’s Restaurant provided canapés and drinks before the speeches:

  • Welcome address ‘In the footsteps of Ferdinand Verbiest’ by H.E. Carl Decaluwé, Governor of West-Flanders
  • Opening remarks by H.E. Bruno Angelet, Ambassador for Belgium in China
  • ‘Flanders-China relations in the fields of science, research and trade’ by Koen De Ridder, Economic Representative of Flanders in Beijing
  • Music by the Chinese Orchestra of the Zhejiang Provincial Government
  • Monologue ‘The Discovery of Heaven’ by Kurt Defrancq, actor
  • ‘Ferdinand Verbiest, son of Pittem’ by H.E. Denis Fraeyman, Mayor of the Municipality of Pittem
  • ‘Imperial observatory, landmark of Beijing’ by H.E. Tang Li, Vice-Mayor of the Dongcheng district Beijing
  • ‘Ferdinand Verbiest’, by Dr. Huang Luqi, Vice President of CAST
  • ‘The image of Ferdinand Verbiest in China’ by Prof. Dr. Stephan Rothlin, Director of the Macau Ricci Institute at the University of St. Joseph, Macau
  • ‘The involvement of Verbiest at the Old Observatory’ by WANG Xiaofeng, Director of the Observatory
  • Unveiling ceremony of the commemorative plaque by Belgian and Chinese officials
  • Closing speech by H.E. Carl Decaluwé, Governor of West-Flanders

A great dinner

Later in the evening the delegation and invited guests were treated to a real Belgian dinner in Morel’s Restaurant.

Lively discussion! I also had the pleasure of meeting the delegates from the University of Ghent, where I received my Master in Engineering.

More details

I will soon publish the report of my visit to the Observatory on 14 April 2019 with many pictures of the instruments and the museum.
See here an earlier article about Verbiest,:
25 July 2019 – Belgian Father Ferdinand Verbiest
In 1659, Belgian Jesuit missionary Father Ferdinand Verbiest departed to China, initially to increase the pool of Chinese Christians. He however ended up taking a public test ordered by Emperor Kangxi to compare the merits of European and Chinese astronomy. Unlike his Chinese adversary, Father Verbiest succeeded in all the related tests, and was immediately installed as Director of the Beijing Observatory.
Read all: 190725 FerdinandVerbiest

See above details about the Verbiest Foundation in Leuven, Belgium. They publish a regular newsletter “Courier Verbiest”.

Belgian National Day in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Yes on 21 July

For many years Belgian National Day in Beijing was shifted to 15 November, King’s Day because of the summer holidays. A lunch reception was rather for the diplomats, we attended the evening reception along with some 120 Belgians and friends. The weather was threatening the fun, the embassy put a big tent on the patio, good idea as it rained the whole day till late afternoon. It was all in the residence, next to the new embassy that is nearing completion.

It was also the farewell of Ambassador Dr. Jan Hoogmartens and other staff of the embassy. We will all miss them, they were our support during the depressing COVID years.
The new ambassador is said to arrive in Beijing very soon.

Good food, beer and more

We were treated with great Belgian goodies, Belgian fries, Brussels waffles, delicious buffet by Morel’s Restaurant and lots of Belgian beers.
The mystery machine in pic 07 is an authentic Brussels waffle machine.
The ambassador opened the Methuselah Chimay bottle, yes 6 liters! I gave it a try (of course). Happy to discover two new beers for my collection, see pic 13.

Learn more about Belgium

Check this interesting article: “30 things I’ve learned about Belgium in 30 years”.
The Brussels Times 1 June 2023

 

Ambassador’s Kitchen in Beijing 3

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Competition

In Ambassador’s Kitchen in Beijing 3 I show the cooking competition organized by Mango TV, see the previous post.

Two teams were to compete preparing Belgian dishes, one team headed by Ms. He Chaolian, (Laurinda Ho, youngest daughter of Stanley Ho) and the other with Li Chen, Superstar, famous Chinese actor and director. Location: the Mango TV building north of Taikooli, on 20 December 2022. The Belgian embassy provided a translator.
Jury members were Renaat Morel and myself. They got my Chinese name wrong but that was our mistake. Right is 范克高夫.

Ingredients, cutlery, and other were provided by Morel’s Restaurant.
In a limited time the teams had to make some famous Belgian dishes: Belgian fries, mussels, endive and ham (gratinated), pears in red wine. The pears (“Conference pear”) are from Belgium and have a unique and delicate taste. Some supermarkets in Beijing sell them.

Hands up for the two teams

We were a bit worried how the teams would handle the challenge.
As it turned out, they both did a great job.

It was difficult to nominate the “winner”, we finally awarded the prize to He Chaolian as she opted for the more difficult dish, the endive au gratin.
Again the organization and team work of Mango TV were impressive.
Yes, Beijing life is never boring!

Ambassador’s Kitchen in Beijing 2

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Belgian ambassador’s residence

As mentioned earlier, Mango TV was also shooting the residence. In this post Ambassador’s Kitchen in Beijing 2, some details and pics.
For a whole day the TV crew invaded the residence and I admire the ambassador for his patience. I was myself not present, Renaat Morel was however one of the guest stars.

See some of the screenshots of the program and other pics.
The focus was on the typical products Belgium is famous for. Of course we have the cuisine, the many beers, the champions in cycling and our tourist attractions. And we are famous worldwide for the many cartoons. The focus was on the Smurfs.

Gilbert and cartoons

On 28 September 2018 I was invited to give a talk about Belgian culture in The 3rd China Int. Conference for the Investment and Trade of Cultural Industry, in the China National Convention Center. The talk covered only a small part of all the details I have on file on Belgian cartoons and folklore. Eduard van Kleunen, Counsellor of the Belgian embassy attended.

The title of my presentation was “Belgium: A small country with a rich culture (and exporting it)”.
Here the video of the talk, not great because too much focus on me and not on the slides.

Belgium has a long list of famous cartoons, see here the most relevant:

– The Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs; Dutch: De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, human-like creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest.

– Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix (French: Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois) is a series of French comics. The series first appeared in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959. The Asterix series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world, with the series being translated into 111 languages and dialects.

– Jommeke is a Flemish comic strip series in publication since 1955. It was created by Jef Nys and can be defined as a humoristic children’s adventure series. Jommeke, an 11-year-old boy, is the series’ main protagonist.

– Suske en Wiske is a Belgian cartoon series by Willy Vandersteen, one of the most popular ones in Belgium and also Holland. It started in 1945. In other regions: Chinese (Taiwanese version): Dada & Beibei – English (UK): Bob & Bobette (later: Spike & Suzy) – English (USA): Willy & Wanda.

– Robbedoes  & Kwabbernoot (Spirou & Fantasio) is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comics. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adventure comics like The Adventures of Tintin and Asterix.

– Tintin (Dutch: Kuifje en Bobie)(French Tintin et Milou): The Adventures of Tintin is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. The series first appeared in French on 10 January 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième (The Little Twentieth), a youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle (The Twentieth Century).

– Lucky Luke Comic book series: Lucky Luke is a Western bande dessinée series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their partnership lasted until Goscinny’s death in 1977.

Ambassador’s Kitchen in Beijing 1

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Ambassador’s Kitchen is a top-ranked program

In Ambassador’s Kitchen in Beijing 1, an introduction to the program, the actors and how Belgium cuisine was in the focus.
Mango TV (芒果TV) is a Chinese media company controlled by state-owned Hunan Broadcasting System. Mango TV specializes in creating online videos and is an online platform providing content that is presented in TV channels from Hunan Broadcasting System and Hunan Satellite TV. Its current headquarters is located in Changsha, Hunan. Mango TV provides audience with diverse content including films, TV series, music, cartoons and entertainment.

The program was featured in this China Daily article dated 29 December 2022:
Ambassador’s Kitchen, a TV program aiming to embark on an “exotic” journey through mouth-watering foods, recently began shooting in Beijing.
The show features four celebrity hosts: actors Li Chen; Wu Chun; Laurinda Ho, the daughter of late Casino King Stanley Ho; and singer Liu Wei, as well as two guest stars, actress Sun Yi and singer Liu Wei. They will take Chinese and foreign cuisine as a “bridge” to exchange cultures.
Before the launch ceremony held in Sanlitun area in Chaoyang district, the six celebrities were divided into two teams and sent to the embassies of Argentina, New Zealand, Turkey and Thailand in Beijing, to shoot some footage.
Propelled by the stardom, the show’s hashtags have generated around 36 million “clicks” and drawn 119,000 netizens to discuss the related topics on Sina Weibo, an indicator for popularity in the showbiz industry.
Coproduced by Global Times Online and Beijing WiaoE Technology Co Ltd, the TV show was aired on Jiangsu Satellite TV, CCTV and Mango TV.

See other article:
“The ‘Ambassador’s Kitchen’ program warmly launched the re-enactment of exotic cuisine to integrate hospitality”

Belgium in the spotlight

There were several shootings done, in Morel’s Restaurant, in the residence of the Belgian ambassador and a “chef’s competition” in the building of Mango TV next to Taikooli North in Sanlitun.
Some of the stars who joined were:
Ms. He Chaolian, the youngest daughter of Stanley Ho (Laurinda Ho). When Chao Lian was born, the gambling king Stanley Ho was 70 years old.
Li Chen is a Chinese actor and director born in Beijing, known as a Superstar. He is known for being a member of the variety show “Keep Running!” since Season 1. Born on November 24, 1978. Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing shocked millions of fans when she revealed that she is breaking off her engagement with fiancé Li Chen. However, the story is not yet concluded…
All of them were very relaxed and friendly. Chaolian impressed us as she was not only pretty but friendly and a good cook.
Our Belgian ambassador H.E. Jan Hoogmartens joined most of the shooting, with an impressive cool and patience!

Morel’s Restaurant becomes a studio

On 20 December 2022 the massive crew of Mango TV transformed the restaurant in a studio with ceiling, outside and inside lighting. I don’t know the exact number but I guess over 15 camera were filming… Very impressive and so professional.

In this first post see some of the pictures taken in the restaurant and screenshots of the program. The staff was super excited to take a picture with the Superstar!
More to come in other posts.