Rotary Club of Beijing

Dragobete in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Celebration of love

On 24 February 2024 I was invited to “The celebration of Love, Dragobete  in Beijing”, by the Romanian Cultural Institute of Beijing. So what’s Dragobete? Dragobete is a traditional Romanian holiday celebrated on February 24. Dragobete was the son of Baba Dochia, which stands for the main person in the myth related to spring arrival and the end of the harsh winter. Due to his endless kindness he was chosen – according to some sources, by Virgin Mary – to be the Guardian of Love. Read about it here.
In Romania, Dragobete is known as a day for lovers, rather like Valentine’s Day.

The event was in Jinshang, in the large event hall and was attended by a very large crowd, with also the Romanian ambassador.

Fashion show

We were treated with music and a fashion show done by a Rotarian Sorina Tulan of the RC Satu Mare – District 2241.
She organized the small fashion show with clothes designed and produced by her company, the ETNOGLAM collection by INEDIT (Satu Mare).
I attended the event with two other Beijing Rotarians and we did a banner exchange.
See here a short clip on VIMEO with two of the performers. )

Romania, an undervalued tourist destination

I had the chance to visit Romania in September 2011 with a delegation of China State Grid to visit potential wind farms. We did thousands of kilometers in the country through magnificent and scenic areas. We visited among other Danube Delta, Bran Castle (Dracula!), Peles Castle, Palace of Parliament and much more.

We also had a glimpse of the vibrant nightlife.
We saw Rotary signs but when we tried the meeting of RC Levant the room was … empty.

The magic of drones

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Our monthly dinner meeting

During the Rotary Club of Beijing dinner on 27 February 2024 we could watch the magic of drones. Normally we have lunch meetings.
We welcomed Claire Han who works at EFYI, a global leader of intelligent industrial UAVs. With core technology in UAV intelligent control, swarm control system, EFYI offers products and system solutions in the field of UAV intelligent control system, drone formation show, intelligent UAV logistics, and UAV application system customization etc.

EFYI holds a World Record: “26 Min 19 Sec! UAVs Performance of EFYI Group Holds Guinness World Record”. A new record for the Longest Animation Performed by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
Claire gave us a drone demonstration show.
Robbin Bishoen is World UAV Federation Consultant (Netherlands)(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle).

Claire and later Robin gave us an interesting insight in the magic of drones. They organize those massive drone shows…

The drone show

See here on Vimeo a glimpse of the show. It was possible because it was indoors, any outside show needs all the necessary approvals.
It was a fun evening, well attended. We also welcomes a Rotarian from the Netherlands.
Food of Kempinski was nice as usual.

Brian & Kevin live in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Dinner in Blue Star

We had a lively evening with Brian & Kevin live in Beijing, in Blue Star Restaurant on 25 April 2023. Pretty good turnout with many friends.
It was an evening of Standup Comedy and Live Music, featuring Brian Nelson and guest starring Kevin Gouldmann. Brian is from the USA and has been living in China now for over 2 years. He received a classical theater acting degree from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and has utilized these skills to enhance his entertainment and business career. Brian shared his Real Lao Wai China experiences and frequent miscommunication challenges. We listened how his life is truly lost in translation. Kevin has been working together with Brian for the past few years, complementing Brian’s presence with solid musical underpinnings.

I personally love their music and whenever possible I attend their performance.
Thorsten of Blue Star did a great job, the spare ribs were really great, Texas BBQ style.

Dinner in Home Plate

Another good excuse to return to Home Plate in Sanlitun to see Brian & Kevin live in Beijing.
We had the pulled pork sandwich and the pulled chicken sandwich, never disappointing. We even ordered a second pulled pork!
As announced by Home Plate: Brian has been entertaining crowds with his music in the USA for more than 20 years. He continues his musical journey here in China and loves connecting with many musicians from around the world.

Kevin studied music composition and guitar in his younger years, and played in numerous bands in America , Germany, and Denmark. He came to Beijing in 2014, working as a master piano maker. He has been working together with Brian for the past few years, complimenting Brian’s stage presence with solid musical underpinnings.

See the VIMEO video.

I was surprised at one point when a pretty girl came to say hi, she knew my food videos on WeChat Channels and loves them. So, a picture with a fan!

 

Shambhala and Barbados in Kempinski

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Kempinski Hotel

The Rotary Club of Beijing had interesting talks about Shambhala and Barbados in Kempinski, in February.

Ms. Katrina is a regular visiting Rotarian to our Rotary Club of Beijing. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Barbados South. She invited H.E. Hallam Henry Ambassador of Barbados to the lunch, in Kempinski on 14 Fenruary 2023.
Katrina is a member of the Rotary Club of Barbados South. She joined th. e Club in 2003 and was among the first females inducted into Rotary in Barbados. In 2009 Katrina became the first female President of a Rotary Club in Barbados. Over her Rotary life, Katrina has served in several club officers’ roles, including Club Secretary. At the District level, Katrina has served as Assistant Governor, 2012-2014  and District Secretary, 2015-2016. She currently serves as the DEI Chair for District 7030 and Vice President of the Rotary of Barbados South. Katrina is passionate about youth programmes and youth service in Rotary, having been a past member of both the Interact and Rotaract Clubs. Katrina is an experienced Human Resources Management Professional with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Throughout her 20-year experience of providing advisory services to clients in the Region, Katrina has assisted several organisations in strategy development and execution.

Katrina gave an introduction of Barbados and the activities of Rotary.
I was happy to invite for the lunch an old friend of the Club, Tom Stader of The Library Project.
He worked with our Club and as of March 2009, we have established 108 elementary school libraries. We’ve put more than 71,000 Chinese language children’s books into the hands of eager young readers. Over 22,000 children now have access to improved educational infrastructure. Together we are changing the world, one book at a time. See the results of the Library Project.

A welcome back Laurence Brahm

Laurence is also an old friend of mine and has visited our Club several times. He has quite some intereting stories about our Club from the early days.
Laurence has a rich past, in China and in other Asian countries. He also was a contributor to several newspapers.

More about him in this introduction. 230221 Laurence Brahm

His talk gave a fascinating insight in several little know aspects of Asian culture and philosophy.

Discovering AI and Italian wines

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

What is AI?

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is all over the news. But what is it really? Our Rotary Club of Beijing has been discovering AI and Italian wines in recent meetings. Both speakers became members very recently.
As an engineer I am supposed to know a bit about AI but Tom has given a great overview of what is AI is today, and will be tomorrow, I learned a lot.
Tom is from The Netherlands and well known in the Dutch community.

His talk was on 17 January 3023 in Kempinski Hotel, during our Club’s lunch.
Tom‘s presentation explored the concept of generative AI and its impact on society, including how it is flipping the script on traditional artificial intelligence development and its potential effects on industries and innovation. Many examples (some live) were given during the presentation, as well as some key thought-starters for organizations on “where to start”.

Tom van Dillen is the owner of Greenkern, a transformation consultancy with offices in Beijing and Berlin. He moved to China in 1999, and hasn’t looked back since. Tom has a keen understanding of innovation and transformation and how these forces are shaping China’s dynamic society. He’s helped major multinationals navigate China’s fast-moving economy and Greenkern has become an advisor for organizations looking to adopt new thinking in automotive, healthcare, logistics and energy. When he’s not working, you’ll likely find him capturing the changing landscape of Beijing through his lens – or mowing the lawn at his cottage at the foot of the Great Wall.

The complexity and richness of Italian wines

On 28 February 2023 our member Jerome organized a wine tasting evening dinner in Blue Star Restaurant for the Rotary Club of Beijing, very well attended. See a peek in the kitchen!
Great evening with good food, friendly service and excellent variety of Italian wines.

Jerome Tafani is a French national based in Beijing since 2007 and has been an export manager of Asia Pacific for San Silvestro & Costa Di Bussia Wineries from Piemonte Italy for now a decade.
The two wineries are located in the Historical fine wines village of Barolo and belong to the Sartirano family which has owned the estates for 4 generations. The family’s wines are sold over 42 countries and have been in the Chinese market for over 20 years.
Jerome holds a Master degree in International Trade and other diplomas related to the Wine Education such as the British WSET level 3 and Italian Wine ambassador delivered by the famous Winemaker school of Alba Umberto I.
During the years of 2020 and 2021, Jerome was honored to be the chief Wine Critic for the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles on Chinese Wines from NingXia Region where more than 400 wines were tasted.
His life and work is now dedicated to promoting the Wine Culture and pursuing the discovery of high quality wines from both Italy and China and introducing them to consumers.