Culture >> In China

China International Education Exhibition Tour, Beijing, Dalian, Xi'an, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou

It is the largest education fair in China. Since it started in 1999, the fair has been successfully held in more than 20 major Chinese cities. More than 1,300 institutions from 30 countries and regions have participated in the fair during the past 12 years. The exhibition grows every year on reputation, size and exhibitor numbers, and now it is being supported by most of the foreign embassies or governmental sectors and all relevant media channels. In particularly, this event will be consisting of China Study Abroad Forum and sessions of seminars under different sub-themes in Beijing leg.

Date: March 12-27

Contact: [email protected]

Berlanga Film Season, Beijing

Luis Garca Berlanga is considered one of the most influential Spanish directors of film and stage. His films describe with poignant humor Spanish life from the postwar Franco period to the 21st century.

Venue: Beijing Cervantes Institute

Date: till March 31

Contact: [email protected]

TNT Theater China Tour, Beijing

TNT theater was founded in 1980 in Britain and since has established as one of the most popular international touring theater companies in the world. Last season alone the company produced seven productions in almost thirty countries worldwide. It has brought Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing to China.

Venue: Beijing Nine Theater

Date: March 25 -26

Contact: [email protected]

Westminster Boys' Choir, Beijing

Coming from the UK, the Westminster Boys' Choir enjoys great popularity in its country, and has performed on elite occasions. The choir will sing masterpieces of Anthony Caesar, John Gardner, Chris Hazell, Edmund Jolliffe, Simon McGregor, Giles Swayne and John Woolrich.

Venue: Forbidden City Concert Hall

Date: April 5

Culture >> In Europe

Chinese Films Show, Paris

The Chinese Cultural Center in Paris will put Chinese films and documentaries on show for free. The movies include Lin Yutang, Tea Culture, The Foundation of a Republic, The Flying Tigers, Chinese Knots, The Great River, Super Typhoon, and The Ring of Rainbow Flower. Check the official website of Chinese Cultural Center in Paris for detailed information.

Venue: Chinese Cultural Center

Date: Till March 26

Details: http://www.cccparis.org

Exhibition of Miao ethnic group in Guizhou province, Paris

The Miao is one of the 56 ethnic groups in China. In the 2000 census, there were 8.94 million Miao people in the country, and half of them live in Guizhou province. Miao costume is meaningful and decorative motifs are of great beauty and each creation is unique and of infinite variety. This exhibition shows the deep meaning, function and different styles of the Miao costumes and the production techniques.

Venue: Chinese Cultural Center

Date: April 20- May 8

Contact: [email protected]

Diplomatic pouch >> With Mike Peters

Sylvie Bermann, France's new top envoy to China and its first female ambassador in a major country, arrived in Beijing this week, the embassy reports. Bermann, 57, speaks Chinese and has 33 years of experience as a diplomat, most recently with Paris' Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Former ambassador Herve Ladsous finished his term last November. According to the Oriental Morning Post in Shanghai, Bermann has traveled to China many times for business.

A new European Union initiative, the Science and Technology Fellowship (STF) Program China, is designed to bring European scientists to China for study and research. Organizers note that "although many tens of thousands of Chinese scientists have studied and worked in Europe over the last 30 years, very few Europeans have made the reverse trip". The first STF Conference will be held at the Marriott Hotel Northeast in Beijing March 17 - 18, with the aim to promote stronger cooperation in the future.

Keynote speakers are professors Lynn Gladden, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at Cambridge University, UK and Ole Fejerskov, head of the Institute of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark.

The British Consulate General in Chongqing, the Welsh government and Chongqing's Commission for Urban Rural Development jointly hosted a recent seminar on low-carbon building retrofitting at the Chongqing Intercontinental Hotel.

British Consul General Simon Lever says the seminar reflected "ongoing cooperation under the sustainable-development MoU (memorandum of understanding) between the United Kingdom and Chongqing".

The construction industry is a major energy consumer and source of greenhouse gas emissions, the British Embassy noted on its website, and Chongqing's massive investment in infrastructure is making it look carefully at solutions which allow it to continue its rapid development in a low carbon and sustainable way.

Danish Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen welcomed the Danish National Performance Team at the embassy in Beijing last weekend. "The members of the team act as ambassadors for the Danish tradition of gymnastics and sports associations," Petersen says. After putting on a show at the embassy, the team performed in Tianjin with athletes from the Pang Gu Wen Wu Kung Fu School. On March 12 the team will perform at Nova Arts Center in Beijing. The group's visit is part of the EU-China Year of Youth in 2011.

Denmark and China held their second annual maritime consultation meeting in Beijing last week. The Danish Maritime Authority and the Chinese Bureau of Water Transport hosted the event.

Denmark is a shipping nation with a century-long tradition of peaceful cooperation with China, the Danish embassy says. In 1974, Deng Xiaoping signed the first maritime agreement between Denmark and China.

The Danish Parliament's European Affairs Committee will wrap up a weeklong China tour on March 12. In Beijing last week, the nine members of the Danish delegation, including former foreign minister Niels Helveg Petersen, met with Fu Ying, vice-minister of foreign affairs.

During their visit to Chongqing, the delegation visited CSIC Haizhuang, a wind-turbine manufacturer that uses several Danish sub-suppliers, and Chang'an-Ford-Mazda car factory to learn about their development of electric cars.