Conferences & Meetings \>\> In China

China Guizhou International Alcoholic Beverages Expo, Guiyang

An international exhibition of alcohol products and trade activities. Wines, spirits, beers and related products such as raw materials, distilling equipment and drinking utensils will be showcased.

Date: Sept 9-13

Venue: Guiyang International Conference and Exhibition Center

Website: www.9expo.cn

The Expat Show, Shanghai

Help foreigners find the information, products and services they might need for their lives in Shanghai. The show offerings include international schools, clinics and travel agencies.

Date: Sept 14-16

Venue: Shanghai Exhibition Center

Website: www.expatshowchina.com

PT/EXPO COMM CHINA 2012, Beijing

Looks at the new generation of information technology and focuses on next generation network, tri-network convergence, high-performance integrated circuits and high-end software.

Date: Sept 18-22

Venue: China International Exhibition Center

Website: www.expocommcn.com

Conferences & Meetings \>\> In the US

Asia America Trade Show, Miami

The show is in its third year of opening up the Latin American and Caribbean markets for exhibiting exporters, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, dealers, closeouts and liquidators. It contains three trade shows in one major event on the same date: the general merchandise show, the consumer electronics and wireless show, and the apparel trade show.

Date: Sept 11-13

Venue: Miami Beach Convention Center

Website: acsshow.org

US-China Investment Week

Focuses on Chinese private investment into the US. The event is designed to raise the dialogue on Chinese inbound investment, while creating opportunities for relationship development and business exchange.

Date: Sept 20-29

Venue: Selected cities

Website: www.us-chinainvest.com

Digital Transformation, Santa Monica, California

Brings together entertainment and media leaders from Asia, and their Hollywood counterparts, to explore what each has to offer in the search for better and more efficient ways to develop, produce, distribute and market content across traditional and new media platforms.

Date: Oct 4

Venue: Sheraton Delfina

Website: asiasociety.org/calendars/digital-transformation

Culture \>\> In China

Special Gala Dancing Between Heaven and Earth, Beijing

Celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Chinese National Song and Dance Ensemble.

Dates: Aug 21-22

Venue: Opera House of National Center for the Performing Arts

Website: www.chncpa.org

The Alexandria Harmonizers Concert, Beijing

An international champion barbershop chorus based in Alexandria, Virginia. They won their first Barbershop Harmony Society International gold medal in 1986 and have earned the title three more times since then.

Date: Sept 6

Venue: Forbidden City Concert Hall

Website: www.theatrebeijing.com

Dancing Show: The Thousand-hand Bodhisattva, Beijing

Twenty-one hearing-impaired dancers recreate the image of the thousand-hand bodhisattva, a traditional Chinese goddess.

Dates: Sept 29 -Oct 2

Venue: Beijing Exhibition Theater

Culture \>\> In the US

Ancient Arts of China: A 5,000-yearLegacy, Santa Ana, California

Curated by authorities of Chinese history and culture from the Shanghai Museum, this collection portrays the evolution of Chinese art and culture. It journeys back through 5,000 years of Chinese history and follows the efflorescence of arts throughout one of the world's oldest living civilizations.

Date: On display

Venue: The Bowers Museum

Website: www.bowers.org

On the Silk Road and the High Seas: Chinese Ceramics, Culture and Commerce, Dallas

Proto-porcelain was called "white gold", especially in the West. Comprising more than 60 objects, the exhibition reveals why Chinese ceramics were so desirable at home and abroad.

Date: Sept 1-Jan 27

Venue: The Crow Collection of Asian Art

Website: www.crowcollection.org

New "China": Porcelain Art from Jingdezhen, 1910-2012, New York

Show of porcelain art from Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China, which has served as the major source of China trade ceramics for the world for more than 1,000 years.

Date: Sept 21-Dec 9

Venue: China Institute Gallery

Website: www.chinainstitute.org/gallery/exhibitions

Diplomatic pouch

US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman and Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhai Jun held the inaugural round of US-China Middle East Dialogue in Beijing on Aug 14, as agreed to at the fourth round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in May. The two sides held constructive discussions regarding developments in the Middle East, the US embassy website says, as well as ways for both countries to promote greater cooperation on regional and global challenges, including energy security. Sherman and Zhai also discussed pressing issues in the Middle East, with particular attention to Iran and Syria.

The US Agricultural Trade Office in Chengdu hosted Foreign Agricultural Service China's annual Great American Barbeque event at the Wang-jiang Hotel. The Aug 2 event also celebrated ATO Chengdu's fifth anniversary. Special guests included the US Department of Agriculture's chief economist, Joseph Glauber, and the US embassy's minister counselor for agriculture, Scott Sindelar. About 200 guests attended, representing retailers, distributors, chefs, restaurant owners and food and beverage managers, and government officials who deal with agriculture-related issues.

Major General Xu Nanfeng, defense attache of the Chinese embassy in Washington, hosted a reception late last month to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China. Charge d'affairs and Deng Hongbo together with the senior diplomats of the Chinese embassy, welcomed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Lavoy, and more than 500 guests from all services of the US military, government officials, foreign diplomats and military attaches, representatives from the overseas Chinese community and Chinese institutes.

In San Francisco last week, China's Consul General Gao Zhansheng, Deputy Consul General Yi Xianrong and Deputy Consul General Bi Gang attended the 2012 Chinese American Athletic Tournament opening ceremony in Union City at the invitation of Northern California Chinese Culture-Athletic Federation. Gao commended the NCCCAF for its efforts to unite the local Chinese communities, promoting Chinese culture in American society and fostering the China-US friendship during the past 10 years since its foundation.

Send embassy and consulate news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/17/2012 page23)