Conferences & Meetings \>\> In China

China Exhibition on Gases Technology, Equipment and Application, Nanjing

A platform for networking among Chinese and foreign industrial gas industry specialists to launch new projects and keep abreast of global trends and industry development.

Date: Sept 12-14

Venue: Nanjing International Expo Center

Website: www.igchina-expo.com

Cuisine Festival, Shanghai

Gathers restaurants, wine companies, chocolate makers and others in food and beverage. Activities include a food contest and tasting experiences.

Date: Sept 14-16

Venue: Shanghai Exhibition Center

Website: www.chinaexhibition.com

Game Time International Asia China Expo, Guangzhou

An export-oriented trade exhibition of entertainment, computer games targeting international buyers. Products like whole machines and single parts as well as hardware and software are included.

Date: Sept 23-25

Venue: Poly World Trade Expo Center

Website: www.chinaexhibition.com

Interior Lifestyle China, Shanghai

An international trade fair for household products and accessories.

Date: Oct 10-13

Venue: Shanghai Exhibition Center

Website: www.messefrankfurt.com.hk

Conferences & Meetings \>\> In the US

National Committee on United States-China Relations Gala Dinner, New York

Provides a source of support for the committee, a non-partisan organization that seeks to promote better understanding between China and the US.

Date: Oct 8

Venue: The Plaza Hotel

Website: www.ncuscr.org/gala

Chinese Direct Investment in California, Los Angeles

Reports on the patterns and impact of Chinese direct investment in California and brings together experts in China policy and foreign direct investment.

Date: Oct 11

Venue: To be decided

Website: www.asiasociety.org

China Leaders Forum: Will the Chinese Tiger Come Roaring Back After the Crisis? New York

Topics include the internationalization of renminbi, post-crisis relationship between the US and China, the euro debt crisis and how it will affect the Chinese economy, and what steps China will need to take to maintain its growth and success.

Date: Oct 2

Venue: Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

Website: www.chinaleadersforum.com

Culture \>\> In China

Cats - A Chinese Version, Shanghai

In this rendering of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats, the Jellicle cats sing their songs in Chinese.

Date: Until Oct 9

Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater

Website: www.shgtheatre.com

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Show, Beijing

This all-male drag ballet corps will parody the conventions and cliches of romantic and classical ballets for Beijing audiences.

Date: Sept 28-30

Venue: Mei Lanfang Grand Theater

Website: www.theatrebeijing.com

The Alexandria Harmonizers Concert, Beijing

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

Date: Sept 6

Venue: Forbidden City Concert Hall

Website: www.theatrebeijing.com

Culture \>\> In the US

Colors of the Universe: Chinese Hardstone Carving, New York

Offers a glimpse into stone carving, one of the oldest arts in China. Artifacts on display include jade, agate, turquoise, malachite, chalcedony, quartz, jasper and lapis lazuli.

Date: June 16-Jan 6

Venue: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Website: www.metmuseum.org/events/find-events

Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats, New York

This exhibition explores the rich interaction between pictorial and garden arts in China across more than 1,000 years.

Date: Aug 18-Jan 6

Venue: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Website: www.metmuseum.org/events/find-events

China Art Today: Melissa Chiu, New York

Meet Melissa Chiu, director of the Asia Society Museum, for an inside view of the latest trends in the Chinese art scene.

Date: Sept 13

Venue: Asia Society Museum

Website: asiasociety.org

Diplomatic pouch

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit China on Sept 4 and 5, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday. Clinton comes to Beijing at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, he said. The visit is part of a trip that began on Aug 30 in the Cook Islands and also includes stops in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Brunei and Russia.

The new US consul general in Guangzhou, Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, is a career diplomat with counselor rank. Her postings overseas have included Belgrade, Taipei with the American Institute in Taiwan, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai and the US mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Galt served as senior adviser in the State Department's Bureau of Public Affairs in Washington recently. She has also served in Washington as deputy director for Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Hailing from the US state of Colorado, Galt is fluent in Mandarin and French, and also speaks Italian, Spanish and Serbian. She is married to the writer Fritz Galt and has a teenage daughter and son.

China's representative in Houston, Consul General Xu Erwen, met US Congressman Al Green of Texas at the consulate last week. They were joined by the president of Texas Southern University, John Rudley, who provided an update on plans to set up Houston's first Confucius Institute at TSU.

Green said that educational and cultural exchanges and cooperation serve as important bridges to enhance mutual trust and understanding between China and the US.

Rudley said the Confucius Institute at TSU is being established in conjunction with Beijing Jiaotong University.

China's consul general in San Francisco, Gao Zhansheng, attended the second Chinatown Ping-pong Tournament of San Francisco last week, praising the game as a witness to the naturalization of China-US relations.

Gao said he is "glad to see the increasing popularity of ping-pong in both countries".

San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee and Supervisor Eric Mar also praised the historic role of "ping-pong diplomacy", and the mayor and the consul general kicked off the tournament with a friendly match. About 40 teams and 200 players participated in the tournament.

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

China Daily

(China Daily 08/31/2012 page23)