Conferences & Meetings \>\> In China

Airport Expansion Summit China 2013, Beijing

Aimed at accelerating the development of airports in China, strengthening internal and external communications, discussing issues pertinent to airport development and management, and sharing the airport city development experience.

Date: Jan 9-10

Venue: Renaissance Beijing Chaoyang Hotel

Website: http://www.opplandcorp.com

China Wedding Expo, Shanghai

A wedding photography industry trade and procurement event that provides customers with a one-stop shopping service.

Date: Jan 15-18

Venue: Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center

Website: www.chinaweddingexpo.com.cn

China Fur and Leather Products Fair, Beijing

With the latest trends in fur and leather fashion, clothes and accessories, the fair attracts exhibitors from more than 14 countries.

Date: Jan 15-18

Venue: China National Convention Center

Website: www. chinaexhibition.com

Internet Technology Inspires Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Mobile Internet is changing our lives. The mobile Internet industry is changing the way to start up a company. The big players, like Google, Apple, and Facebook, have built global technology as well as social and marketing platforms, which have lowered the entry barriers for startups. Many entrepreneurial dreams are becoming reality. How do you leverage global platforms to grow your startup business? How do you avoid competition and restrictions posed by global platforms? Investors, technologists, and executives from both Silicon Valley and China will share their visions and insights with you at the Innovation Angel Incubator Building in Beijing.

Date: Jan 5

Venue: Innovation Angel Incubator, Building 52-1, No 2 Jingyuan North Street, Beijing

Website: http://it-inspires-innovation-n-entrepreneurship-es2.eventbrite.com

Conferences & Meetings \>\> In the US

Forecast of China's Economy, New York

The forum brings together leading authorities on China to present their economic forecasts for the country for the coming year and their latest research on pressing economic issues.

Date: Jan 7

Venue: New York Stock Exchange

Website: www.ncuscr.org/programs/forecast-chinas-economy

APEC 2013: Resilient Asia-Pacific: Engine of Global Growth, New York

An APEC briefing to review the issues discussed at the Vladivostok Summit, preview priorities and opportunities for Indonesia's host year, and explore what these trends mean for the region's future.

Date: Jan 10

Venue: Asia Society, 725 Park Ave

Website: www.asiasociety.org

Culture \>\> In China

Ice Lantern Festival & Snow Sculpture Expo, Harbin

The world famous Harbin Snow Festival with its Snow Sculpture Park and Ice Lantern Festival is a family treat not to be missed. The Siberian Tiger Park is another highlight of the visit, especially for children.

Date: until mid-February

Venue: China-Harbin Ice and Snow World

Website: www.chinaculturecenter.org

Yuan Yuan: Imagined Memory - A Home From Home, Shanghai

A Home From Home is Yuan Yuan's first solo exhibition at ShanghART Gallery. The oil painter has been exhibited at many art spaces and institutions in China, and has established a realistic style of often austere, sombre architectural interiors with sophisticated brushstrokes, reinterpreting classical techniques with modern sensibilities.

Date: Until Jan 13

Venue: Solo Exhibition ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai

Website: www.shanghaigallery.com

Culture \>\> In the US

The Peking Acrobats, Santa Rosa

The Peking Acrobats - the largest and most acclaimed group of its kind - have for more than 50 years held audiences spellbound with vibrant presentations of their ancient folk art. Carefully selected from the finest acrobat schools in China, these expert gymnasts, jugglers, cyclists, and tumblers transform 2,000-year-old athletic disciplines into a family-friendly kaleidoscope of eye-popping wonder.

Date: Jan 15

Venue: Wells Fargo Center for the Arts

Website: www.chineseacrobats.com

Unfinished Country: New Video from China, Houston

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) exhibition Perspectives 180 - Unfinished Country: New Video from China presents a cross-section of work by a new generation of artists from China working in video and video installation.

A separate but integral component of the exhibition is a selection of cinematic shorts that will screen at Asia Society Texas Center.

Date: Jan 6

Venue: 1370 Southmore Blvd Houston

Website: www.asiasociety.org

Yin Mei Dance: Antonioni in China, New York

It is a dance theater conversation with Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni's documentary film Chung Kuo.

Date: Jan 13

Venue: Asia Society, 725 Park Ave

Website: www.asiasociety.org

Diplomatic pouch

If you want a job in the 21st century, US Ambassador to China Gary Locke told American high-school students recently, "learn about history. Learn about culture and language. If you can speak Chinese or Spanish, you are practically guaranteed a job in your chosen field".

The students came from eight high schools and junior high schools that focus on international students, according to Anthony Jackson, vice-president for education at the Asia Society, which hosted the December program in New York. The students, all Chinese learners, quizzed the ambassador about how the US and China work together to solve problems such as Somali piracy, the war in Afghanistan, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsular, and water security issues related to global warming.

China's consul general in San Francisco, Gao Zhansheng, met incoming and incumbent officials on a late-December visit to Seattle and the Washington state capital, Olympia, including Congressman-elect Derek Kilmer, Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen, Secretary of State Sam Reed and Secretary of State-elect Kim Wyman. Gao briefed the local leaders on the 18th CPC National Congress, China's economic outlook and cooperation between China and the state of Washington.

Citing the state of the economy, US President Barack Obama has asked for only two official inaugural balls when he is sworn-in for a new term later this month, the US embassy reports. That's down from 10 after his 2009 inauguration. One of the 2013 balls will be for the president's invited guests, with some tickets for the public, while the second ceremonial dance will be for military families.

The history of inaugural balls is long and varied. Jimmy Carter, also sworn in during dour economic times, called the balls "parties" and tried to cut down the glitz, insisting that ticket prices be slashed to $25.

Frosty weather put a damper on Ulysses Grant's second inauguration in 1873, when a temporary building was constructed with no heat or insulation despite freezing temperatures. "Guests danced in their overcoats and hats, the food was cold, they ran out of coffee and hot chocolate, and even the caged decorative canaries froze," according to an article on the Shanghai consulate's website, http://shanghai.usembassy-china.org.cn/.

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

(China Daily 01/04/2013 page23)