Conferences & Meetings \>\> In China

Tomorrow's City Today: Pacific Cities Sustainability Initiative Forum 2013, Hong Kong

The forum will bring together a small, select group of city leaders, architects, planners, policymakers and other experts who are working to create tomorrow's livable city. Topics to be addressed include sustainable affordable housing, community networks, governance structures, and how the process of urbanization will shape Asian cities and the global marketplace for decades to come.

Date: Feb 18

Venue: 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty, Hong Kong

Website: asiasociety.org/southern-california/events

China International Fishing Tackle Trade Exhibition, Beijing

An international tackle trade show dedicated to globalizing the trade of fishing products and outdoor gear.

Date: Feb 23-25

Venue: New China International Exhibition Center

Website: www.chinaexhibition.com

Conferences & Meetings \>\> In the US

China Bilateral Investment Treaty Negotiations Briefing, Washington DC

The briefing, by the US-China Business Council, will have Daniel Bahar, director of investment affairs at the Office of the US Trade Representative, and Michael Tracton, director of the Office of Investment Affairs at the US State Department, provide an update on the state of negotiations and discuss key issues at play.

Date: Feb 6

Venue: US-China Business Council, 1818 N Street NW, Suite 200

Website: www. uschina.org/programs

Innovations in Biologics Discovery and Development, San Diego

The SABPA Science & Technology Forum XI brings together leaders in the academic and pharma/biotech industries to discuss current trends in biologics discovery and development, as well as challenges facing the field. The presentations will address new technologies in discovering novel biologic therapeutics.

Date: March 23

Venue: Institute of Americas, UCSD

Website: www.sabpa.org

IS&T / SPIE Electronic Imaging 2013, Burlingame

IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging is the must-attend event for all aspects of electronic imaging, from imaging systems and instrumentation to image processing and algorithms. Topics include digital imaging, sensors and applications, 3D imaging, multimedia, visualization and perception, and visual communications.

Date: Feb 3-7

Venue: Burlingame, CA, United States

Website: electronicimaging.org

Culture \>\> In China

Things From The Gallery Warehouse 5 Group Exhibition, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai

ShanghART is pleased to presents Things From The Gallery Warehouse 5 as part of a continuing program at the beginning of 2013. Since 2009, a series of exhibitions have made it possible for large-scale installations that have been in storage to be viewed by the general public.

Date: Jan 25-Mar 4

Venue: ShanghART H-space, Bldg 18, 50 Moganshan Rd, Shanghai

Website: www.shanghartgallery.com

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concert, Beijing

Now in its 122nd season, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of today's leading orchestras. Due to illness, Riccardo Muti, the CSO's music director is being replaced by Lorin Maazel, music director of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, for the Asian tour. For over five decades, Mozaal has been one of the world's most esteemed and sought-after conductors.

Date: Feb 3

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Website: http://www.chncpa.org

NCPA's Production of Bizet's Opera Carmen, Beijing

Originating from the novel by Prosper Merimee, the opera Carmen was completed in the autumn of 1874. It was the last work of Georges Bizet, and is also the most popular opera in the world. Bizet, through his music, told us a tragic story behind brightness, and depicted the optimistic, straightforward but wild personality of a Gipsy girl called Carmen.

Date: Feb 21-Feb 24

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Website: www.chncpa.org

Culture \>\> In the US

I Sing Beijing, New York

As Chinese New Year is approaching, I Sing Beijing, a pioneering operatic exchange program, will make its US debut at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Western opera singers will perform in Mandarin Chinese, alongside Chinese singers performing Western opera. The singers will be accompanied by the New York City Opera Orchestra.

Date: Feb 16

Venue: Lincoln Center, New York City

Website: lc.lincolncenter.org

Screening: Half the Sky, Los Angeles

A screening of the documentary series introduces women who are living under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable - and fighting bravely to change them. China is one of the places WuDunn and Kristof use to highlight issues affecting women and girls in their book, Half the Sky.

Date: Feb 7

Venue: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Website: china.usc.edu

Screening: Shanghai Calling, Los Angeles

Shanghai Calling is a romantic comedy about modern-day American immigrants in an unfamiliar land. When an ambitious New York attorney is sent to Shanghai on assignment, he immediately stumbles into a legal mess that could spell the end of his career.

Date: Feb 8, 7:00 pm

Venue: The Ray Stark Family Theater, SCA 108, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles

Website: asiasociety.org

Diplomatic pouch

China's Ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui hosted a reception for the 100,000 Strong Foundation last week, hours after being welcomed at the State Department by outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the formal launch of the new foundation.

The private organization, funded by the Ford Foundation, grew out of an initiative Clinton launched more than two years ago after President Barack Obama visited Beijing, with a goal to increase the number of US students studying in China to 100,000 by 2014. The foundation is housed at American University in Washington.

"Well, we're all getting a little emotional and sentimental around here," Clinton said to laughter, with about a week remaining in her tenure. She saluted Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell "for driving not only this program, but so much that we have accomplished in the last four years to deepen and strengthen our relationship with China and others in the region."

"We want to see Chinese youngsters here, American youngsters in China," Clinton said of the foundation's goals, "and we want to see them breaking down the barriers that exist between any peoples from different cultures and experiences and histories and backgrounds."

China's Consul-General in Houston Xu Erwen hosted a reception in mid-January to celebrate Air China's announcement of a Beijing-Houston nonstop flight. Over 300 guests attended the reception, which featured remarks by Xu, Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Neil Bush.

Song Ru'an, China's deputy consul-general in San Francisco, attended the eighth appreciation gala of Alliance for Smiles at the W Hotel last week to honor the organization's outstanding volunteers.

Alliance for Smiles was founded in 2004 by five members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco who had been involved for 10 years previously with cleft lip and palate reconstructive surgery. Since then, the organization has conducted more than 30 medical missions in China by providing free comprehensive treatment, including three in Guizhou in 2012. Previously it had created three treatment centers in Jiujiang, Wenzhou and Harbin.

"You have established a good reputation in many provinces and cities where you have conducted medical missions during the past eight years, repairing over 2000 broken smiles with your magic skills," Song said.

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

(China Daily 02/01/2013 page23)