Events

Perforamnce with sheng and dan movement workshops, Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera singing Enquiries welcome from the public: 07799 676 227 (Kevin); 07828 194 321 (Hai) . Islington Chinese Association, 21 Hatchard Road London N19 4NG  Tel: 020 7263 5986  Details

Newcastle, Birmingham and Leeds This third Made in China seminar will cover the practical issues of establishing enterprises in China and setting up banking facilities there to support supply chain requirements or service the domestic market. The pros and cons of rep offices, joint ventures, foreign invested commercial enterprises or acquisition will be examined and, in light of an expansion of domestic market opportunities in China, this workshop will also look at how manufacturing in China for the UK or global markets can make a transition to supplying the Chinese market from inside China. The seminar is organised by CBBC in association with HSBC and other partners, designed to give companies confidence to develop business in China. Newcastle - 17 May, Birmingham - 18 May and Leeds - 20 May. All seminars take place 10.00 - 13.30. .  Details

Diane Wei Liang - Paper Butterfly, Hirsh Sawhney - Delhi Noir, Glen Peters - Mrs D'Silva's Detective Instincts and the Shaitan of Calcutta, with Boyd Tonkin of The Independent Each day Chinese and Indian newspapers are full of alarming stories of corruption, robbery and contract killings - indications of the increasing disparity between rich and poor in these unevenly developing societies. The legendary cities of Beijing, Delhi and Calcutta provide fertile ground for these tales of darkness. The crime novels of Diane Wei Liang, Glen Peters and Hirsh Sawhney look at the side of 'new Asia' that defies romantic stereotypes. Tickets £10, Concessions £6 Asia House Friends £5 (Applies to the members of The Meridian Society and SACU). Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP  Tel: 020 7307-5454  Email: enquiries@asiahouse.co.uk  Details

Speaker: Dr Hongyi Lai (Nottingham). Nottingham University, Business School South, Nottingham

Chien Li-kuei (Cambridge University). SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG  Details

From Tai Chi Finder. The Manor, Manor Road, Brighton BN2 5EA  Details

Children's Drop-in workshop: Help us celebrate the opening of our new exhibition 'Animal Kingdom' by making origami zodiac animals!. Museum of East Asian Art, 12 Bennett Street, Bath. BA1 2QJ  Tel: 01225 464640  Email: info@meaa.org.uk  Details

Talk by Gill Hale . London  Details

Mr Robert Gifford (NPR - National Public Radio) You must be a member of the R.S.A.A. in order to attend the talk.. Royal Society for Asian Affairs, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ  Tel: 020 72355122  Email: info@rsaa.org.uk  Details

Asia House presents more than 40 authors writing about 15 countries across Asia, as well as British Asian and Pan-Asian themes.. Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP  Tel: 020 7307-5454  Email: enquiries@asiahouse.co.uk  Details

Cinephilia West and Magic Cube are delighted to host an event spread across four evenings, New Generation: Contemporary Independent Chinese Film. It is a showcase of some of the latest and most innovative and exciting films made by young generation Chinese filmmakers. In a series of four screenings: documentaries, animations, fictions and experimental videos, this event presents a new vision of contemporary China, under the themes of 'Absurdity and Reality', 'Lost in 'Now? - dream, memory and fantasy', 'Merging Fiction and Documentary?', and 'Searching for Identity '. Most of the young film talents were born and grew up in post-socialist China, and they take a more personal and even first-person approach representing Chinese social reality. Among the showcased films, many are highlights from the Chongqing Independent Film and Video Festival, China. The event will be presented by Independent Filmmaker and Programmer, Tianqi Yu and the London based Magic Cube which curates and programmes contemporary Chinese independent film and video works. Promoting international collaborations and exchange between China and abroad, Magic Cube represents emerging innovative young generation film/video makers, mostly born in post-socialist China. For further information about the event, Please contact Yoram Allon (yoram@cinephilia.co.uk) or Caroline Jones. 7:00pm. Cinephilia West, 171 Westbourne Grove, Kensington, London W11 2RS, UK  Tel: 020 7792 4433  Email: caroline@cinephilia.co.uk  Details

Vimalin Rujivacharakul (University of Delaware). Needham Research Institute, 8 Sylvester Road, Cambridge. CB3 9AF  Tel: 01223 311545  Email: admin@nri.org.uk  Details

From Tai Chi Finder. Adel Quaker Meeting House , New Adel Lane, Leeds, LS16 6AZ  Details

A delightful and meditative evening with Shakuhachi player Stephanie Hiller. Featuring meditation music from the original repertoire of the Fuke sect of zen Buddhist monks, dating from medieval times. Cost £14 (£12 for MEAA Friends) book at least 5 days in advance (Seats limited - book early to avoid disappointment!). Museum of East Asian Art, 12 Bennett Street, Bath. BA1 2QJ  Tel: 01225 464640  Email: info@meaa.org.uk  Details

Children's Drop-in workshop: Learn about the uses of kites in East Asian history and make your own to fly this summer!. Museum of East Asian Art, 12 Bennett Street, Bath. BA1 2QJ  Tel: 01225 464640  Email: info@meaa.org.uk  Details

Laws and regulations affect every aspect of the Chinese business environment. But foreign companies often leave it to their Chinese staff to make progress via the building and maintaining of relationships or guanxi. Business in China is said to be relationship based, but the Chinese business environment is also becoming more transparent through the introduction of more law. Law, however, is often sufficiently vague to allow leeway in its interpretation and this can leave room for negotiation and influence through guanxi. Drawing on the knowledge of experts in Chinese culture, Chinese law and Chinese financial fraud, this seminar provides a good foundation for a deeper understanding of the Chinese business environment and also discusses the implications for business in China of the UK Bribery Act 2010.. China-Britain Business Council , 1 Warwick Row, London SW1E 5ER  Details

Exhibition by artist Stanley Wong The exhibition features a number of haunting large-scale photographic prints of abandoned, incomplete building projects from across Asia. Chinese Arts Centre, Market Buildings, Thomas Street, Manchester M4 1EU  Contact: Ying Kwok  Tel: 0161 832-7271  Email: info@chinese-arts.centre.org  Details

The society's Glasgow AGM will be held at Glasgow's Mitchell Library. After business Dr Judith McCLure CBE will talk about the work of SCEN, the Scotland-China Education Network.� Mitchell Library, North St, Glasgow G3 7DN  Details

We are again delighted to be hosting the 14th dragon boat festival with the support of London Chinatown Association who host the spectacular Chinese New Year celebrations in Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square, we also welcome the continue support of The Hong Kong Executive Club as the organising committe member. This year's dragon boat event promises to be another spectacular event in the chinese calendar. We again continue to be generously supported by our principal sponsor The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office. The festival this year will have over 40 dragon boat teams competing and an entertainment programme which will keep all onshore viewers entertained throughout the day. This year we are glad to have support from a number of corporate teams from financial sector and commercial retails sector which will certainly add to the competition action. Included in the programme will be staged live entertainment and full children's play area, Chinese cultural and curiosity stalls as well as stalls serving food and beverages throughout the day. Royal Albert Dockyard, North Woolwich and Silvertown  Email: themeridiansociety@gmail.com  Details

Mary McNulty will give an illustrated talk about her journey in 2007 visiting minority e.g. Dong areas, in Southwest China. Cultural differences can be seen expressed through local materials and embroidery. . Garnethill Multicultural Centre, 21 Rose St, Glasgow G3 6RE

The natural beauty of China's south-eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang has inspired generations of scholars and artists, whose works form part of the nation's great cultural legacy. Our tour will follow the Poets' Trail and take us to some of the best-loved scenic spots along the tributaries of the Yangtse River (Changjiang), which, with its access to Shanghai and other coastal cities, have also spawned diverse handicraft industries, such as silk and lacquer. Sadly, many of these artisanal skills, along with edifices of cultural value, are being lost in the name of modernisation. As China expands her tourist industry, conservationists are being called upon to undo some of the damage and revive the region and its traditions. The focus of our tour will therefore be conservation and we will invite renowned urban planner Professor Ruan Yisan, of Tongji University in Shanghai and winner of UNESCO's Award of Distinction for Conservation, to talk about his projects in Suzhou, Shaoxing, Wuzhen and the Grand Canal, amongst others. We will start in the grand metropolis of Shanghai, now centre stage for Expo 2010, but formerly renowned as a city of gangsters and revolutionaries, Eastern exoticism and Western decadence. Prof Ruan will take us on a guided tour of streets and buildings that he has helped bring back to their former glory in a bid to preserve a significant part of China's cultural heritage. China

The Museum of East Asian Art is pleased to work in cooperation with ArtChinese to host the exhibition: 'Animal Kingdom: Paintings by Li Fuyuan',� which features fifteen pieces of the artist's work.� Mr. Li uses brush painting techniques with stunning effect. His paintings are full of bold, contrasting colours and elements that compose a visual melody of a fantastically cacophonous world. The abstract shapes work together to form the images of animals that are at once incorporated into a dramatic landscape but yet bursts out from the background to stare at the audience with as much interest and curiosity as the inquisitive humans eyes on the other side of the glazed frames. Li Fuyuan's works are sure to delight. Museum of East Asian Art, 12 Bennett Street, Bath. BA1 2QJ  Tel: 01225 464640  Email: info@meaa.org.uk  Details

Keynote speakers: Jonathan Spence (Yale), and Niu Dayong (Bejing) Organised by the British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS), with support from the Centre for East Asian Studies, Bristol University. CALL FOR PAPERS 2010 - deadline 30 April 2010. University of Bristol, LGF1 Meeting Room, Lower Ground Floor, Senate House, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TH  Tel: 0117 9064-800