A new Pax Mongolica

This week brought upsetting news of more conflict and chaos in areas of the world that were once integral to the Silk Roads between China and Europe. Geopolitics has filled the streets of Georgia with protests. The violent struggle for power in Syria has re-erupted after a period of smouldering calm. My dream of a peaceful land journey from Beijing to Europe, retracing the steps of the Silk Road, seems more distant than ever. In my last Blog I wrote about the benefits of increasing trade links between China, Europe and Britain. Here I want to look back to a […]

St Cuthbert’s Silk – Connections, ancient and modern

Here in Beijing, a significant academic conference has just come to a close. From November 6th to November 8th, Beijing hosted the world’s first World Conference of Classics. The event was co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Ministry of Education of China, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, the Ministry of Culture of Greece, and the Academy of Athens. An important outcome of the event was the establishment of a China Classical Civilisation Research Institute in Athens. The event gathered four hundred and eighty-five scholars from over 30 countries and regions. The event reminds us […]

A Tale of Two Supermarkets

Aldi stores are becoming a familiar presence in Shanghai One of the undoubted changes in the UK over the last few decades has been the rise of the German supermarket chain Aldi. As we will see in this blog, the same phenomenon is now happening in China. In this blog I also want to contrast the approaches to retail in China being adopted by the Aldi company with those used by Tesco, which exited the China market in 2020. First a little bit of background. The very first ‘Aldi’ store opened in the German town of Essen in 1913. It […]

Quirky China Connections

Blame it on the rhubarb! In this blog I want to look at the more humorous aspect of building bridges of understanding between the people of China and the people of Britain. Why rhubarb? Well, last Friday, at a very prestigious banquet in Beijing, I found myself sitting next to the wonderfully witty Michael Crook, who interrupted an earnest discussion about cross cultural Educational philosophies to inquire if I’d ever managed to buy rhubarb in China. It was a question of Johnathon Swiftesque absurdity. As far as I knew, after ten years of trying every Chinese culinary delight possible, the […]

The Needham Question Re~visited

As you know from my previous Blog, this October is the 75th anniversary of the New China which started in 1949. I hope you know too that next year is the 60th anniversary of our own SACU, which was inaugurated in May 1965 when Joseph Needham himself gave a speech to an audience of over 1000 at Church House Westminster. As my last Blog explained, since 1949 China has made spectacular progress in Science and Technology, so much so that China now has the most patents in terms of ranking of patents by country globally. By the end of 2023, […]

Dreams of England

For my Grade 12 students in Beijing, this has been the worst and the best few weeks of their young lives. These were the weeks that they received their final A Level grades, the ones that will determine whether they get their university places or not. The good news I can report is that all of them were successful and that for 90% of them this means that their long cherished dreams of studying in the UK are about to come true. The challenges for my students in achieving this academic dream should not be underestimated. This is not an […]

Ella-Mae Cox, Marlborough College

Ella Mae’s self-introduction: I am deeply grateful to have received the second-place winner of the SACU essay competition. This recognition means a great deal to me, as I have always been profoundly interested in the link between Chinese and Western cultures. Having spent ten years of my life in Malaysia, I was immersed in a rich cultural diversity that enhanced my curiosity and appreciation for different traditions and perspectives. From a young age, I have been fascinated by the Chinese language and its cultural significance. It has provided me with a deeper understanding of China’s profound history, vibrant culture, and […]

zhāocáimāo – the beckoning cat

I wonder if like me you’ve always been intrigued by the cat figures that can be seen everywhere at the entrances to both Chinese and Japanese restaurants- you know the ones with the waving paw. They are just as popular in China as they are in Asian restaurants and shops across Britain. If you’re intrigued, but not at all sure what they mean, I hope you’ll enjoy this article where I try to to find out about the beckoning cat’s significance. In the interests of being even-handed, I’d better declare that I have found both Chinese and Japanese origin stories […]

Growing People to People Connections

Did you know that the city of Bristol has its own garden dedicated to expressing the connections between the people of Bristol and the people of the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou?  Neither did I! In this blog I will briefly introduce a short history of the fascinating city of Guangzhou but as quickly as possible get to the garden itself. Guangzhou is a very appropriate city to be twinned with Bristol, because in history they were both once the trading capitals of their respective countries.  It was from Bristol that Atlantic sea journeys to West Africa and then the […]

China and the UK between them grow ‘the tree of life’!

It’s exam time here in Beijing! For students and teachers alike, it’s the same roller-coaster ride of mixed emotions that you will find in any school in England.There’s the same slight giddy hysteria in the air as the students make their final preparations. There’s the same clutching at little squishy calming toys, or devotion to good luck mascots. There’s the same hush of teachers waiting anxiously for the exam room doors to be opened and for students to bring news from the examination battle front of victories and defeats. There are deeper reasons for the atmosphere to be exactly the […]