Believe it or not China has a National Tree-Planting Day! In 1979, the 5th National People’s Congress of People Republic of China made a resolution that March 12th would be taken as Chinese Tree-Planting Day, requiring the whole country to carry out tree-planting activities on this day to protect the environment and to counter the deforestation across the country. As… Read more →

In one of my previous blogs I promised to talk a little bit about the project my colleagues and I are working on with the China Youth Development Foundation. Today is a good time to do that as last week has been pretty work-intense which means no time for ‚playing around’ in Beijing J The China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF),… Read more →

Last weekend we attended a ‘Face Changing Show’, known as ‘Bian Lian’, an ancient Chinese dramatic art and an important aspect of the Chinese Sichuan Opera. Performers use ‘face changing techniques’ on stage and transform it into a special art. Due to the lack of a better and more artistic description imagine someone dressed in a beautiful costume wildly waving… Read more →

Yesterday, we went to the Little Swan Migrant School about one hour outside of Beijing to better understand the difficult situation of migrant workers’ children, to spend time with some children and to do ‘some painting’ to improve their study environment. This ‘Paint Your Dream’-day – that was the day’s motto – was perfectly organized by our Head of Corporate Social Responsibilty. The… Read more →

Ok, you should see my face…I am still smiling and my eyes have this special sparkle that I ususally only get when I talk about Africa! Spending time at and walking on the Great Wall was simply amazing! Several dynasties of Chinese emperors have contributed to the 8851km long Wall starting with the Qin dynasty 200 BC. Even though The Wall – reaching from the… Read more →

I am slowly catching up on the weekend sightseeing as the internet in the hotel has not been very stable… After the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square I went to the Summer Palace the next day. The Summer Palace was the ‘summer playground’ of the emperor and his family. Needless to say that it was a huge playground consisting of… Read more →

I promised you (and me) some real sightseeing on the weekend. Here is the first part: However, before I start raving about the beauty of the Forbidden City and the magnitude of the Tiananmen Square I would like you to imagine the following. Think about a street fair or a beer festival on a Friday or Saturday night! This is… Read more →

Yesterday my colleagues and I went to an acrobatics show in the Chaoyang Theater. The show combined acrobatics, artistical elements as well as acts based on sheer will- and horse-power :-). Some of it was breathtaking; other acts just crazy. Take a look at the picture gallery. The pictures are a bit blurry though, because I had to use my smartphone. There was… Read more →

Since the project consumes quite a bit of time I don’t have any new activities that I can talk about but rather share some observations. During the personal preparations as well as the official pre-work sessions of the project we have discussed cultural differences between China and our home countries (I am here with people from eight different countries) and how they impact our behavior. In… Read more →

Apart from more wonderful meals over the last two days – that I am happily sharing with you in the picture gallery – work has started as of Sunday (yes, Sunday!) morning 10 am! However, after all the pre-work and preparations during the past weeks all of us were eagerly waiting to meet our clients and get started. My teammates and I… Read more →