Please visit our Calendar section for upcoming events

Past Events in 2006

Reporting China since the 1960s
A talk by John Gittings
7pm, Tuesday 28 November, Face 3/F

About the topic:

Join us for an evening with our esteemed former colleague John Gittings, Guardian Correspondent in Shanghai until 2003, and for many years the paper's China specialist and East Asia editor. John first reported on China from Hong Kong in the 1960s, and continues to write on the country today: his most recent book, The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market was published by Oxford University Press last year. He will look back on the experience of covering China through this period of enormous change - and discuss some of the lessons this might hold for the country's future.

About the speaker:

John Gittings was for many years The Guardian's foreign leader-writer and East Asia Editor, and in 2000 he opened The Guardian's first staff bureau in Shanghai. He worked in Hong Kong in the late 1960s for the Far Eastern Economic Review, and first visited China in 1971. His books include The Role of the Chinese Army, The World and China, and Real China. He is now research associate of the Centre of Chinese Studies, SOAS (London University) and an associate of the Oxford Research Group. He continues to write on China and on other international issues.

Event details:
When: Tuesday, November 28, 7pm
Where: 3rd Floor, Face Bar, Building 4, Ruijin Hotel,118 Ruijin Er Lu (near Fuxing Lu)
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Mon, Nov. 27 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

Past Events in 2006

Tackling HIV, tackling prejudice
A talk by Chung To
7pm, Wednesday 22 November, Face 3/F

About the topic:

Mr To will discuss the challenges involved in carrying out HIV education in the mainland - and the implications of a failure to implement such education.

About the speaker:

Chung To is founder and chairperson of the Chi Heng Foundation, a Hong Kong based charity which for the past four years has been carrying out pioneering outreach work in China's gay community, and particularly among male prostitutes, in an attempt to combat the spread of HIV. The foundation has also set up a large-scale programme to work with and sponsor children whose parents have contracted HIV/AIDS. An exhibition of paintings by some of these children is currently on show at the Shanghai Art Museum (Opening ceremony 3pm, November 15, K Art Cafe, Fifth Floor). Originally from Hong Kong, he was educated in the US, where he received a Master's degree from Harvard University. He worked for ten years in investment banking, including as Vice President for a European Bank. After returning to Hong Kong in the mid-90s, he became increasingly aware of the threat of HIV/AIDS in China. Four years ago, he gave up his financial career to concentrate full-time on the work of the Chi Heng Foundation. He is a member of the Hong Kong government-appointed AIDS Prevention and Care Committee, and has been selected as one of China's "Ten Anti-AIDS heroes" and "Ten model citizens" by media organizations in Hong Kong and the mainland. Based on his experience of observing the spread of HIV/AIDS among the gay community in California in the 1980s, he believes that China's gay community is in danger of repeating many of the same patterns of high risk behaviour.

Event details:
When: Wednesday 22 November, 7pm
Where: 3rd Floor, Face Bar, Building 4, Ruijin Hotel,118 Ruijin Er Lu (near Fuxing Lu)
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Tues, Nov. 21 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

China Shakes the World
A talk by James Kynge
7pm, Thursday 27 April, Third Degree

About the topic:

James Kynge, for many years the Beijing Bureau Chief of the Financial Times, will talk about the themes covered in his new book China Shakes the World: The rise of a hungry nation (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). He will focus on how China will make its presence felt on the global stage in the coming decades—not only in terms of its products but also in terms of the growing international influence of its people, and its money—and on the potential international fallout of any stalling or failure of China's modernization process.

Event details:
When: Thursday, April 27, 7pm
Where: Third Degree, Three on the Bund, 3 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, by Guangdong Lu
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Wed, April 26 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

Lessons Learned by Multinational CEOs in China
A panel discussion on the challenges of doing business in China--and the strategies foreign CEOs use to overcome them
7pm, Wednesday 19 April, Third Degree

About the speakers:

Laurie Underwood is the Director of Communications & Publications for the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Underwood is the co-author of China CEO: Voices of Experience From 20 International Business Leaders (published by John Wiley & Sons, April 2006). Previously, she covered business in Shanghai and Taipei for Asiaweek, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and other publications.

Juan Antonio Fernandez is a Professor of Management at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. Fernandez is co-author of China CEO. In addition to teaching at CEIBS, he has taught in South Korea, Japan, England, and Spain.

Paolo Gasparrini has been the President and Managing Director of L'Oreal China since the end of 1996. He previously served as President of L'Oreal Brazil and is one of the 20 business leaders who was interviewed for China CEO.

Dominique de Boisseson is the Chairman and CEO of Alcatel China, and has lived in China since 1997. He is the Vice President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and is another of the 20 multinational leaders profiled in China CEO.

Event details:
When: Wednesday, April 19, 7pm
Where: Third Degree, Three on the Bund, 3 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, by Guangdong Lu
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Mon, April 17 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

Old Asia Hand
Reminiscences by a veteran foreign correspondent and master of the Asian political thriller
7pm, Monday 13 March, Shikumen Bistro 3/F

About the speaker:

Robert Elegant is the American-born author of several best-selling novels about China, including Dynasty, Manchu, and Mandarin. His non-fiction works include Mao's Great Revolution, Mao vs. Chiang: The Battle for China and The Dragon's Seed. Elegant's latest novel, Cry Peace, was published last year and explores love and politics during the waning days of the Korean War. Fluent in Chinese and Japanese, Elegant first arrived in Asia in 1951 as a 23-year-old wire service reporter eager to cover the Korean War. Later, he served as a foreign correspondent for Newsweek and the Los Angeles Times, for whom he won three Overseas Press Club awards for his Vietnam War coverage. In 1975, Elegant was one of the first American journalists allowed into Mao's China. He now splits his time between London and Umbria and is finishing his new non-fiction book, Shanghai: Crucible of Modern China.

Event details:
When: Monday, March 13, 7pm
Where: Shikumen Bistro, Xintiandi North Block, Huangpi Nan Lu, by Taicang Lu
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Sun, Mar. 12 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

North Korea Takes on the World
A talk by Gordon Chang
7pm, Thursday 9 March, Shikumen Bistro (Balcony Room)

About the speaker:

After arousing much debate with his previous book "The Coming Collapse of China," (2001) author and former Shanghai resident Gordon Chang turns his attention to North Korea and nuclear policy in his latest work: Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World (just published by Random House) - which argues that "the world will not be the same place if North Korea keeps - and Iran and other hostile and unstable states get - the most destructive weapon in history." Gordon Chang will talk about the challenges he believes North Korea and its allies pose to the international arms control regime and to global stability. He is also happy to discuss his views of China, five years on.

Event details:
When: Thursday, March 9, 7pm
Where: Shikumen Bistro, Xintiandi North Block, Huangpi Nan Lu, by Taicang Lu
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Wed, Mar. 8 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

North Korea Takes on the World
A talk by Gordon Chang
7pm, Thursday 9 March, Shikumen Bistro (Balcony Room)

About the speaker:

After arousing much debate with his previous book "The Coming Collapse of China," (2001) author and former Shanghai resident Gordon Chang turns his attention to North Korea and nuclear policy in his latest work: Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World (just published by Random House) - which argues that "the world will not be the same place if North Korea keeps - and Iran and other hostile and unstable states get - the most destructive weapon in history." Gordon Chang will talk about the challenges he believes North Korea and its allies pose to the international arms control regime and to global stability. He is also happy to discuss his views of China, five years on.

Event details:
When: Thursday, March 9, 7pm
Where: Shikumen Bistro, Xintiandi North Block, Huangpi Nan Lu, by Taicang Lu
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Sun, Feb. 26 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

China's Impending Crisis of Administrative and Legal Institutions
A talk by Jerome A. Cohen
7pm, Monday 27 February, Shikumen Bistro (third floor)

About the speaker:

Jerome A. Cohen is a professor at the New York University School of Law, where he teaches courses on Chinese criminal justice and Chinese business law. An adjunct senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Cohen has written several books including People's China and International Law and China Today. Cohen has also served as an advisor to the government of Sichuan province, a member of the advisory board of Human Rights Watch Asia and, last but not least, a key negotiator in the Bronx Zoo's efforts to lease a pair of pandas in the 1980s. He divides his time between New York and Beijing, in part, for the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison.

Event details:
When: Monday, February 27, 7pm
Where: Shikumen Bistro, Xintiandi North Block, Huangpi Nan Lu, by Taicang Lu
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Sun, Feb. 26 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

Advertising in the PRC: Selling to the New Chinese Consumer
A talk by Tom Doctoroff
7pm, Wednesday 15 February, Shikumen Bistro (third floor)

About the topic:

About the speaker:

Tom Doctoroff, Greater China CEO of the advertising agency JWT, will look at the successes and failures of marketing in China, and the tastes of consumers urban and rural, male and female - subjects he has recently explored in his book: "Billions: Selling to the New Chinese Consumer," just published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Event details:
When: Wednesday, February 15, 7pm
Where: Shikumen Bistro, Xintiandi North Block, Huangpi Nan Lu, by Taicang Lu
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Tue, Feb. 15 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com

Sex and Social Change in Contemporary China
A Discussion on China's Sexual Revolution
7 pm, Tuesday 24 January, Shikumen Bistro

About the speakers:

Cindy Sun Zhongxin: An associate professor of sociology at Shanghai's Fudan University, Sun co-taught China's first Master's program for women's studies in Beijing in 2004. Last fall, she taught the first gay and lesbian studies course for undergraduates at Fudan. Her recent research projects include a study on gender and sexuality issues.

James Farrer: An associate professor of sociology at Tokyo's Sophia University and a visiting professor of sociology at Fudan University, Farrer is currently researching the rise of commercial sex in China, as well how foreign attitudes toward sex are influencing cities like Shanghai. He is the author of Opening Up: Youth sex culture and market reform in Shanghai and an editor of the forthcoming China By Night: Ethnographies of pleasure, power and difference in Chinese nightlife spaces.

Event details:
When: Tuesday, January 24, 7pm
Where: Shikumen Bistro, Xintiandi North Block, Huangpi Nan Lu, by Taicang Lu
Price: FCC Members free; Non-Members RMB 50
RSVP: by Mpn, Jan. 23 to Jane xdancao(at)gmail.com