Workshop on advanced Chinese paintings in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=212746 (in Catalan)

[caption id="attachment_2893" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Workshop on Advanced Chinese Paintings[/caption]

Taiwanese teacher Hsiao-Lin Liu is going to offer a workshop on advanced Chinese paintings in the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona between March 12th and May 14th, 2014. Calm and harmony are very important in Chinese paintings and in this course the students will learn how to reflect it through the painting of flowers, fruits and birds. Students will also have the opportunity to practice the techniques of oriental paintings and discover their mystic side.

Hsiao-Lin Liu is currently working on her PhD on the Kuang Cao Chinese calligraphy and its relationship with the contemporary art at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona.

For further information, please visit the webpage of this workshop on Casa Àsia.

 

Casa Asia in Barcelona organizes course on Chinese cinema

From http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=212741 (in English)

[caption id="attachment_2897" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Course "Chinese Cinema: Stories and Evolutions" (image from Casa Asia website)[/caption]

From the February 25th to April 1st, 2014, the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona will host a course entitled "Chinese Cinema: Stories and Evolutions" given by Manel Ollé, professor of Chinese History and Culture and coordinator of the Master in Chinese Studies at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona. For further information on the fees, the detailed schedule and the location, please visit its webpage at Casa Àsia.

Catalan TV program "Òpera en texans" attends the Taiwan International Children's Film Festival

From http://www.elperiodico.cat/ca/noticias/tele/opera-texans-opta-premi-taiwan-2993116 (in Catalan)

"Òpera en texans" (Opera in Jeans) is a a TV program of Televisió de Catalunya devoted to the promotion of classical music and opera in a very original and innovative way. Its presenter, Ramon Gener, is a opera singer and pianist that has achieved a big success in Catalonia because of his contagious enthusiasm when explaining the secrets of "bel canto". "Òpera en texans" has been nominated to three awards in the Taiwan International Children's Film Festival: best TV program, jury's special award and audience award. The Taiwan International Children's Film Festival will take place between March 27 and April 6, 2014, and the winners will be announced on April 4.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="468"] Ramon Gener and his passion for classical music and opera (Image from Ramon Gener's website)[/caption]

 

 

Barcelona based rock band GAS releases Chinese version of FC Barcelona's anthem

GAS, a rock band based in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona province) that earlier this year took by storm the local music scene by releasing their first EP, "Chinese Works" with seven original songs sung in Mandarin Chinese, has again caused sensation by recording a Chinese version of the anthem of the legendary Catalan football team FC Barcelona. Entitled 巴薩的隊歌, the news has appeared in many media, both local and from abroad.



 

Editada la "Guía de Supervivencia en China" per al viatger de negocis

De http://landing.captio.net/descargate-la-guia-de-supervivencia-para-el-viajero-de-negocios-cross-cultural-en-china (en Castellano)

Captio, amb la col·laboració de Baidewei, han editat una eina que pot resultar molt útil per als cada vegada més freqüents viatgers de negocis disposats a conquerir els mercats de Xina. Es tracta de la “Guía de Supervivencia en China para el viajero de negocios“, en la qual en 26 pàgines es resumeixen els costums, el protocol i la cultura d'empresa a la Xina, per tal que qui hi viatgi per primera vegada no comenci des de zero. La guia està disponible en format pdf y per a obtenir-la tan sols cal visitar l'enllaç anterior.

Editada la Guía de Supervivencia en China para el viajero de negocios

De http://landing.captio.net/descargate-la-guia-de-supervivencia-para-el-viajero-de-negocios-cross-cultural-en-china (en Castellano)

Captio, con la colaboración de Baidewei, han editado una herramienta que puede resultar muy útil para los cada vez más frecuentes viajeros de negocios cuyo mercado a conquistar es China. Se trata de la "Guía de Supervivencia en China para el viajero de negocios", en la cual se resumen en 26 páginas las costumbres, el protocolo y la cultura de empresa en China, para que quien viaje por primera vez no empiece desde cero. La guía está disponible en formato pdf y para obtenerla tan sólo hay que visitar el enlace anterior.

 

Guzheng concert in Vilafranca del Penedès by Zhang Ye

From http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=212498 (in English)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="145"] Zhang Ye playing the guzheng (image from Zhang Ye's website)[/caption]

Zhang Ye ( 张也), graduate at the Conservatory of Music of Shenyang, China, will perform on December 13th, 2013, in the Chapel of Sant Joan, in Vilafranca del Penedès (Barcelona province). She is scheduled to give a free concert of guzheng (Chinese harp) in the framework a programme called “Discovering Asian Talents” of the 2013 Asia Festival that takes place in several towns of the Barcelona province. This concert is organized by Casa Àsia, in collaboration with Diputació de Barcelona and the municipality of Vilafranca del Penedès. Zhang Ye has performed at emblematic venues in Barcelona and Catalonia since 2006.

Book about Hong Kong to be presented at the Ulyssus travel bookstore in Girona

Xavier Moret, author of the book "Días de Hong Kong" (Hong Kong days), will be presenting it on November 29th, 2013, at the renowned travel bookstore Llibreria Ulyssus in Girona. This book compiles the impressions of the author during a 2-month stay in the former British colony.

Right after the presentation of the book, Llibreria Ulyssus and the travel agency Viatges Viñolas are going to introduce their new partnership, through which they plan to organize further book presentations, talks, workshops and exhibitions for all the travelling fans. Llibreria Ulyssus and Viatges Viñolas can be found at the Cort Reial street, 3, in the old quarter of Girona.

[caption id="attachment_2779" align="aligncenter" width="231"] Inauguration of the partnership between Llibreria Ulyssus and Viatges Viñolas[/caption]

 

Taiwanese delegation visits Girona to learn from its touristic promotion

From http://bit.ly/1gX3nxp (in Catalan)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="336"] Taiwanese delegation visits Girona to learn from its touristic promotion[/caption]

A group of 17 entrepreneurs and university professors from Taiwan have recently visited the city of Girona. Their main interest was to learn about the public-private cooperation on the promotion of touristic activities, specially on the business and conference sectors. This visit has been organized by the Barcelona office of the Taiwan Trade Center. They have been received by Ms. Marta Madrenas, Deputy Mayor of the city of Girona and in charge of the city's promotion. She has introduced the assets of Girona as an attractive destination for both family and conference tourism. Ms. Madrenas has stated that for the city of Girona it was very positive to hold this kind of meetings and has highlighted the "importance to meet groups of tourism professionals that later can spread the word about the city and recommend it once they are back in their home countries". She also mentioned the degree of interest shown by the Taiwanese delegation to learn from the Girona experience and remarked the efforts done by the city council "to promote the city as a touristic and cultural destination". The Taiwanese delegation ended up their stay in Girona visiting the Scientific and Technological Park.

Barcelona based Galeria Mayoral at the Hong Kong's edition of Art Basel

From http://www.galeriamayoral.com/en/Fires/Basel%20Hong%20Kong/21/ (in English)

Barcelona-based Galeria Mayoral is attending the Hong Kong's edition of Art Basel, where there will be on display the highest quality of paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, by more than 2,000 artists from Asia and around the globe. Galeria Mayoral is going to display a Solo Show Miró, based on the works of renowned Catalan painter Joan Miró.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="414"] Personnages et oiseaux, by Joan Miró (Image from Art Basel website)[/caption]

Published booklet about the Chinese shop owners in Barcelona

From http://www.comercnouvinguts.pimec.org/ca/productes/72/colleccio--i-nosaltres-tambe-fem-ciutat-i-/llistat/els-comerciants-xinesos-de-barcelona (in Catalan)

PIMEC, the association grouping the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and also the self-employed workers of Catalonia, has launched a project for the city of Barcelona called "Nosaltres també fem ciutat" ("We also contribute to the city") that has the goal of improving the integration of the foreign shop owners into the city's commercial network. One of the documents that has recently been released is the booklet "Els comerciants xinesos de Barcelona" ("Barcelona's Chinese shop owners"), which emphasizes their entrepreneurial capacity and their hard-working attitude. The document can be downloaded as a pd file from the link http://www.webmini.cat/repositori/documents/productes/ca/webmini-not103-uy19kg.pdf or read it down here in its embedded form.

Sinalunya featured in some Catalan media

Links:

• http://www.acn.cat/acn/704605/Noticia/text/Noticia.html


• http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/4090748/20130303/sinalunya-projecte-multidisciplinari-potenciar-relacions-xina-taiwan-singapur-catalunya.html


• http://www.lavanguardia.com/encatala/20130303/54367958384/sinalunya-un-projecte-multidisciplinari-per-potenciar-les-relacions-entre-xina-taiwan-singapur-i.html

Recently our project has been featured in some Catalan media, thanks to the journalist of the Catalan News Agency, Nerea Guisasola, who interviewed us a couple of weeks ago. The news has written text and a picture, but also a piece of audio was featured on the radio. We would like to thank her for helping us to spread the word of what we would like to do and also for writing about our project in such an enthusiastic way.

[caption id="attachment_2034" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Sinalunya team: Chia-Chi Liao and Lluís Sala[/caption]

 

Beijing Foreign Studies University will teach Catalan language

From http://www.diaridegirona.cat/espanya-internacional/2012/03/09/universitat-xinesa-ensenyara-catala-partir-lany-vinent/551272.html (in Catalan)

The Beijing Foreign Studies University has announced an agreement with the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in order to start teaching Catalan language and culture in 2013, as part of the 4-year degree on Spanish Studies. This will be the first experience of its kind in a Chinese university.

Chinese Catalans, portrait of an emerging and entrepreneurial minority

From http://www.presencia.cat/index.php?Itemid=1080 (in Catalan)

[caption id="attachment_1316" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Cover of Presència 12 February 2012"][/caption]

Catalan weekly magazine Presència has devoted the main report of its last edition to the Chinese community living in Catalonia. The title of the report is "Chinese Catalans, portrait of an emerging and entrepreneurial minority" and it explains what is the situation of the growing Chinese population in Catalonia. Chinese immigrants are the fifth most numerous minority (around 50,000 inhabitants), after the Moroccans, Romanians, Ecuadorians and Bolivians, and they mostly live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Out of those 50,000 inhabitants, some 8,000 are entrepreneurs, the highest percentage among any other group, including the natives.  The report also includes interviews with Jia Jia Wang, owner of Jia Jia Ediciones, a publishing company she created in order to help teach Chinese language to local children. Other interviews are those of Zheng Lingteng and Ma Yinping, teachers of Chinese at the Girona-based language school, Nipponia, and Lam Chuen Ping, president of the Association of Chinese Entrepreneurs of Catalonia. The scans of the report can be seen on the Sinalunya Flickr site.

Celebrations of Chinese New Year in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.cat/actividad/detalle?id=205220 (in Catalan)

Celebrations of Chinese New Year in Barcelona will be held from 27-29 January 2012 at the Moll de la Fusta, organized by the Union of Chinese Associations of Catalonia, the Barcelona City Council and Casa Àsia, among others. This year's events will include tastings of Catalan and Chinese gastronomy, and dance and martial arts exhibitions. The complete program can be downloaded as pdf on Casa Àsia website.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Chinese New Year 2012 in Barcelona - Image from Casa Àsia website"][/caption]

Casa Àsia Barcelona will hold the 8th East-West Dialogue 2011

From http://www.casaasia.es/dialogo/eng/index.html (in English)

The city of Barcelona will be holding the 8th East-West Dialogue on November 8th-9th, 2011, with the title of "For a New Global Governance Agenda", an event organized annually by Casa Àsia and the Barcelona City Council. This eighth Dialogue is devoted to analyzing the current world situation and the role played by international institutions, as well as by political leaders. The activities related to this event could be followed on Twitter using the hashtag #eastwest.

The program for the 8th East-West Dialogue is as follows:

8th of November 2011 / From 4.30pm to 7pm
Barcelona City Hall, Saló de Cent (Plaça Sant Jaume, 1 - Barcelona)

9th of November 2011 / From 10am to 7pm
Casa Asia, Tagore Auditorium (Avinguda Diagonal, 373 - Barcelona)

Free entry prior registration / Limited capacity

 

 

 

Barcelona appointed as the sixth best European city to locate a business

From http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/barcelona-sixth-best-european-city-locate-business (in English)

The capital city of Catalonia, Barcelona has recently been appointed as the sixth best European city to locate a business in 2011, behind London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Berlin, dropping one place from 2010's results, but one position ahead of Madrid. This European Cities Monitor list is compiled each year by the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield and is the result of analyzing twelve indicators. The position of Barcelona is expected to go even higher on the list if improvements are made in the future on telecommunications, international flights, market access and English language skills. For a more detailed information, either visit the link at the beginning of this post or go to the European Cities Monitor website.

[caption id="attachment_986" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View of Barcelona from Gaudí's Parc Güell"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Agbar Tower, Barcelona"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_990" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Barcelona's recently developed Forum area"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_989" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casa de les Punxes o Casa Terrades by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Barcelona"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_988" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="La Rambla, Barcelona"][/caption]

A visit to the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona

On September 15th we had the opportunity to visit the impressive headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona, located in the beautiful modernistic building Palau del Baró de Quadras, at the 373 of Diagonal Avenue. The house was projected by Catalan architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch and built in 1904-1906. It has outstanding gothic and plateresque styles on the main façade on Diagonal Avenue, plus some notable decoration of Muslim inspiration inside. The building, just as many that can be seen in the streets of Barcelona, belongs to the period of Catalan Modernisme, a style of the late XIXth and early XXth centuries that influenced not only architecture, but also literature and plastic arts. In architecture, the most relevant names are Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch.

Here there is a sample of the views that such a magnificent building can offer to the visitors.

[caption id="attachment_913" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casa Àsia - Palau Baró de Quadras"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_914" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casa Àsia - Palau Baró de Quadras"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_915" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casa Àsia - Palau Baró de Quadras"][/caption]

You can view the rest of the photographic report on  on Sinalunya's Flickr site.

For further information on this remarkable construction, take a look at  http://www.gaudiallgaudi.com/AA208.htm, and for detailed information on Catalan Modernistic architecture, you can visit http://www.gaudiallgaudi.com/EA001.htm.

Chinese writer Diane Wei Liang presents her new book in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.es/actividad/detalle?id=203306 (in Spanish)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="La Casa del Espíritu Dorado - Diane Wei Liang - Ediciones Siruela"][/caption]

In the framework of a series of activities related to asian detective fiction literature, Casa Àsia and Ediciones Siruela have organized a meeting with Chinese writer Diane Wei Liang, who has recently released her third novel "The House of Golden Spirit", that has been translated into Spanish as "La Casa del Espíritu Dorado". After the success of "The eye of Jade" and "Paper butterfly", Diane Wei Liang has written a new story for her fictional character, the female detective Mei Wang. The plot on this new book is set on the city of Beijing after the Olympic Games of 2008, where Mei Wang has to deal with a noisy and busy environment, and with people whose only drive in life is money or power. Diane Wei Liang will be giving a talk entitled "Mei Wang's Beijing" ("El Pequín de la detectiu Mei Wang" (catalan) / "El Pequín de la detective Mei Wang" (Spanish)) and presenting her book in Barcelona on September 15th, 2011. The event will take place at the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona, Tagore Auditorium, Avinguda Diagonal, 373 and she will be introduced by Ofelia Grande, Director of Ediciones Siruela, and Rafael Bueno, Director of Politics and Society of Casa Àsia. One day earlier, a similar activity is scheduled in Madrid's Casa Asia's headquarters. An interview in Spanish with Diane Wei Liang can be dowloaded from Ediciones Siruela website, whereas Casa Àsia website also offers an invitation card to the event, both as pdf files. For further information contact casaasia@casaasia.es.

Singapore entrepreneurs travel to Catalonia to learn from its gastronomy

From http://www.expansion.com/2011/07/21/catalunya/1311275284.html (in Spanish)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="432" caption="Restaurant Can Jubany (image from Restaurant Can Jubany website)"][/caption]

A group of 20 entrepreneurs and directives from Singaporean companies have traveled to Catalonia in order to learn about its food industry and its gastronomy. This visit has been arranged by the government of Singapore, that helps companies to learn from innovation done by other countries, and Catalonia has been the chosen one in the food sector. The Singaporean delegation has visited companies such Europastry, Gallina Blanca and Damm, and they have been surprised by the high level of robotization in the production process of the latter.  They have also visited the baker and chocolate expert Enric Rovira, as well as restaurants Via Veneto, Can Jubany, and the new foundation created by El Bulli owner Ferran Adrià, Fundació Alícia, a research centre focusing on technological innovation in kitchen science and the dissemination of agronourishment and gastronomic heritage.