Food industries from Girona province promote products in China

From http://www.diaridegirona.cat/economia/2013/05/07/sector-agroalimentari-gironi-promociona-productes-xina/616184.html (in Catalan)

After the visit of Chinese importers in April 2013 to knowx Catalan meat industries, nine food companies from Girona province, mostly from the meat sector, have showcased their products in the SIAL and Hofex trade fairs in Shanghai and Hong Kong, respectively.

 

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="104"] SIAL - The Asian Food Marketplace[/caption]

SIAL is Asia's Leading Food & Beverage Exhibition and it is a key reference to enter the China's food market. This year's exhibition is expected to receive around 35,000 professional visitors and the companies from the Girona province attending this event are Frigorífics Costa Brava (meat products, certified to export to China), Friselva, Grup Batallé, Iberdigest and Miquel Alimentació Grup.

 

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="196"] Hofex Hong Kong[/caption]

Hofex is a biennial trade fair specialized in food and drinks that is reaching its 15th edition. In the previous edition it hosted 1,800 companies and 33,000 professionals of the sector and it is the main event of this kind in the region.  The companies from the Girona province taking part in Hofex 2013 are Casademont (meat products), La Jabugueña (Iberian meat products), Mas Parés (foie and duck products), and Vichy Catalán (drinks). Despite of the reduced size of the market in Hong Kong, it is a very attractive one because of both the high economic level of the residents and its strategic location to re-export the food products to other areas in the region, specially to China.

Presentation of the Asian Summer Film Festival in Vic

According to a press release by the organizers, the presentation of the 10th edition of the Asian Summer Film Festival (Festival Nits de Cinema Oriental) will take place in Vic in May 9th, 2013, and it will include a conference by Mr. Javier Ching-Shan Hou, representative of the Office for the Economic and Cultural Promotion of Taipei in Spain (駐西班牙台北經濟文化辦事處), entitled "Taiwan, a country of opportunities". Both this Office and the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan are involved in the organization of this festival as official sponsors. The activities will also include an official reception by the Mayor of Vic, Josep Maria Vila d’Abadal.

Last year's edition of the Asian Summer Film Festival was won by the Taiwanese movie Starry Starry Night (星空), a 2011 fantasy drama based on an illustrated novel by Taiwanese author Jimmy Liao (廖福彬). The movie was directed by Tom Lin (林書宇) and had Xu Jiao (徐嬌) and Lin Hui-min in the main acting roles.



 

Asian Summer Film Festival in Vic reaches 10th edition

From http://cinemaoriental.com/en (in English)

Between July 9th and 14th, 2013, the city of Vic (province of Barcelona) will host the 10th edition of the Asian Summer Film Festival (Festival Nits de Cinema Oriental). This festival will display some of the most acclaimed commercial works in Asia as well as radical new projects. This years' program will include one world premiere and several international releases from other festivals, only shown in their country of origin. As in previous editions, the festival will also host the traditional outdoor dinners, where attendants will be able to sample delightful dishes from Hong Kong, India, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

Sinergies, a talent hunting program for Catalan and Chinese young entrepreneurs

From http://www.tarragona.cat/lajuntament/conselleries/empreses/tarragonaimpulsa/noticies/joves-catalans-i-xinesos-participen-al-programa-sinergies-de-captacio-de-talent-emprenedor-i-internacionalitzacio-empresarial (in Catalan)

Since April 5th, 2013, 30 young entrepreneurs (15 Chinese and 15 Catalan) are taking part in the program Sinergies, a pilot activity jointly organized by the Tarragona city council and the University Rovira i Virgili, with the collaboration of the Tarragona province government (Diputació de Tarragona), Casa Àsia and Europe Direct.

From April to June 2013 these students will share academic and cultural activities aimed at getting the knowledge and the skills to create and manage a company, at knowing the potential of the area and at understanding how the Chinese and European markets work. The program also wants to help develop personal links between these students, so later they can turn into something profitable for Tarragona and its province.

A pdf document containing detailed information about the Sinergies program for 2013 can be found in Casa Àsia website and also read and downloaded here at the following link - http://www.casaasia.es/media/asset_publics/resources/000/031/484/original/Sinergies_Dossier_Resum_Projecte.pdf

 

University Rovira i Virgili from Tarragona offers website in Chinese

From http://wwwa.urv.cat/noticies/diari_digital/cgi/principal.pl?fitxer=noticies/noticia011768.htm (in Catalan)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Chinese version of the University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona website[/caption]

The University Rovira i Virgili (province of Tarragona) has translated their website into Chinese as a way to make it more accessible to the increasing number of Chinese students that every year choose it as learning centre. Since 2005, it has become increasingly frequent for this university to receive students from eight Chinese universities in order to improve their studies on Spanish culture and language. The Chinese version of the website of the University Rovira i Virgili offers information on the subjects and services offered, on the accommodation in the area and also on the experience of previous Chinese students. The Chinese version of this website can be visited at http://www.urv.cat/chinese/.

 

Girona's restaurant El Celler de Can Roca awarded as best restaurant in the world

[caption id="attachment_2919" align="aligncenter" width="283"] Jordi, Joan and Josep Roca, World's Best Restaurant in 2013 (image from El Celler de Can Roca website)[/caption]

After two consecutive years in the #2 position, as Girona residents we are proud to share the news that the local restaurant El Celler de Can Roca has achieved the top position in the 2013 edition of the competition The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, organized by the British food magazine Restaurant and sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. Congratulations for such an outstanding achievement!

Here's a sample of the pictures of our visit to the restaurant in July 2011.

[caption id="attachment_2157" align="aligncenter" width="300"] El Celler de Can Roca[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2160" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Josep Roca displaying his wine sanctuary in El Celler de Can Roca[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2158" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sampling the dishes of El Celler de Can Roca[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2159" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sampling the dishes of El Celler de Can Roca[/caption]

 

El Celler de Can Roca
Can Sunyer 48
17007 Girona
Phone number: +34 972 22 21 57
E-mail: restaurant@cellercanroca.com


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Novel on the adoption of Chinese children presented in Barcelona

From http://www.jrarmadas.com/?p=399 (in Catalan) and http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=210464 (in English)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="576"] La flor de la prunera, by Joan Ramon Armadàs[/caption]

Catalan writer Joan Ramon Armadàs is currently touring Catalonia to present his second book, "La flor de la prunera" (The flower of the plum tree, 梅花), based on the adoption of Chinese children. He has already presented the book in his hometown, Sant Cugat del Vallès, and in Barcelona, and for Tuesday, April 30th, 2013, he is scheduled at 7 pm in Barcelona's Casa Àsia headquarters, where he will take part in a talk entitled "Adoption: A return to Chinese origins" together with Francesc Acero, President of the Association of Adopting Families in China (Associació de Famílies Adoptants a la Xina, AFAC).

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="288"] Joan Ramon Armadàs presenting "La flor de la prunera" with his Chinese-born cousin Maria (image from JR Armadàs website)[/caption]

Most of the children that came to Catalonia from China through a process of adoption are now teenagers or pre-teenagers, the moment in life in which they start to show interest on what it means to be Chinese. The goal of the talk will be to try to explain the importance of finding and getting to know the place where these children spent the first months of their lives. This will be reinforced by the presentation of Joan Ramon Armadàs' book, a novel in which the fictional character Pau Torrens, a young lawyer, travels to China to discover the origins of Mei, his adopted sister.

The event will be presented by Jaume Giné, Secretary General of Casa Àsia, and will take place in the Samarcanda Hall of Casa Àsia headquarters, Diagonal Avenue, 373, Barcelona.  Admission is free until full capacity of the room.