"It's China time!" on Casa Àsia, Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.eu/actividad/detalle?id=203513 (in English)

Casa Àsia has organized for October 6th, 2011 a session called "It's China time!", devoted to explore the different urban cultures that are popping up in China and that are turning the country's big cities into some of the most vibrant cultural places in the world. In this session, experts will analyze and spread information about the latest tendencies in fields such as literature, fashion, urban art, cinema, technology, music or television. This explosion of creativity is largely due to the fact that by 2015 China is expected to have some 500 million people under 30, which is turning its big cities into some of the trending cultural areas in the planet.

The participants in the session will be Zhang Yiwu, researcher of Literature and Theory of Culture (University of Beijing); Zhang Jian, musician, composer of the band FM3 and creator of the ‘Buddha Machine’, who will also offer a demo of it; and Inma González Puy, Director of the Instituto Cervantes of Beijing.  The event will be presented by Shiru Chang, Vice Director of the Confucius Institute Foundation of Barcelona and Javier Castañeda, Director of Technology and Cyberculture of Casa Àsia.

The event, organized by Casa Àsia and Confucius Institute of Barcelona, in collaboration with the Master in Chinese Studies (UPF), will take place at the Tagore Auditorium, Manila and Ispahan Halls, at the headquarters of Casa Àsia in Barcelona (Diagonal, 373), at 7 pm. Admission is free, until reaching full capacity. Casa Àsia website also offers an invitation card to the event, that can be downloaded as pdf file. Further information can be obtained through the email address casaasia@casaasia.es.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="It's China Time! (Image from Casa Àsia website)"][/caption]

Agreement for the commercialization of pharmaceutical products in Taiwan

From http://www.luqaventures.com/news.php (in English)

Hong Kong based company LUQA and Catalan company Laboratorios SALVAT, S.A. have reached an agreement for the commercialization of pharmaceutical product Cetraxal Plus in Taiwan. LUQA is a specialty company devoted to the commercialization of pharmaceutical products in the East Asia emerging markets, whereas Laboratorios SALVAT, S.A. is a renowned company that has been commercializing their products, like Cetraxal Plus, for more than 20 years on international markets.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="331" caption="Cetraxal Plus (Image from LUQA website)"][/caption]

Chinese writer Diane Wei Liang interviewed in La Vanguardia

From http://www.lavanguardia.com/lacontra/20110930/54224175787/hoy-en-china-el-amiguismo-y-el-nepotismo-es-ley.html (in Spanish)

Because of her visit to the Casa Àsia headquarters in Barcelona to promote her new book (see http://sinalunya.com/2011/09/11/chinese-writer-diane-wei-liang-presents-her-new-book-in-barcelona/), Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia has interviewed Chinese writer Diane Wei Liang for its much followed back cover section La Contra. On this interview, London-based Diane Wei Liang first remembers her tough childhood years in a remote rural region of China and how she had to grow up barely seeing her father; later explains some details of her personal experience on the Tiananmen Square and what is her vision of what happened after twenty-some years; and finishes giving her impressions on today's Beijing, where the gap between rich people and poor people is growing and getting huge. She also expresses the wish that in China citizens would have freedom and rights.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Diane Wei Liang - Photo by Kim Manresa from La Vanguardia website"][/caption]

Tianjin representatives visit the Pyrenean village of Camprodon

From http://el9nou.cat/noticies_o_0/20130/camprodon_estreny_llacos_amb_xina_per_atreure_turisme (in Catalan)

Camprodon, a small village located in the mountain region of Pyrenees that belongs to the Girona province, in Catalonia, has received two delegations of representatives of Tianjin (China), who are seeking contacts for touristic and business purposes. What started simply as a touristic visit by the Tianjin representatives has gradually evolved towards a business interest, since they have requested to formally get in touch with the local industries, seeking opportunities for exporting their products to China. Camprodon mayor, Esteve Pujol, has declared that these contacts can prove very successful for his village and the nearby region, since Tianjin has a high industrial and economic activity.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Sant Pere Monastery, Camprodon (Photo by Flora Genoher)"][/caption]

Catalan cork stopper producer company Rich-Xiberta will export to China

From http://www.elpuntavui.cat/noticia/article/4-economia/18-economia/456042-acord-de-rich-xiberta-per-exportar-taps-a-la-xina.html (in Catalan)

Catalan cork stopper producer company Rich Xiberta SA, based in Caldes de Malavella (Girona), has recently reached an agreement with Chinese company Benebo for the distribution and commercialization of cork stoppers to China. According the company's Director of Exports, Joan Ahumada, this is a very important agreement for the future of the company, since China is the world's market with a higher expectation on the growth of the consumption of wine. Nowadays, China is the world's 7th country in the consumption of wine, but estimations say that it will climb to number one in less than 20 years. Based on this agreement, Benebo will buy cork stoppers to Rich Xiberta SA and will distribute them in China, whereas the Catalan company will provide technical support on how to treat and brand the cork stoppers in their facilities. The signature of the agreement took place at the Silken Park Hotel San Jorge in Platja d'Aro (Girona) with executives of both companies and representatives of the Girona Chamber of Commerce.

 

Interviews in Barcelona with directors of Singapore and Hong Kong ACC1Ó offices

From http://agenda.acc10.cat/agenda/default.php?id=6595 and http://agenda.acc10.cat/agenda/default.php?id=6574 (in Catalan)

For companies interested on the East Asian markets, ACC1Ó has organized two sessions of interviews with their directors in the Singapore and Hong Kong offices. The interviews with the director of the Singapore office will take place from 28th September to 4th October, 2011 and they are addressed for companies interested on the markets of this country, plus Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. For companies interested on China, the the director of the Hong Kong office will take place on 3rd and 4th October, 2011. All these interviews will take place at the ACC1Ó headquarters in Barcelona, at the Passeig de Gràcia, 129, between 9 am and 7 pm.

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.