Our Beijing Rotary Club organized a GSE Dinner on Sunday, 26 May in the new Four Seasons Hotel (next to our usual Kempinski Hotel). GSE: Group Exchange Program.

The foundation committee and the board had decided to hold a fellowship dinner to welcome the GSE team of several doctors from Colorado, USA. One doctor from Henan who participated in the GSE tour to the USA also attended the dinner and gave a colorful presentation of his one month stay in Colorado. The team is concluding its China tour and the doctors gave an overview of their China experience, including participation in a tour of the Rotary bus that acts as a clinic on wheels to check children for congenital heart disease. They also visited our GOL (Gift of Life) partner hospitals in Henan and Hebei The team was led by a Rotarian, Martin Postma.
For more details on the team members, program and stories see: http://www.amchub.com/
See the pictures of our dinner, pictured are also David, our Club president, with Martin. Rotarian Piper was the driving force for the whole program. Very lively interaction and great stories by the lady doctors.

Our Annual Ball Fundraising Event is now set and tickets available and donations accepted!
The Rotary Club of Beijing announced that their annual charity ball will take place on June 15 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beijing. Tickets are 1,200 RMB per person and are available now (discount for early birds!!!).  All proceeds benefit the charitable projects of Rotary Club of Beijing.
“Rotary Club of Beijing’s volunteers, all long term residents of China, are committed to making our city a better place to live for everyone. This annual event is a great way to have fun with friends while at the same time making a positive difference in our Beijing home,” said Rotary Club of Beijing president David van Meerendonk.
This annual gala is the club’s largest fundraising event of the year. The event, with a theme of The Roaring 20’s, includes a cocktail reception, gourmet dinner, excellent wine, late night bar, live entertainment, and swing dancing on the ballroom floor.
Watch the great promotional movie about the Ball of the Roaring 20 (link is open in China):
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTQ4MzgyNjk2.html
Or also here (without VPN not available in China):

Projects of our Club
Past, present and future projects funded through Rotary balls include:

• Beijing Sun Children’s Village – A safe haven for children; currently supporting 130 children
• Gift of Life – Children’s heart surgery program for underprivileged children. More than 300 surgeries have been done since 2000
• Gubeikou Village Education Program – Assisting with the educational expenses of rural families; 240 families have been supported to date
• New Wheelchair Program – 2000 people have been helped
• Library Project for Rural Schools – Provided 48,000 books to 168 of China’s western rural schools
• Sichuan Earthquake Relief – In conjunction with Rotary International, provided temporary homes for 50,000 victims; including 4,400 tents and 800 emergency shelter boxes.

About Rotary Club of Beijing
Established in 1924, the Rotary Club of Beijing is a group of international professionals who come together to make friends and perform community service.
Rotary Club of Beijing members, most of whom make Beijing their home for many years, are deeply linked to China and historically committed to the long term health and well being of the Chinese community. We volunteer and donate funds locally to assist those in need. Club members contribute to development of the Chinese economy in their day job and do hands on charitable service with their friends in their spare time.
Rotary Club of Beijing is non-political and non-religious. There are 1.2 million Rotarians and 33,000 Rotary Clubs on all seven continents. The Beijing club is an independent club that is a part of this large international Rotary family. The Rotary Club of Beijing helps connect China to the world.

As Liaison for our Beijing Rotaract Club, as member of Beijing Rotary, I am promoting our social evening that will be this Friday 26 April in Nearby The Tree, one of my favorite places for a Belgian beer, a pizza or bitterballen (among others). Will be on the second floor, a private area. The pizzas come from The Tree and are the best in Beijing!
Starts at 7 pm, free soft drinks, local beer and house wine till 9:30 pm. Buffet with French fries, salads, chicken wings, pizzas and more pizzas.
Rotary members pay RMB 200 and Rotaract members 100. Friends and partners are welcome.
The idea is to let the different generations within Rotary mingle. I love my work with Rotaract, they are a great group of young people.

See you all!

The Rotary Club of Beijing, being the only one in the region, receives a lot of visitors. We normally do not have the time to play tourist guide as we are all so busy but sometimes we do make exceptions. Our Rotarian Geoffrey Bernard William Little from Australia is one. We really had fun together during his stay, he attended our Rotaract meeting on 4 March (Brussels Restaurant) then the Rotary lunch on 5 March (Kempinski Hotel). And we went for dinner and lunch in a couple of restaurants like Nearby The Tree, Din Tai Fung, The Great Wall Restaurant, The Den and maybe more that I forgot with all the beer we had.

I won’t even try to describe Geoffrey as he has such a rich past (and present). He seems never to be in one spot longer than a week. He remains super active after retiring from law enforcement (NSW, Australia). He is also Honorary Deputy Chief of Police in Indianapolis where my daughter Marianne lives. Too much to mention. Oh yes, and the e-club.
See you next time my friend, and thanks for the pictures.