Canadians surge past Finns in friendly hockey

More than 700 people gathered last weekend to celebrate community, friendship and ice hockey at the second annual Hockey Night in Beijing. Canadian Ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques (left) and his Finnish counterpart Lars Backstrom squared off for the ceremonial face-off and puck drop as expatriates from their home countries met for a rematch of last year's game.

Twenty percent of ticket revenue was donated to the Shepherd's Field Children's Village, an organization that provides shelter and care for Chinese orphans with special needs.

Curtis Dracz was named Most Valuable Player for the Canadians, who won 4-1, while Marko Jokela of Team Finland won MVP honors for his squad. "The intensity brought everyone to their feet, and there were times they were so loud that we couldn't even hear the referee whistle," Dracz said. Primary sponsors of the event were Nokia and the Canadian International School of Beijing.

Diplomats from Latin American and Caribbean countries seemed to be moving in a pack last week. First, they took in the opening of Beijing's brand-new Latin American and Caribbean Center in Sanlitun SOHO, then they swarmed a VIP reception and a concert at the Poly Theater on May 13.

The musical extravaganza was part of the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival, and featured music from 13 countries performed by the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Zhang Guoyong. A high-spirited dance by Alejandro Martin Ferreyra and Natalia Soledad Turelli from the Argentina's Tango Desire carried the crowd out in a buoyant mood.

Slovak Ambassador Frantisek Dlhopolcek hosted an exhibition. Naive Art from Kovacica, presented by painters Jan Glozik and Janos Mesaros last week at the embassy.

The European Commission's director-general responsible for transport policies, Matthias Ruete, visited Beijing on May 16 and 17 to enhance existing cooperation between EU and China. Ruete attended the 2013 China Civil Aviation Development Forum, where he held discussions with the leaders of the Civil Aviation Authority of China as well as officials at the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Transport, and the newly appointed leadership of China Railway Corporation.

Ruete ended his mission with a speech to more than 200 students at the Beijing Jiaotong University.

Austrian classical violinist Lidia Baich (above right) hosted a master class for Chinese students between the ages of 8 and 14 at the Austrian embassy open house last week. Baich played a 250-year-old violin valued at 1.5 million euro ($1.94 million).

Embassies of EU member states are hosting open-house events for young Chinese over several weeks; Malta and Denmark will open their doors in the coming week. A list of all the activities is available on the EU delegation's website (www.eu-in-china.com) and on weibo at www.weibo.com/euinchina; all events require advance online registration or invitation.

The Group of African Ambassadors Spouses visited China's Ministry of Civil Affairs last week to present a check for 120,000 yuan ($19,536), proceeds from a charity gala that launched a new African cookbook from GAAS. Club president Anne Marie Ngarambe of Rwanda says copies of the book will be for sale at the 50th anniversary celebration of the African Union, which will be at the Kempinski Hotel Beijing on May 24 and 25.

Thai Ambassador to China Wiboon Khusakul opened his residence to students from Thailand and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries last weekend. More than 150 university students studying in Beijing came to enjoy karaoke and live music as well as authentic Thai cuisine from the embassy's kitchen. Thailand is currently country coordinator for ASEAN-China relations, and the ambassador arranged the event to allow Thai and other ASEAN students to mingle and learn more about one another.

Send embassy news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn.