Project Pengyou Launch in Beijing

Last night Stephen and I did a bit of networking at a bit of a cross cultural international diplomacy NGO type affair here in Beijing.  It was the launch ceremony for 'Project Pengyou' ( http://projectpengyou.com/). which is described as -

Project Pengyou is a global community of Americans who have lived and studied in China.  We are a not-for-profit, non-governmental social venture working in partnership withPresident Obama's 100,000 Strong Initiative. Through this community, we seek to catalyze and carry forward the long-term goals of the 100,000 Strong Initiative.  Our mission is to cultivate a dynamic generation of stewards for US-China relations, and thus strengthen our collective capacity to build a more peaceful and functional shared future. Here's Secretary of State Clinton talking about the project at its US announcement -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0DBzdlPNjA Hypothetically all of us on the AnD staff are part of this '100,000', so it was good to present.  :-P

One cool thing about the event was the venue,  the 'Temple Theater' (正乙祠戲樓) in Beijing, which is a historic Peking Opera theater originally built in the 1600s, and now fully restored -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZhengyiciPekingOpera_Theatre

the actual stage was behind the screen,  but i could imagine what it'd be like to see a full on performance here (I'll have to come back for one sometime).   It also houses a lot of information (and a gift shop) dedicated to Mei Lanfang, the famous Peking Opera master (who performed here back in the day).  I regret not taking a picture with the wax statue of him now... :-P

Anyway, on the Project Pengyou event itself:

As Barrack and Hillary were otherwise occupied,  we had to settle for the next best thing at the event... none other than US Ambassador to China Gary Locke -- Who you may recall was also Governor of Washington State (and star of the 2003 PBS documentary 'The Govenor' by my old pal Don Young).

You can tell he is a seasoned politician.  He definitely gives a good speech!

There were a number of speakers, mostly talking about their own experiences as Americans working in China for extended periods.  Of course one stood out from the rest --

Not only did this speaker have the best headshot, but he was talking about his newest gig, promoting the "Booey Lehoo" project.  Those of you who may have missed Allan's blogs on what the heck this is, check out -

http://alivenotdead.com/allanwu/What-is-Booey-Lehoo--profile-1613744.html http://alivenotdead.com/allanwu/Booey-Lehoo-to-the-Mayor-of-LA--profile-1632783.html

The big thing Booey Lehoo is doing is preparing for a week long series of events aimed at promoting their program.  The culmination is a big concert they're doing next Saturday here in Beijing -

http://www.booeylehoo.com/new/?page_id=6&lang=en You may not be able to tell from the small poster, but performers include John Legend, will.i.am and Coco Lee.  I'm most excited about seeing Coco actually (as you know I've seen John Legend perform a few times!)    After hearing Allan describe it I decided I would try to buy tickets to go see it.  The best seats are pretty pricey (1680 RMB each - ~US$260 a pop)  so I was thinking I'd get the nosebleed seats which are only about $25.

But they had a lucky draw activity to win two tickets.  while other people were smoozing and eating the catering, I quickly went through all four of the tasks and submitted my entry.   I had a good feeling by the time I entered...

And lo and behold,  I've got two top tier seats to the show next weekend.      (Long time Etchy blog readers will recall I also won a big prize at the last big event I went to here in Beijing last July...  a chance to get a gift certificate from Chrissy Chau!) :-P

Thanks Booey Lehoo and Project Pengyou!