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Hutongs. Heritage. Cocktails. Original Art. Silent Auction. Live Music.

One of the most anticipated events of Beijing’s 2010 summer is nearly here.

Do You Hutong? (看！胡同) is an innovative fundraiser hosted by Chinese NGO, Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP), and will blend cultural heritage, art, dialogue and interpretation to create a fun and informative event in support of preserving priceless pieces of China’s past.

Do You Hutong? features a multi-media cocktail party including original art, live music, photography, and interactive dialogue. The centerpiece of the event is a silent auction of distinctively designed courtyard gates by more than 20 artists and designers, both local and foreign.

Event sponsor: Three Shadows Art Photography Centre. Media sponsors: the Beijinger,  精品购物指南(Lifestyle), photographer Peter Carney. Event partners: Beijing Color Studio, NLGX Design, Quintessentially, Studio-X Beijing, The Fig Tree, The Schoolhouse Mutianyu.

19:00-23:00 | Saturday, 17 July 2010

Three Shadows Photography Art Centre

Advance ticket donation: RMB150 | At door: RMB200.

Ticket includes an inaugural CHP annual membership.

Do You Hutong? is a private event and open by invitation only – call 6403 6532 ext 0 or email events.chp@gmail.com for more information.

CHP would like to announce a change of panelist for the soon approaching Capital Conversations: Vanishing Beijing – Why Preservation this Sunday. Mr. Andrew Jacobs, Beijing Correspondent for The New York Times, has unexpectedly been called away from Beijing.

We are excited to announce that our new panelist is Mr. Ted Plafker, Beijing Correspondent for The Economist. Ted has lived in China since 1989, including his first 11 years in a hutong. He is an expert commentator on key economic, business and political issues in contemporary China and has released a book, Doing Business in China. He also has written for publications such as The Washington Post and International Herald Tribune.

Mr. Plafker will be a very valuable addition to the panel, and we look forward to hearing his ideas and views on cultural heritage preservation!

The second lecture of the CHP-UCCA Cooperation Series: All for the cultural rights of local residents.

In 2005-2008, the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center conducted the Mengma Archive Project – a cultural revitalization project in Mengma Village in Yunnan. The project empowered local villagers to document their invaluable culture, and also helped restore self-respect in their community. This resulted in the official Mengma Archive, a written record of Dai culture available in both the Dai language and Mandarin. The whole archive was written by Dai villagers.

The Mengma Archive Project received wide praise both domestically and internationally. Originally, the Mengma Archive was an experimental project that tested the concept of cultural restoration. During this lecture, CHP will discuss the project’s concept, methodology, results and also improvements.

Mr. He Shuzhong, founder of CHP and cultural conservation expert, will be the main speaker.

Note: All lecture series will be conducted in Chinese. A perfect opportunity for Mandarin students and Chinese culture fanatics!

Time: 14 March 2010, 10.30am-12.30pm

Venue: Auditorium, UCCA

798 Art District, No. 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

Link to UCCA event

Global Times by Gao Fumao on Thurs, 04/02/2010 – 00:31

Mixing charity with dinner. Photo: Courtesy of Beijing Community Dinner.

Diners’ heads duck up from their tofu and fish soup at the sound of a glass being clinked. It’s the cue for an NGO to put its case. Welcome to Beijing Community Dinners, the brainchild of an American publicist who’s built the group to combine her passion for regional Chinese cuisine and for helping the less well-off.

Mixing business with culinary pleasure is not unusual in China, where contracts are routinely finessed over banquet tables. But mixing charity with dinner is a newer concept; one that Tzyy (pronounced ‘Zee’) Wang has been perfecting over two years of Saturday nights in Beijing’s often-obscure provincial government restaurants.

Read more»

On Sunday afternoon, January 31, we threw our annual CHP thank you party at the spacious Studio-X Beijing. New and old friends of CHP gathered to meet other supporters, celebrate China’s cultural heritage, and find out exactly what their efforts helped to achieve in 2009

University Architecture Professor Luo Deyin, and Wang Lanshun from Beijing Municipal Archives, spoke eloquently about CHP. Many of CHP’s diverse partners, including UNESCO, Give2Asia, Qiangulouyuan Hutong Courtyard 7, and Guangming Daily, attended the event and also spoke at various points.

During the ‘Our CHP’ party, through both PPT and poetry, we showed the attendees the projects, awareness programs and fundraising efforts that took place in 2009.

CHP also gave out several awards for outstanding achievements by some of CHP’s supporters. Other highlights of the event included CHP volunteer Luo Jihua singing a Qiang ethnic minority traditional song and Michele Scrimanti rapping a popular Jay Chou’s song. During the lucky draw, popular ballad singer Wang Juanqing surprised the audience by singing one of her new songs.

Last but not least, CHP Founder and Chairman He Shuzhong led CHP members in thanking all participants for their past support and expressing our excitement of future collaborations.

CHP sincerely thanks Studio-X Beijing, GSAPP, Columbia University for generously lending their space to us.

CHP Award winners include:

Volunteer group of the year: Qiang Minority Project volunteer group (Wang Yunxia, Liu Jianhua, Luo Jihua, Guo Ping, and Gao Wei, Gao Rongjin, Mu Yongqiang)

Designer of the year: Yin Lu and Tan Yaning
Director of the year: Gao Wei and Peng Weijun
Volunteer translator of the year: Michele Scrimanti
Editor of the year: Bai Shuo
Event organizer of the year: Cui Wenqin
Intern of the year: Napatra Charassuvichakanich
Program director of the year: Wang Xiaowang

Click here to see event photos.