WHAT: RASBJ post-AGM dinner featuring award-winning author Paul French as keynote speaker

WHEN: Saturday, March 22, 2025, 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM Beijing standard time. Doors open at 7:00 PM

WHERE: Beijing Hotel Nuo (the former Peking Hotel), 33 East Chang An Avenue, Dongcheng, Beijing tel: 8526 3388

MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: This dinner follows RASBJ's Annual General Meeting (AGM), which is a separate event. (Saturday March 22 RASBJ will hold its AGM at 6.30 PM; members have received separately the notice, with options to register for the AGM or to appoint a proxy.) After the AGM, this post-AGM dinner follows directly at the same venue, with drinks available at 7:00 PM. At 7:30 dinner begins and includes a keynote speech by author Paul French on Beijing's expatriate community from the late Qing era to the 1930's. He'll introduce the Peking Oriental Society of more than a century ago and evoke the 1920's when the Peking Hotel was frequented by political leaders, tycoons, warlords, and other big names such as the woman who became the Duchess of Windsor -- and is the focus of Paul's most recent book Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson.

Schedule

7:00 PM Doors open, drinks available

7:00-7:25 PM small-group tour of historic hotel areas on a first come, first served basis

7:30-9:30 PM Dinner and keynote speech by Paul French

DRESS CODE: 1920's evening attire is welcome but not mandatory

HOW MUCH: RMB 600 for members of RASBJ and of designated RAS branches; RMB 800 for non-members. Interested in becoming an RASBJ member? Please sign up at https://rasbj.org/membership/​

HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click "Register" or "I Will Attend" and follow the instructions. Please note that when you register you'll be asked to indicate your choice of beef, salmon or vegetarian pasta; please refer to the dinner menu below for more information.

After successful registration and payment, you'll receive a confirmation email. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder. If you encounter difficulties paying with WeChat Pay, you may wish to try Alipay instead. Please register no later than noon on Sunday, March 16.

REFUND POLICY: Attendees will be refunded in full if this event is cancelled by RASBJ. If you cannot attend after having registered/paid, please email us no later than noon on March 15 at communications@rasbj.org ; if a waitlisted person takes your place you will be refunded.

Dinner Menu

Selection of House Made Breads

Appetizer

Vegetable and Avocado Salad, Citrus, Nuts, Balsamic (vegetarian)

Soup

Pumpkin & Banana Soup with Coconut Milk

Main Course

Pan Fried Salmon

Smoked Bacon Corn Ragout, Grilled Vegetables, Cream Butter Sauce

or

Slow Cooked Beef Cheek

Burnt Onion Soubise, Potato Puree, Charred Onion, Snow Peas

or

Creamy Tomato Pasta with Burrata (vegetarian)

Dessert

Pistachio Cheese Cake

Wine for the evening is generously sponsored by

RASBJ Advisors Victor Lang and James Zimmerman