Event Details

WHAT: "History Heard: Disappearing sounds of the hutongs", an RASBJ in-person talk by Colin Siyuan Chinnery in conversation with David Rennie


WHEN: RESCHEDULED TO FEB. 10, 2022 Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM Beijing time


WHERE: The Courtyard Institute or "Sihe College", 28 Zhonglao Hutong, Dongcheng district, Beijing

(for e-hailing and online maps, input Sihe College, 28 Zhonglao Hutong or 北京市东城区中老胡同28号，四合书院。Self-driving is not advised due to the narrow alley and lack of parking).


MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: With one's eyes closed, Beijing's main roads sound like any Chinese city. All around is the roar of traffic, honks from delivery scooters and the occasional bicycle bell. But in the capital's last hutongs, fragments of an older soundscape can be heard. Some recall ancient pastimes, such as the eerie metallic thrumming of pigeon whistles. Others are a link to fast-vanishing trades, like the clanking metal plates of knife-sharpeners. For Beijing is a city of merchants as well as politics. As recently as 1980 Beijingers heard the "dong" of camel caravans carrying coal. RASBJ members are invited to an evening of history heard through the ears, featuring Colin Siyuan Chinnery, co-founder of a new museum of sound in Songzhuang, in conversation with David Rennie of The Economist.


HOW MUCH: RMB 100 for RASBJ members and RMB 200 for non-members, which includes one free drink and Lunar New Year snacks. Numbers will be limited; please register and pay no later than FEB. 7. (If official COVID-related restrictions require event cancellation, registrants will be notified, payments will be refunded, and if timing permits the talk will take place online).


HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click "Register" or "I Will Attend" and follow the instructions. After successful registration you'll receive a confirmation email; if you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder.

Speakers

  • Colin Siyuan Chinnery

    Colin Siyuan Chinnery

    Colin Siyuan Chinnery is a sound artist and curator based in Beijing. He is currently setting up a cultural institution in Beijing focusing on sound called Fen_Sonic, launching later this year. Chinnery has been working on historical sound projects for the past five years, documenting and recording sounds previously neglected by cultural institutions such as street hawking and pigeon whistles. Before that he helped launch the contemporary art institution UCCA as its Deputy Director and Chief Curator, and ran the major contemporary art fair ShContemporary.

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  • David Rennie (Beijing Bureau Chief at The Economist)

    David Rennie

    Beijing Bureau Chief at The Economist

    The moderator David Rennie has been Beijing bureau chief of The Economist and author of the "Chaguan" column since 2018. He has been a columnist at The Economist since 2007, writing successively "Charlemagne" (on Europe), "Bagehot" (on the UK) and "Lexington" (on the US) before launching the "Chaguan" column on China. Since 1998 he has been a foreign correspondent, posted to Sydney, Beijing, Washington DC, Brussels, London, and Washington DC again, before returning to Beijing.

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Venue

The Courtyard Institute, or "Sihe College"

28 Zhonglao Hutong, Dongcheng district, Beijing (For e-hailing and online maps, input Sihe College, 28 Zhonglao Hutong or 北京市东城区中老胡同28号，四合书院。Self-driving is not advised due to the narrow alley and lack of parking.)
Beijing, China

If you have any questions please contact RASBJ Communications

Contact Organizer

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