GlobalWelsh Beijing hosts a Celebration of Welsh Arts with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
On 20th July 2021, GlobalWelsh Beijing, a GlobalWelsh City Hub, hosted its first face-to-face event together with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) at the Steinway Centre in Beijing. The focus of the evening was a celebration of the Welsh Arts in China and an opportunity for members of the Welsh diaspora to network with one another and showcase Wales as a destination for trade and investment. Event partners included Steinway & Sons, the Welsh Government, Scottish Business Network and Penderyn Whisky.
"The place was buzzing with Chinese, Welsh, Scottish, English conversations during the networking session after the performance."
RWCMD is a leading global centre of music and arts which attracts some of the best of Chinese talent to Cardiff each year, cementing the close ties between China and Wales, both now and in the future. RWCMD alumni spread far and wide, making a difference in creative industries across the world. The College is about to launch a 2-year fundraising campaign called PROMISE/ADDEWID to support its continuous investment in students and realise future ambitions; it will also continue to carry out key collaboration projects with its Chinese academic and industry partners, to fully realise the depth of its commitment to working with China.
During the event, guests were treated to live musical performances and story-telling from RWCMD alumnus and pianist Ms Stacey Liu and Cardiff Singer of the World bass-baritone Mr Shen Yang who testifies to the close artistic links between Wales and China, “the beauty of music transcends all our differences” he said.
Music was followed by a live Q&A and networking session which saw business people, artists, creators, media, government leaders, educators come together to share their love of Wales and China. One guest commented:
“The evening was immensely enjoyable: there was nice food and drinks, and a most engaging programme – everything was very professionally organised. Through this light-hearted, small-scale event, one gets to know Wales and its culture much better than before. I have been to a lot of events of a bigger scale with much more investment but am really impressed with this evening which is most effective.”
“Through this light-hearted, small-scale event, one gets to know Wales and its culture much better than before."
During the evening, guests heard about Wales’ transformation beyond traditional heavy industries to now leading in key industry sectors such as Compound Semiconductors, green energy, cyber, fintech, elite sports and creative industries in a nation offering a great quality of life. The Chinese population in Wales is growing and Wales is renowned for being exceptionally welcoming to Chinese visitors, investors, business people, students, academics alike.
Leading Welsh whisky company, Penderyn Distillery, generously supported the raffle of Wales’ only award winning single-malt whisky for guests, exclusively available in China. In addition, Scottish Business Network shared why Wales and Scotland bring a strong Celtic flavour to the United Kingdom together and the song played by Stacey accompanied by our Welsh-Scottish duet singing Auld Lang Syne was something to remember.
Ling Lai, GlobalWelsh Beijing host, said, “Our summer mixer was always about connections. Amplifying existing excellent relationships and sowing new ones to further Chinese-Welsh interests. The place was buzzing with Chinese, Welsh, Scottish, English conversations during the networking session after the performance - reflecting the diversity of the event. Thank you to our co-organiser, sponsors, speakers, performers and of course our guests for making the evening a special one”
The next GlobalWelsh Beijing event will take place later in the year focused on celebrating Welsh sports in China. In the meantime, you can join the Hub and connect to GlobalWelsh Beijing via WeChat group for China contacts and for global connections through GlobalWelsh Connect.
Discover GlobalWelsh Connect
Become part of a growing online network of Welsh people working together for the good of Wales by supporting others, exploring business opportunities and sharing knowledge.
Discover GlobalWelsh Connect