Crabapple blossom! Madame Soong's Residence and Soong Sisters

Date: April 7－10 am

Venue: China Culture Center

Price: 150 yuan

Visit the former residence (beautiful courtyard houses and garden) of Madame Soong Ching-ling, wife of Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen and dubbed the Mother of the Nation. Madame Soong is also the elder sister of Soong Mei-ling, wife of Chiang Kai-shek, former leader of Kuomintang. The courtyard owns the largest pair of crabapple trees in Beijing. They blossom shortly every year between April 8-14. CCC will guide you through the museum and residence, and introduce this great woman, Dr Sun Yat-sen, and Chiang Kai-shek & his powerful family influnce of the 20th Century of China, and other fascinating details of the contemporary Chinese history.

Contact: 010-6432-9341

Royal Canal Boat Tour to the Summer Palace

Date: April 9－9:30 am

Venue: China Culture Center

Price: 480 yuan

This is a very well-received boat riding and walking tour, providing an opportunity to see a bit of everything in the capital, both historical sites and everyday life of Beijing. Cruise along the imperial canal in a traditional style motorized canopy boat past Beijing Zoo, Beijing Aquarium and the Purple Bamboo Garden while appreciating the great views en route. We stop at the Purple Bamboo Garden to stroll around and meet up with a local sing-along group which is hidden in bamboo forests. Appreciate the passionate amateurs of the community singing. Then we continue our journey by boat heading directly into the Summer Palace, and change boat to cruise on the Kunming lake. Then we continue our tour with a guided walk (mounting on the hill or take a side walk around the hill) that ends at the North gate. And then we will drive back to CCC office. (Please note that we will not visit the palaces near the east gate, as they are packed most time of the year. ) For participants who don't want to tour the Summer Palace, you are welcome to leave the boat at the Purple Bamboo Garden near the west third ring road, or at the South gate of Summer Palace on your own. Please bring your own picnic lunch.

Contact: 010-6432-9341

NIGHT LIFE

Wooozy Offline Presents Henry Wu

Date: April 1－9 pm

Venue: Dada (206 Gulou Dong Dajie)

Price: 60 yuan

Wooozy throws their first Offline club event of the Year of the Monkey, hosting in South London producer Henry Wu. Sound-wise you're looking at 'a potpourri of soul, jazz, breakbeat and silky melodic house' from Wu, plus support slots of smooth, smooth house music from local DJs Watermelon, J.R.G, Zhiqi, and Darcy.

Contact: 137-1633-8479

Hibiscus Town

Date: March 27－8 pm

Venue: Capital M

Price: Free

A hard-grafting bean curd seller and his pretty wife manage to scrape together enough money to build a house, only to be labelled by leftist cadres as 'new rich peasants' during the upheaval of Cultural Revolution. Heartbroken with despair, the husband decides to end his life, leaving his still-young widow to tremulously live on alone. Later, she encounters a desultory poet and collector of folk songs who was also denounced during the turmoil. Branded a rightist and later imprisoned for Two Stage Sisters (no 23), director Xie Jin made Hibiscus Town after his tentative rehabilitation, and the film has obvious parallels to his own treacherous life story. Noticeably more muted than his earlier work, the film is a trembling, triumphant testimony of trying to hold on to one's humanity in the midst of ideological dogmatism.

Contact: 010-6702-2727