Previous Events
WildChina x China Institute
October 20: Fine Wine and the Flavors of Ningxia
Come with us to Ningxia, a windswept land of deserts in China's northwest, where cumin-spiced Hui-minority cuisine reigns supreme, and local entrepreneurs are driving China's booming wine industry. Follow our guide live as we visit one of the region's top female-owned wineries, imagine the flavors of Ningxia's hand-grasped mutton, and learn about China's wine renaissance with author and expert Janet Z. Wang.
- Tuesday October 20, 6pm PT / 9pm ET
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WildChina Book Club x Asia Society
October 14: Leading Through Culture by Ken Wilcox
Join us in reading Ken Wilcox's latest book Leading Through Culture, where he shares foundational principles on how to lead an organization of any size. Our founder Mei Zhang will host a LIVE Q&A later in October to discuss the book.
- Wednesday October 14, 5pm PT
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WildChina x Beijing United Family Hospital
September 23: Expert Health and Safety Tips for Golden Week Travels
Join our pre-travel webinar and Q&A to get everything you need to know for your upcoming post-COVID holiday.
We are excited to partner with Beijing United Family Hospital - a pioneering, international-standard health system providing comprehensive, integrated healthcare in China - to bring you this webinar.
- Wednesday, September 23, 12pm China Time
WildChina x China Institute
September 15: A Bowl of Noodles and the Secrets of Yunnan
Join us as we travel live to Yunnan, one of China's most diverse regions, to explore the unique flavors of China's s southwestern borderlands. Follow our onsite guide to Dali to observe the local tradition of hand pulled noodles, and talk food and culture with cookbook author Georgia Freedman, journalist and author David Eimer, and Yunnan native Mei Zhang, founder of WildChina.
- Tuesday, September 15, 6pm PT / 9pm ET
In Conversation With
August 27: Caroline Cheng
Join us, alongside WildChina founder Mei Zhang, in conversation with Caroline Cheng, award-winning artist and curator. Ms. Cheng is the owner and executive director of the Pottery Workshop, a center to educate and promote the art of handmade ceramics, with branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jingdezhen and Dali.
- Thursday August 27, 5pm PDT
August 20: Virtual tour of Meditations in an Emergency
Join us at Beijing's UCCA for an exclusive walk-through of the "Meditations in an Emergency" with exhibition curators Shixuan Luan and Neil Zhang. Meditations in an Emergency is the first exhibition to open in 2020 at UCCA Beijing, bringing together 26 Chinese and international artists reflecting on the role of art during a time of crisis. Learn more about the exhibition here.
- Thursday August 20, 7.30pm PDT
WildChina Book Club with Lisa See
July 23: Lisa See's The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Lisa See's 2017 novel, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, tells a powerful story about culture, tradition, and family ties. All about the Akha people of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China, See's novel paints a delicate portrait of an unknown region and the rich diversity and strength found within.
In Conversation With
July 9: Philip Tinari
Philip Tinari is the Director of the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art – China's leading contemporary art institution. During his tenure, UCCA has hosted 70 exhibitions and thousands of public programs that have brought together established and emerging artists from all around the world, attracting millions of visitors each year. In our discussion, Philip shared with us his work at UCCA and the growing contemporary art scene around China.
In Conversation With
July 2: Michelle Garnaut & Ignace Lecleir
Michelle Garnaut is the founder and CEO of M Restaurant Group and Ignace Lecleir is the owner of the TRB Temple Restaurant Beijing. Over the years, cities like Beijing and Shanghai have seen a steady increase in Western fine dining. Joined by our founder Mei Zhang, Michelle and Ignace shared their decades-long experience in creating their renowned fine dining establishments across these cities.
WildChina Book Club with Paul French
June 18: Murders of Old China by Paul French
Award-winning author Paul French knows a lot about the darker side of Chinese history. Now exclusively on Audible, Murders of Old China is his latest foray into China's fascinating murders. We talked to him about old China and new China, and learnt what 'sleuthing with hindsight' is all about.
In Conversation With…
June 11: Dr. Neil Schmid
Neil Schmid is the Scholar-in-Residence at the Dunhuang Academy, and he is one of the world's leading authorities on medieval Buddhism's visual culture and he specializes in the Silk Road and Buddhist Studies with an emphasis on the archaeological sites of Dunhuang. We talked to Neil about the history of Buddhism in China and how Buddhist art and the religion is expressed within China today.
In Conversation With…
May 28: Fuchsia Dunlop
WildChina founder Mei Zhang was in conversation with award-winning food expert Fuchsia Dunlop. A chef and award-winning author from England, Fuchsia Dunlop became an expert in Sichuanese food after living in Chengdu and becoming the only foreigner to graduate from the prestigious Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine. She's written numerous cookbooks on Chinese cuisine, including
The Food of Sichuan (2019), Every Grain of Rice (2012), and Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China (2008). Find out more about her works here.
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WildChina Book Club
Previously: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Last May, we read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother – Amy Chua's bestselling memoir all about raising children in contrasting cultures. Mei sat down with our special co-host, travel expert and guru Wendy Perrin, and talked to Amy about discovering the struggles and triumphs of parenting across boundaries.
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In Conversation With…
Previously: Patrick Cranley
For our first In Conversation With… Mei sat down with Shanghai history expert Patrick Cranley to talk about the development of Shanghai over the years. Read our summary and watch the recording to find out why Patrick loves the bustling megacity so much, why there's a little-known Jewish Ghetto in Shanghai, and where the best jazz clubs are around town.
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Past Events
- Beshan Gai
Beshan Gāi, an artisan marketplace event, brought together artists from all over China to showcase their wares. Visit our Beshan Gāi page or see photos from our first Beshan Gai event.
- Barbara Demick: Ordinary Lives
Los Angeles Times Beijing Bureau chief Barbara Demick discussed the lives of everyday North Korean citizens, the subject of her award-winning book Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Her important research involved interviewing defectors and studying smuggled photographs and videos.
- Jen Lin-Liu: On the Noodle Road
WildChina teamed up with the Royal Asiatic Society China to host Jen Lin-Liu, founder of Beijing cooking school Black Sesame Kitchen, who spoke about her epic quest along the Silk Road in search of the origin of noodles. Her journey from Beijing to Rome resulted in the book On the Noodle Road.
- Mei Zhang, Andrea Pasinetti, Joni Bessler: Education in China
Mei Zhang, founder of WildChina, Andrea Pasinetti, founder and CEO of Teach for China, and Joni Bessler, president of the Beijing campus of Avenues: the World School convened for an in-depth panel discussion on the issues surrounding education in rural China.
- Jane Perlez: The Hardship Post
Long-time foreign correspondent for The New York Times, Jane Perlez shared fascinating stories of an international career that has taken her from Somalia to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where she won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
- Laurence Brahm: Global Activism and Sustainable Tourism
Global activist, international mediator, political columnist and author, Laurence Brahm shared his experiences in global activism and his thoughts on the future of sustainable tourism. Brahm founded NGO Himalayan Consensus and the African Consensus Movement, both of which are dedicated to protecting ethnic diversity through sustainable economics.
- Fuchsia Dunlop: The Art of Chinese Cuisine
One of the foremost international experts on Chinese food, and the only Westerner (and one of few women) to graduate from the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine, Fuchsia Dunlop served a three-course meal of her tastiest Chinese recipes and gave a talk on her experiences with Chinese cooking and her career as an award-winning food-writer and author.
- Steven Han: Wine, China, and Startups
In the midst of the most horrific storm to hit Beijing in the last 60 years, Steven Han delivered a talk on his career, which involved working for Google's China office and founding startup TasteV, the first-ever social wine curation club in Beijing. Attendees sampled TasteV's wines and discussed the issues involved with starting a business in China.
- William Lindesay: The Great Wall Outside of China
In the intimate confines of Great Leap Brewing, Great Wall historian, explorer and author William Lindesay gave a spirited presentation on his controversial new theory – that the "Genghis Khan Wall" in Outer Mongolia was actually built by the Chinese.
- Janet Yang: The Changing Face of Shanghai Through Cinema
Hosted at popular Yunnan eatery In & Out, the inaugural Where the Wild Things Are event featured Janet Yang, producer of films including Joy Luck Club and The People vs. Larry Flint and one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood" according to The Hollywood Reporter. At the event, Janet recounted her experiences filming Empire of the Sun in Shanghai in the mid-1980s.
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