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ith theLondon 2012Olympics fastapproaching,and QueenElizabeth IIs

Diamond Jubilee celebrations,marking 60 years on the throne,well underway, organizers ofGuangzhous second BritishDay are hoping to match thatexcitement on Saturday, June2.

To the lead organizer, BritishChamber of Commerce Guang-dong (Britcham), the pressurethis year is greater than ever as

all eyes focus on the UK, butthe hope is that global atten-tion will attract a large crowd toGuangzhous big British party.It is estimated that over 1,000Britons, fellow foreign expatri-ates and local visitors will joinin with the celebrations.

British Day is billed as anevent capturing the spirit andflavors of the UK, and wherelocal visitors in particular canexperience a small slice of Brit-ish culture.

Tribute act the Beijing Bea-tles will headline the event -with a unique interpretation onthe famous music group from

Liverpool, England.Kids can also join in the fam-ily-friendly fun by competing intheir own game of mini-golf andchildrens Olympics Games.

To wet peoples appetite, twoBritish favorites, fish and chips,scones with cream are on themenu. For serious lovers ofbeverage, over a dozen beersand ciders will be available tosample.

Lots of prizes are on offer,

too, including business classreturn flights on China South-ern Airlines, coinciding withthe soon-to-launch direct Guang-zhou-London service on June6 marking Britains Olympicsyear.

For people with a keen inter-est in the British Royal Family,the event taking place at theBritish School of Guangzhou, inTonghe Lu, will be as close forpeople to experience the atmo-sphere of a Jubilee street party.

Tom Simpson, the executivemanager of Britcham, said:Were all very excited about

Saturdays event and have beenbowled over by the responseweve received from everyone.

Mr Simpson cited the non-stop comments on Weibocausing a buzz among the pre-dominantly Chinese user baseon the microblogging platform.

Weibo user Wong_wyH saidhe wanted to make the mostof the opportunities to practicehis English with native speak-ers. It will be good for our Eng-lish and we can practise.

Another Weibo user,Maidoudou_Cyris, who runsher own daycare businessexplained she had personal and

professional reasons for want-ing to going.I want to know more about

the British through [BritishDay], she said. For my busi-ness, I hope to know what a real[British person] looks like; andfor my son, to know people fromdifferent nations and differentraces, [that] will help him onlanguage development, but alsoon social ability.

Britchams Tom Simpson

added he wishes the Britishweather - famed for rain - willstay away from Guangzhou.

Organisers are also hopingthe second British Day - afterthe first, held in 2010 - will leadto an annual celebration.

Friday, Jun 1, 2012Editor Chan16 WHATS HOT

Mirror Mirror

RELATIVITYS Mirror Mirrors a spectacular reimagining ofhe classic fairy tale starring

Oscar winner Julia Roberts ashe Queen and Lily Collins as

Snow White. When SnowWhites beauty wins the heartof the prince that she desper-ately pursues, the Queen ban-shes her to the forest, where a

ravening man-eating beast hun-

grily awaits.Rescued by a band of dimin-

utive highway robbers, SnowWhite grows into an indomita-ble young woman determinedto take back her realm fromthe treacherous Queen. With

the support of her subjects, sheroars into action in an epic battlethat blends spectacle, magic andcontemporary humor in Singhssignature, jaw-dropping visualstyle. (Premiere on June 1)

Youre invited!Guangzhou ready tocelebrate British DayBy Danny Lee

Time: June 2 Saturday 12:00- 18:00

Venue: Nanhu Campus of Brit-ish School of Guangzhou, No.983-3, Tonghe Lu, Guang-zhou983-3()

Ticket: 20 yuan for adults,10 yuan for kids under 1.2meters

* A free shuttle bus willrun every 30 minutes fromChina Shine Plaza (near Lin-hexi Metro Station, exit A)between 11:30 to 12:30.

Entremets, Entremots

AFTER the success of Laby-rinth presented in China in2010, Serge Noyelle and MarionCoutris from Theatre Nono havereturned with another Franco-Chinese creation Entremets,Entremots (Dinner Dialogues),as the highlight of the Frenchart season in Guangzhou. Thennovative structure of the piece

breathes originality into tradi-ional theatre form. It brings the

audience into the piece itself,urning spectators into actors by

slipping them into the role offellow guests.

Sixty-some guests gatheraround a table, invited by four

hosts. Gastronomic treats areenhanced by a festive tableof elegant baroque setting thatreplaces the stage. Guests andhosts discover and appraise oneanother - they all find them-selves in an unsure position.Together, they will share a dinnerof nine French dishes with

wines, leading to discussions,digressions and recitals as thedinner proceeds...

Time:7pm, June 2-4

Venue: 988 Guangzhou Dadao-

zhong Avenue, Tianhe District

9 8 8

Tickets:1,288 yuan

WHATS ON...

Last Tango in Berlinby Ute Lemper

RENOWNED German chan-euses debut in China will fall in

Guangzhou at Guangzhou OperaHose on June 8.

Ute Lempers career is vastand varied. She has made hermark on the stage, in films,n concert and as a unique

recording artist. She has beenuniversally praised for her inter-

pretations of Berlin CabaretSongs, the works of Kurt Weilland Berthold Brecht and theFrench chanson as well as herportrayals on Broadway, in Parisand in Londons West End.

Time: 8pm, June 8

Venue: Guangzhou Opera House,No.1 Zhujiangxi Lu, Zhujiang New

Town, Tianhe District

Tickets:80 to 680 yuan

WOne lucky team celebrate as they lift the British Day football cup in 2010.

NanhuCampus ofBritishSchool ofGuangzhou

Lu

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Friday, Jun 1, 2012 EditorJoyly 5PROFILE

lexandra Solis is acity girl at heartand a hard-workingmulti-tasking busi-nesswoman in real-ity.

Guangzhou is her home butAlexandras origins are far, faraway. Just head across the Pacific

Ocean to Latin America, morespecifically to Mexico and its cap-ital city is where Alexandra hails

from. For her, this Flower Citys a land of opportunity where

everyone flourishes.I sit down with her in a coffee

shop in Tiyu Xi Lu, round thecorner from her office and astone throw away from her Chi-nese home-from-home in Zhu-iang New Town. Alexandra is

momentarily taking her foot offhe gas to reveal her Guangzhou

Dreams.She decided to relocate to a

hen up-and-coming Guangzhouwith her daughters, joining her

husband who moved in the late1990s to take part in the rush ofGuangdongs lucrative manufac-uring landscape.

From the densely populatedMexico City which is a lot biggero Guangzhous rapidly expanding

metropolis, it felt more like Solisfamily was downsizing to a loca-ion more manageable. But the

change in culture was the big dif-ference, leaving her native coun-ry wasnt.

My idea of living outsideMexico has been with me since

was very young. Suddenly theopportunity was in China, not theone I was expecting, but I couldget out of the country and learnmore about the world.

Coming from Mexico City, acity with a sprawling population ofover 20 million people, and takingon Guangzhou gives Alexandraan unofficial title of Expert inUrban Living.

After telling her family, Letsgive it a try in China, Alexandrashope of opportunities and a betterlife came true for the 45-year-old.A 12-month trial was extendedand fast-forwarded to nearly eightyears later; the mother-of-two hasno regrets.

A normal day for Alexandra

consists of working in the office,visiting factories, looking afterthe family or lending her handto the local community amongstother things. Now, she is leadinga special project - putting a Latintwist on the arts in Guangzhou,promoting the best of Mexicoscultural offerings, with the back-ing of the Mexican Consul Gen-eral in Guangzhou.

Her latest task sees herimporting, and showcasing someof the best Mexican art in Guang-zhou through events and exhibi-tions.

Mexican art has color andlight, (and) Chinese art has this

melancholic feeling of the inkand the tradition. She doesntbelieve western art is as interest-ing whereas Mexican and Asianart tells a story.

Alexandra says people aretaking their cheque book out. Itenables her to seize such a greatopportunity not to let our tradi-tions die.

Latin art is so rich and sohappy and so festive it has toreach the heart of everybody,she explains.

Her warmth speaks loudly ofher passion. Im confident ofbringing Mexican art to Guang-zhou so residents here can under-stand the colors, the faces of thepeople in the paintings, and whatthe message is.

While her portfolio of respon-sibilities grows, Alexandra wontcomplain with the workload asshe brings from Mexico two lifepassions: art and architecture.

Gazing through the window,pointing out all around, its beau-tiful, nice skyscrapers, what shesees as a professional architect -describing with her expert eyes- the lashings of steel on glassdominating the landscape is acomplete contrast when she firstarrived.

When I was here seven yearsago, what I can tell you is thatGuangzhou was nothing com-pared to what it is now, she saysin amazement. Its completelydifferent. You have cinemas, nicerestaurants, shopping malls andconcert halls.

Zaha Hadids world-renownedGuangzhou Opera House ranks asone of Alexandras favorite build-ings. Incidentally, Ms Hadid isone of her role models, too. Shelavishes praise on the pebble-stones as a cornerstone for thecitys total reinvention.

Without the Opera House,and Zaha Hadid, Zhujiang New

Town was nothing. It was just ariver and green land. Im reallyamazed at this vision to trans-form, the vision the Chinese gov-ernment had.

Here they are doing things ina professional way. The area we

are around, the buildings you seeare not just done by any archi-tect... they are bringing the top ofthe top.

Alexandras love of arts hasspilled over into getting hands oninto paint and glue as she has thefulfilling job of teaching aboutSpanish arts and crafts and chil-dren in the end asking pleasecan I take home and show to mymum. The effort, for her, makesit worthwhile teaching local chil-

dren about Latin cultures and tra-ditions.

She reckons giving the gift ofChinese to her two young daugh-ters, one of her best presents shegave after moving with her family,was worth it. What we havegiven our children is a treasure.And later, if we leave here, whatwe leave in their hands (Man-darin) is pure gold. I hope thisopens opportunities for them inlife in the future.

With the language in Alexan-dras daughters grasp she seesher daughters feel more at easewith Chinese culture and tradi-tion than Mexican, but she points

out as Asia becomes more west-ernized, it will be China leadingthe Asiafication of the world.

Maybe as a westerner I canbelieve that one day the Chinesewill westernize themselves. Itsnot like that. They keep their

beliefs and maybe it will goes inthe other way: the world will beAsiafied. And Im seeing this withmy eyes and Im looking forwardto this. Its not a fight, its anAsian world and a Western worldcoming together, she says ani-matedly.

Alexandra believes Guangzhouhas got a lot to offer, and with thesweeping changes shes seen overthe past seven years, it makesher curious to stay to see where

China and her city will go next.

A

Guangzhou DreamsBy Danny Lee

Guangzhou Morning Postis beginning a new column,

My Guangzhou Dream,and wants to hear from you!Please share your dreamwith us in an article of about1,000 words... a couple ofphotos okay too! Published

articles will be paid a per-word honorarium.

Please send your dreamto Joyly at:

joylychan@gmail.com

Opening Latin art to a

whole new worldFrom very early on, Alexandra Solis has set her eyes on living abroad. When theopportunity to move to China arose, she jumped at the chance and hasnt looked back.

Im condent of bringingMexican art toGuangzhou so residentshere can understand thecolors, the faces of thepeople in the paintings,and what the message is.

-- Alexandra Solis