Learn about the St Andrew’s Day celebrations in China, the latest Chinese news headlines and President Xi’s State Visit to the UK – the first by a Chinese President in 10 years!

1. Monthly Bulletin – November 2015
Scottish Affairs Office (SAO), Beijing
Events
St. Andrew’s Day Ball
We celebrated the St. Andrew‟s Day with a Scottish Ball in Beijing on 28th November. Hosted
by the Beijing Scottish Society, the St. Andrew‟s Ball welcomed 200 guests of whom half are
part of the Scottish Diaspora and half are Chinese friends of Scotland. They had a wonderful
night celebrating great Scottish food, drink and dancing – with the John Stewart band keeping
folks on the dance floor.
We also welcomed 16 Scottish students from the Confucius Institute for Scotland‟s Schools
(CISS) to join us at the ball along with their Chinese teachers. These young people are
studying in Tianjin on a year-long immersion course as part of the Hanban programme. Bright
and confident, they impressed our guests very much.
The St. Andrew‟s Ball was also a good pre-campaign opportunity for the promotion of
Blogamany . On Weibo we asked our followers to help us translate “Hogmanay” in to Chinese .
The prize for the best name was a free ticket to the Ball. The best Chinese translation we
chose was Huange Xin Nian Ye （欢歌新年夜). Huangge sounds like (at least to the Chinese
ear) “Hog” and literally means “Happy Songs”. Xin Nian Ye means New Year Eve. The online
competition was viewed over 80,000 times.

2. Scottish themed night in
Shanghai
A Scottish themed night to promote
Scotland as tourist destination was held
on 2nd December in Shanghai . Over
100 guests from the Chinese travel trade
and media attend the event. Supported
by the Scottish Affairs Office,
VisitScotland and Qatar Airways, the
event was the conclusion to a Visit
Scotland Roadshow in in Beijing,
Chengdu and Shanghai.
Offering a 3-course Scottish dinner, the
evening event also brought the guests a
genuine Scottish experience through
music, dancing, food, whisky and
hospitality. A Scottish band Whisky Kiss
presented both modern and traditional
performances throughout the evening.
One of the highlights was a dance-off
between two Scottish country dance
champions brought out from Scotland
and two of China‟s world champion
break dancers. The guests were then
invited to participate in a mini ceilidh
under the expert instruction of the dance
champions. Also guests had the chance
to test their golf skills at a putting
challenge set up in the ballroom to
promote Scotland as the Home of Golf.
Events
There was a whisky tasting which introduced guests to the different whisky
geographies across Scotland. The guests also had a chance to sample some
Scottish craft gins which had just been launched in China. There was also an
innovative nitro- desserts showcase given by the Gastronomy Guys who made
unusual and mouth watering “Taste of Scotland” desserts using nitrogen.

3. Singles Day
Singles‘ Day (Chinese: 光棍节; Pinyin: Guang Gun
Jie)
In Chinese, “光棍”, which literally means “bare sticks”,
is the colloquial expression of a single man, and “节”
means festival. The date, November 11th (11/11), is
chosen because the number "1" resembles someone
who is single. It has become an increasingly
widespread festival among young Chinese people to
celebrate the fact that they are proud of being single.
This festival has gradually become one of the
largest online shopping days in the world with sales
in Alibaba's sites Tmall and Taobao at US$5.8 billion in
2013, US$9.3 billion in 2014, and over US$14.3 billion
in 2015 (taken over a 24 hour period).
Jack Ma – the founder of Alibaba and China‟s richest
man participated in the Xi Jin Ping‟s state visit to the
UK last month. SDI and the Scottish Government
ensured that he was presented with a bottle of Whisky.
As a result Tmall intend to introduce a campaign to
promote Scottish whisky on their retail platform.
Trending on Social Media
Paris attacks: “On the evening of 13
November 2015, a series of coordinated
terrorist attacks occurred in Paris. 130
people were killed and 368 were injured.
The attacks were the deadliest on France
since World War II. The Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed
responsibility for the attacks, saying it was
in retaliation for the French airstrikes on
ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq”
The Legend of Miyue:
drama "The Legend of Miyue", stared
by famous actress Sun Li , finished
filming in January and started on
Beijing TV on 30 Nov. The 81-episode
long series is another grand-scale
production that Sun is taking part in
after The Legend of Zhen Huan in 2010.
Till now, there are 850,000 Weibo posts
discussing it.
SAO Weibo: In this month, the most
popular post on our Weibo account is
the campaign to give a Chinese name
for Hogmanay. The prize for the winner
was a free ticket (priced RMB 1000) of
the St. Andrew‟s Day Ball. This post
has been viewed for more than 80000
times.
[Photo/Xin
hua]

4. XI JING PING’S STATE VISIT IN NUMBERS
It was the 1st visit to UK by a Chinese President in 10years. The four day
visit covered London and Manchester. This State Visit set a new record
with £42bnof deals, 5,500permanent
and 24,000temporary jobs across the UK. The main sector of the deals
was energy. Other sectors included: £2bnof healthcare (pharma and
hospital investment); £2bnof regeneration investment in the Northern
Powerhouse; £1bnof advanced engineering; £350m of
creative sector deals. UK agreed to enhance its visa regimes including by re-
launching 2-yrmulti entry visas at more competitive prices (the same price
as a 6-month visa). This should drive more visa demand (in the last 12 months
UKVI has issued 457,000visas in China, up 17% on the previous
period). The main images and messages from the visit have played out across
Chinese state media and on 750 million Chinese smart-phones.
There were several high-value commercial deals with a direct impact on Scotland in
across the manufacturing and renewables sector – more info to follow.

5. News Roundup
Couples allowed to have 2 children: (China Daily, page 1) Beijing, Oct. 30 -- China announced an end to the "one-child policy" on 29 Oct as it also
unveiled a series of policies aimed at improving livelihoods by 2020. The most eye-catching announcement was the decision to ease the decades
long family planning policy to allow all couples to have two children. The change would balance population development and address challenges
posed by an aging population, according to the statement. Nov. 2 -- A final plan for the policy change will be ratified by the annual session of China's
top legislature in March. Nov. 4 -- The new policy that all couples will be allowed to have two children in principle has met with a lukewarm response,
with many couples saying they can't afford to raise a second child.
Three-nation relations fully back on track: (China Daily, page 1) . Seoul, Nov. 2 -- The leaders of China, the Republic of Korea and Japan said on
Sunday that cooperation between the three countries has been "completely restored". The declaration followed the first trilateral summit between the
nations in more than three years.
Xi-Ma meeting turns historic page in cross-Strait relations: official: BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) – Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan leader
Ma Ying-jeou met on Saturday in the first meeting between leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since 1949, turning a historic page in cross-
Strait relations. The historic meeting in Singapore will have great significance on the development of cross-Strait relations, the mainland's Taiwan
affairs chief said in a statement released late Sunday.
RMB goes global, SDR entry milestone: BEIJING/WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund has decided to include the
Chinese currency, the yuan, to its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket, marking a milestone in the renminbi (RMB) global march and a vote of
confidence in China„s ongoing financial reforms.
Climate summit 'a new starting point’(China Daily, page 1): Paris, Dec. 1 -- President Xi Jinping said the United Nations climate conference
beginning Monday is "not a finishing line, but a new starting point" as an important part of global governance. He joined leaders from about 150
countries attending the UN climate summit in Paris, which aims to set the tone for an agreement to provide a global framework for cutting greenhouse
emissions from 2020 onward.
Amid severe smog, Beijing orders halt to production (China Daily, page 1): Beijing, Dec. 1 -- Environmental watchdogs strengthened inspections
to reduce pollutant emissions as the air quality deteriorated on Monday to the most severe readings in the country's northern regions, including the
worst this year in Beijing. Beijing, Dec. 8 -- Beijing's environmental watchdog issued on Monday for the first time its highest-level air pollution alert,
with the capital facing a second wave of smog this winter. The unprecedented red alert was effective from 7 am on Tuesday until 12 am on Thursday.
Second 'gin craze' sweeps London:(China Daily, Page 18): Beijing, Dec. 5 -- Gin, the quintessentially British drink, is shaking off its fusty image to
enjoy a revival led by the capital London, which has seen a boom in distilleries and dedicated bars. Sales of premium gin have risen 49 percent over
the past two years, according to consultants CGA, and industry observers point to a second "Gin Craze" after the drink's first boom in the 18th century.
China's Tu Youyou receives 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm: STOCKHOLM, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's
pharmacologist Tu Youyou received her 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine here on Thursday. Tu, 84, got the Nobel award for her discovery
of Artemisinin which has led to development of a new drug that has saved the lives of millions of people, halving the mortality rate of malaria during
the past 15 years.