beijingkids Magazine online

Beijing Mamas at Solana

beijingkids — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:00:00 +0800

Cecil Song
Where are you from?
South Korea
How long have you lived here?
One year.
Do you have kids?
I have a 1-year-old boy.
What do you do in Beijing?
I don’t work here. I used to be a fashion designer in South Korea.
Where do you like to shop?
In Solana, Pacific Century Place and shopping malls in Wangjing.
Where is your husband from?
He’s Chinese. We met in France. I don’t speak Chinese; we speak French to each other.
Why were you in France?
Learning French and studying fashion at Esmod.

In the Mind's Eye

beijingkids — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:00:00 +0800

Young painters explore at 3i Art Center

Michelangelo, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso all displayed a passion and talent for art before the age of 10 – a testament to how important the formative years are for young artists. “It’s so important for kids to have a good foundation in art and imagination – it will help them their entire life,” says Ivy Yang, founder of 3i Art Center.

The art center, which has branches in Chaoyang and Haidian, offers classes designed to foster inspiration, innovation and imagination – the three i’s behind the name – in young kids, and lessons often appeal to kids’ love of unusual, fun materials.

The Art of Mothering

beijingkids — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:00:00 +0800

Muralist Jiang Zhuqing on creating art and family

On a recent Tuesday, painter Jiang Zhuqing had yet to put the finishing touches on work that would soon be on public display. As part of Common Ground, a digital art festival that takes place at the Huan Tie Art Museum from November 9 to 19, Jiang plans to show an abstract creation that use cassette tape ribbon and black hair clips to embroider a human shape.

Titled Li Yue (礼乐), or “Etiquette, Music,” these works are part of a series Jiang calls Tian Ren He Yi (天人合一), or “The Combining of Humans and Nature.” She says she hopes to make people think about the important relationship between human beings and the world.

In a few weeks time, more than 40 artists from around the world will present works on the theme of the environment. Jiang, an associate professor at Tsinghua University’s Academy of Art and Design, decided to take part in Common Ground after she saw how innovative the other artists’ works were.

Money Talks

beijingkids — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:00:00 +0800

Spendthrift or cheapskate?

Whether you have an addiction for designer headbands like Gossip Girl queen bee Blair Waldorf or you save your pennies for rainy days (or mutual funds), what you do with your money says a lot about you. Do teenagers save? What are they buying? And does nationality influence how you spend your cash? Grade 10 and 11 students from the Beijing World Youth Academy sat down with beijingkids to discuss that little thing called money.

What do you spend money on?

Laura: I spend money on lunch, clothes and drinks.
Frank: My parents give me a set amount of money per semester, and I don’t usually save it. Eventually all the money goes to taxi cabs when I go to the CD Center, Wangfujing, places around Wangjing, or for playing football.
Ernest: I don’t get an allowance, but if I have a reason, my parents will give me money. If there’s more left, I usually save it for taxis or buying food.
YeiYoung: I get 100 kuai per month from my parents. About 40 percent of it I give to church, and the rest goes to clothes.

Not A Native Speaker

beijingkids — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:00:00 +0800

Am I Malaysian enough?

Kepada pelawat-pelawat, kami ucapkan selamat datang ke Malaysia. Kepada warga Negara Malaysia, kami ucapkan selamat pulang,” chirped the overhead speakers of the airplane upon landing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“Visitors, welcome to Malaysia. Malaysians, welcome home,” translated the English announcer. Ironically, I, a Malaysian, could not understand the message welcoming me in my own “native” language.

I was on my yearly holiday in my own country. Owing to my father’s work, my family moved to China when I was 3, and since then we’ve taken a two-week-long holiday in Malaysia every year. For my whole life, I have been attending international schools: an American school in Qingdao, a Canadian school in Dalian and finally a British school in Beijing. Therefore, English can be considered my first language. Being ethnic Chinese and living in China, I can also speak Chinese fluently. But what is the point of being bilingual when I can’t speak my native language, Malay?