Diplomatic Pouch: With Mike Peters

EU Ambassador Markus Ederer and his bride Beate Grzeski celebrated their union in a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony on the Great Wall last Saturday evening at Mutianyu in Beijing's northern suburbs. Grzeski is the economic counselor at the German embassy, and the couple hosted about 100 friends and family members from Germany, many dressed in traditional Bavarian dress and lederhosen. Festivities from Chinese tradition included a bow and arrow to bring luck to the couple, who gave their guests from home a taste of Chinese culture.

Czech Ambassador Libor Secka took a pair of giant scissors in hand to assist the ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the new Czech China Contemporary, a culture and arts center featuring several galleries including permanent display space for the center's resident artists, A Qin Strakova and Jiri Straka. The nonprofit institute "seeks to promote deep integration between the Czech and Chinese culture and art". Designed by architect Zdenek Franek and located in the developing arts district of Songzhuang southeast of Beijing, the center's partners include the Czech embassy and ministry of culture, two galleries in the Czech Republic and SRO Global Law Firm. Secka and his wife, Sabrina, hosted a special gallery show for the artists, who are married, at the embassy last month in anticipation of the gallery opening.

Croatia marks the 20th anniversary of its diplomatic relations with China with a June 7 concert by the Zagreb Guitar Quartet at the National Center for the Performing Arts. The occasion is both Croatia's National Day and Armed Forces Day, and the concert will be hosted by Croatia's Ambassador Ante Simonic and Defense Attache Colonel Drago Horvat.

The Danish embassy hosted a charity buffet dinner on May 31 to raise funds for cataract surgery in China carried out by renowned non-profit Lifeline Express. The guest of honor was Le Aimei, wife of the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi.

Lifeline Express carries out thousands of cataract surgeries on Chinese people in the rural areas all over the country. In China, children as young as 4 years old have cataracts and are thus not able to see clearly and live with the risk of eventually turning blind. Lifeline Express was represented by the organization's vice-chairman, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, standing committee member of the National People's Congress and former chairman of the HKSAR Legislative Council.

As the summer tourist season approaches, the EU delegation in China, together with the International Organization of Migration and the countries of the common border area, known as the Schengen area, took the opportunity to deliver a training session on Schengen visa procedures for Chinese travel agencies specializing in European tours.

The Schengen area has experienced an impressive increase in Chinese tourists over recent years because it provides the opportunity to visit up to 26 European countries with a single visa.

To streamline the visa application process and to provide the best possible service to each applicant, this training brought together Chinese travel agencies, European tourism boards, the China National Tourism Administration and visa sections to advise travel agencies on the current rules and efficient procedures.

Embassy and consulate news can be sent to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn