Guests at a dinner reception for Chinese wind power executives this week were at the Danish ambassador's residence, but the host wasn't there.

Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen missed the long-scheduled event, part of a seminar preceding the three-day China Wind Power 2011 exhibition in Beijing, so he could accompany Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to Denmark this week at the invitation of Villy Sovndal, the country's new foreign minister, and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the new prime minister.

Standing in at the wind-power reception was the embassy's deputy head Soren Jacobsen, who applauded 20 years of wind-energy exchanges between the two countries, going back to the first windmill erected in China, a Danish model that still produces electricity in Xinjiang. Klaus Rave of the Global Wind Energy Council trumped that, earning laughter and applause when he told the Chinese executives that the two nations' wind connection goes back much further: to the Vikings and the medieval Chinese fleets of Zheng He.

"Each ruled their part of the high seas," he said, "but the beauty of the story is that they never met in battle."

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Indonesia's Ambassador to China Imron Cotan and his wife, Enni Cotan, were spotted leading a pack of pedalers as about 70 members of the embassy staff and the Indonesian community around the capital area biked about 50 kilometers from Sanlitun to the Summer Palace.

The embassy organized the Indonesian Autumn Fun Bike 2011 to celebrate the Youth Pledge Day of 1928.

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The European Union's two top leaders, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, along with Androulla Vassiliou, EU commissioner for education, culture and youth, will attend the closing ceremony on Monday for the 2011 EU-China Year of Youth in Beijing's Olympic Green. The year's exchange programs covered volunteering, education, culture, employment, entrepreneurship and innovation.

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Brunei Darussalam's Ambassador to China Magdalene Teo , the embassy staff and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries cohosted a dinner banquet this week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. A group of teenagers from Brunei Darussalam who learned martial arts in China performed for the guests.

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An eight-member Pakistani women's parliamentary delegation led by Yasmeen Rehman met Liu Zhenhua, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last week.

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The Austrian embassy has announced two month-end art exhibitions. A show titled Chuan Men, opening Oct 22 in Beijing features 20 Austrian artists and five artists from other European countries to show their created work pieces during their residency-time in China. The exhibition runs through Nov 9 at Amelie Art Gallery in 798 art district.

The second exhibition, held in the National Art Museum of China is titled From Secession to Expressionism and showcases the works of Austrian painter Willy Eisenschitz. The event is part of the two countries' celebration of 40 years of Austria-China diplomatic relations this year. The exhibition runs Oct 26 to Nov 8.

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China's Vice-Foreign Minister Fu Ying met last week in Beijing with Andrea Javor, director general of the Directorate for Extra-European Bilateral Cooperation of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Zhang Yunbi contributed to this report. Embassy news can be sent to

mike.peters.cd@gmail.com.

(China Daily 10/23/2011 page5)