Making Christmas cookies at the German Embassy's festive gathering. Feng Yongbin / China Daily

The German embassy got festive for its online friends in China this week. "We invited lots of readers and fans from our online community (www.deyinxiang.org) to come to the embassy on Monday," says Axel Gugel, the embassy's cultural officer. The Christmas time agenda: making Christmas cookies together and learning how to make hot wine punch.

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On behalf of the Croatian Post, Zagreb's Ambassador to China Ante Simonic received two prizes late last month: Croatian Post "Europe-Children's Books" stamps won the Best Stamp Award in the 10th China Best Foreign Stamp Annual Poll and the Honor Award for participating in every poll for the past 10 years. Representatives of more than 20 countries participated in the awards ceremony, including Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Lichtenstein, Slovakia and Ukraine.

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Hungarian Ambassador Sandor Kusai recently dropped in at the Danish embassy, to brief Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen on Hungary's recent experience in the chair of the EU's rotating presidency. Petersen is also conferring with his counterparts from Poland, which currently holds the presidency, and another recent holder, Spain. Denmark will assume the role in January.

Video

See and hear China Daily's interview with the Danish ambassador online at: Chinadaily.com.cn/video

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The new book Socrates - Confucius: Proceedings of Three Conferences on Chinese and Greek Philosophy, which was edited by the embassy of Greece in Beijing, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Institute for the Advancement of Euro-Chinese Relations, was formally presented earlier this month in Beijing.

Chen Haosu, the president of the China-EU Association and former president of CPAFFC, said it was an encouraging achievement to examine basic philosophical questions of Western and Eastern culture.

Theodore Georgakelos, ambassador of Greece in China, said that the book is a payback of debt to the scholars who contributed to the better understanding of the thought of the two great philosophers.

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Czech ambassador Libor Secka and his wife, Sabrina, hosted an exhibition opening last week for watercolorist Tomas Cisarovsky at the Bloom Gallery. The show had previously been hung at the embassy for a preview, and will be on display for the public at the 798 Arts Zone through Jan 21.

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The EU Delegation in Beijing supported and participated in a commemoration ceremony dedicated to International Human Rights Day organized by the Human Rights Institute of China's University of Political Science and Law (CUPL). The event was attended by 140 people, including a large number of Chinese and international students, professors from Beijing universities and representatives from EU member states. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was read out by audience members in seven languages.

Carmen Cano, deputy head of the EU Delegation, praised international collaboration during the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and emphasized the shared responsibility for all nations to contribute to a peaceful, stable world. Commemorative speeches were also given by representatives from CUPL, CASS Law Institute, Tsinghua University and the Ford Foundation.

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The social media sites of the Danish embassy in China and the Sino-Danish Network are promoting a writing contest for Chinese students on the theme "Natural Colors for Food & Beverages - Fast Forward to the Future". After several on site launch events this month, contest information posted on the BBS of some of China's top universities.

Embassy news can be sent to mike.peters.cd@gmail.com.

(China Daily 12/25/2011 page5)