Ivana Kupala festival is traditionally about youths jumping bonfires and girls floating wreaths of flowers in an attempt to capture and gain insight into their love interests. Single men & women roam the forests in search of the magical, elusive fern flower which is believed to bring prosperity, luck, discernment and power. While we can’t guarantee any foresight into your future relationship, we are confident that we can expect an entertaining night and a little insight into Ukranian culture when Liza & Marko introduce us to Ukrainian culture on Saturday the 10th July.

Click here to register

Do you want to get a group of your friends together in a really cool private event space?

Our motto here at The Hutong is

SHARING CULTURE

SHARING KNOWLEDGE

so we are looking for hosts from all different countries to take part in our C52 Connecting Cultures Culinary Challenge – 52 weeks 52 cuisines

Click here for more details if you are interested in hosting an event.

If you want to enjoy the opportunity to appreciate how truly global Beijing really is, come join in one of our C52: Connecting Cultures Culinary Challenge events.

These are are non profit events, with ticket prices low enough just to cover costs plus a small donation to Roots & Shoots.

Nation	Host	Event
		BRAZIL Gaby Alves hosted a  relaxing Brazilian Style weekend lunch featuring  the favourite national dish Feijoada. Her friends from the Capoeira Club came along and showed us a few moves. Click here to view a short video of this event
		CAMBODIA Chan Ny  served up traditional Khmer meal of pancakes wrapped in lettuce leaves and dipped in a tasty fish sauce, sweet and sour fish soup and sticky rice with coconut milk. The food was such a hit, that every
		IRELAND Elaine (aka Eibhlin) kept the St Patricks Day celebration alive a few days longer and treated friends to some festive Irish cheer. The night finished with  an impromptu surprise performance
		AFGHANISTAN Kamila Nasr is not just a great singer song writer & entertainer, she is also a talented cook. Kamila cooked the most amazing Afghanistan food
	Andrea Morris	LIBERIA Andrea Morris hosted a delicious Liberian lunch
		PHILIPPINES Chen and Jennife cooked up a storm while reminiscing about their favorite Filipino dishes and childhood memories.
		NETHERLANDS Kari Busman treated friends to a real Queen’s Day (Koninginnedag) celebration. There was no shortage of treats & festive spirit, as Kari’s parents flew into town with bags full of Dutch goodies.
		BANGLADESH Diba and Mamnoon Kader hosted what they called a simple Bangla style lunch … but those who came all agree there was nothing simple about it. With so many special ingredients bought from Bangladesh & a whole day of cooking, the mix of flavours & textures were AMAZING!!!
		COLUMBIA
		USA While we can’t do the fireworks, we can still enjoy the celebration so come along & enjoy a tasty feast of Burgers & Hotdogs & all the trimmings. Get out your red white & blue & prepare for an American style BBQ on our terrace with Dawn Dennis & Cathleen Chang. Sunday July 4th 5 – 7 pm Click here to Register
		UKRAINE Expect an entertaining night and a little insight into Ukranian culture when Liza & Marko introduce us to Ukrainian culture on Saturday the 10th July Click here to register
20	12 – 18 Jul	AUSTRIA Rainer, a great artist, will volunteer to introduce us to a little Austrian Culture. On Tuesday the 13th July, you are welcome to come and enjoy a meal with Rainer. Expect to see Goulash & Austrian style dumplings on the menu. Click here to register
21	19 – 25 Jul
22	26 – 1 Aug
23	2 – 8 Aug
24	9 – 15 Aug
25	16 – 22 Aug
26	23 – 29 Aug
27	30 – 5 Sep
28	6 – 12 Sep
29	13 – 19 Sep
30	20 – 26 Sep
31	27 – 3 Oct
	4 – 10 Oct	Week 32: Canadian Thanks giving lunch with Joel Shuchat
33	11 – 17 Oct
	18 – 24 Oct	Richarda advises not to eat for 3 days before this event as you will need all the room can in order to fit in a delicious German feast of Beef rolls, red cabbage, German dumplings, mulled wine and plum crumble pie.
35	25 -31 Oct
36	1 – 7 Nov
37	8 – 14 Nov
38	15 – 21 Nov
39	22 – 28 Nov
40	29 – 5 Dec
41	6 – 12 Dec
42	13 – 19 Dec
43	20 – 26 Dec
44	27 – 2 Jan
45	3 – 9 Jan
46	10 – 16 Jan
47	17 – 23 Jan
48	24 – 30 Jan
49	31 – 6 Feb
50	7 – 13 Feb
51	14 – 20 Feb
52	21 – 27 Feb



Do you want to get a group of your friends together in a really cool private event space?

Our motto here at The Hutong is

SHARING CULTURE

SHARING KNOWLEDGE

so we are looking for hosts from all different countries to take part in our C52 Connecting Cultures Culinary Challenge  – 52 weeks 52 cuisines

We need to find 52 people willing to host a culinary event at The Hutong. It’s up to you what type of event you host, it maybe anything from a a relaxed weekend brunch, an afternoon tea, a black tie dinner, a festive celebration or a simple get together with friends, as long as you serve food typical of the country from which your passport belongs. We are especially interested people who would like to host an event that relates to a significant festival or holiday, eg. Canadian Thanksgiving, Australia Day BBQ, etc

The event may be open to the public or you can get together and host an event for a group of your own friends.

These are non profit events, the aim is to cover costs and make a small donation to Roots and Shoots Charity. You will need to do all the preparation to host the event, e.g, menu, music, activities, etc however if you would like us to shop and prepare ingredients for you, then this can be arranged. You are welcome to use the ingredients in our kitchen or if you purchase your own ingredients we will reimburse you.

We understand that some dishes take a long time to prepare therefore food does not have to be cooked at The Hutong, you are welcome to bring pre prepared food.

Generally drinks will NOT be included in the meal, unless there is a special drink that you would like to include as part of the event. Wine, beer and soft drinks will be available to purchase from The Hutong.

During the event we will be taking photos and possibly some video to post on our web.

If you are interested in Hosting an event, please contact us with answers to the questions below and if you are the first person of your nationality, we will book you in.  Please will ask you the following questions

The Hutong C52 challenge connects people from around the globe in appreciation of the international community of Beijing.

Click here, if you interested in hosting your own C52 culinary event

Queen’s Day (Koninginnedag) started as a celebration of the Dutch monarchy and is usually celebrated as a big open air party with lots of entertainment. The tradition in Holland on this day is that the trading laws are lifted for the day and so many people use this occasion to clean out the closets and sell their stuff in small street stalls. We didn’t have the street stalls, but we definitely had a very festive time.

Ivana Kupala festival is traditionally about youths jumping bonfires and girls floating wreaths of flowers in an attempt to capture and gain insight into their love interests.

Single men & women roam the forests in search of the magical, elusive fern flower which is believed to bring prosperity, luck, discernment and power.

While we can’t guarantee any foresight into your future relationship, we are confident that we can expect an entertaining night and a little insight into Ukranian culture when Liza & Marko introduce us to Ukrainian culture on Saturday the 10th July

Click here to Register

The day of the Declaration of Independence is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other  public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.

While we can’t do the fireworks, we can still enjoy the celebration so come along & enjoy a tasty feast of Burgers & Hotdogs & all the trimmings. Get out your red white & blue & prepare for an American style BBQ on our terrace with Dawn Dennis & Cathleen Chang.

Sunday July 4th 5 – 7 pm

Click here to Register

Kamila Nasr is not just a great singer songer writer & entertainer, she is also an amazing cook. Kamila cooked the most delicious Afghanistan food for Week 4 of the C52 Connecting Cultures Culinary Challenge.

While she has no plans in the immediate future to open an Afghanistan restaurant, you can always book Kamila to perform for your next event. Click here to check out her web site

Restaurateur, Gaby Alves of SALT Restaurant Beijing came to The Hutong to launch the first week of our C52 Connecting Cultures Culinary Challenge. Gaby hosted a Brazilian feijoada lunch, washed down with refreshing caipirinhas  and answered questions about her native Brazil.

The origin of the feijoada runs back to the sixteenth century with the introduction of slaves in Brazil. This “heavy” dish kept stomachs full for a long time and gave the workers the energy they needed. Chockful of beans, sausage, pork, spring greens and rice, feijoada is a weekend meal enjoyed by families across South America.

SALT, also offers a popular weekly rendition on this classic meal during their Saturday feijoada lunch where they serve delicious Braised Beans, Crispy Pork Crackling and Ribs, Spring Greens, Farofa and Home Style White Rice, Vinaigrette and Quail Egg. If this has wet your appetite, then you are in luck as it is on the Saturday lunch menu 12-3pm for 148RM
Check out  www.thehutong.com/blog/c52 to see which culinary events from other countries are coming up or if you are interested in hosting your own culinary event.

Click here to view a short video of the event

After a hearty lunch we meandered up to our roof terrace where we were joined by the Beijing Capoeira Club.

Tamandu a capoeria instructor from Brazil played the birrimbao and the fun began.

If you are interested in Brazilian Culture in Beijing try these links

Capoeira Club in Beijing

Samba Asia
SambAsia Beijing is the only active ensemble in China dedicated to the drumming traditions of Brazil. The group is a community based organization that has recently moved to the live music venue 2 Kolegas.

Beijing Black Tiger Jiujitsu Club

For week 3 C52 Connecting Cultures Culinary Challenge, Elaine Kinlough (aka Eibhlin) treated friends to a very jovial St Patricks Day celebration. Guest enjoyed some nice hearty Guinness Irish Stew, some freshly baked soda bread and were even treated to an entertaining dance performance.

For week 2 of the Connecting Cultures Culinary Challenge, we enjoyed a Cambodian style  lunch with Chan Ny and Chan Tu. Growing up as  the head chef in her family home in Cambodia, Chan yi is used to cooking a meal for about 15 people very day.  This delicious lunch consisted of  traditional Khmer pancakes wrapped in lettuce leaves and dipped in a tasty fish sauce.  Followed by Khmer sweet and sour soup with fish. To complete this tasty meal, we enjoyed a tasty desert of sticky rice with coconut milk and sesame seeds.

Chan Ny introduced us to some of her favourite Khmer music  and we all enjoyed hearing her interesting stories about life in Cambodia.  For this style of casual lunch women usually wear a long sarong wrapped about their waist and eat sitting on on a grass mat. With the weather being  a little chillier in Beijing, we stuck to our winter woolies rather than the sarong, however we did enjoy sitting on the floor to eat Cambodian style.
The food was so delicious and Chan Yi so friendly and informative, that everyone requested that she takes a Cambodian Cooking class to show us how to ccok this tasty Khmer food. Chan Yi has kindly agreed to do this, wo we are extremely happy to welcome her as part of the Hutong Team and to announce that she will be taking a Khmer Cooking class on the 15th of April.

AUSTRIA

Rainer, a great artist, will volunteer to introduce us to a little Austrian Culture. On Tuesday the 13th July, you are welcome to come and enjoy a meal with Rainer. Expect to see Goulash & Austrian style dumplings on the menu.

Cost: 100RMB

Click here to register

Please fill out the following form if you are interested in hosting a C52 event