Chinese League Players Hope to Make Their Mark at Soccer World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Russia on June 14, with 32 teams from around the world ready to serve up a feast of football. China didn’t make it, sadly, with Asian interest represented by South Korea, Iran, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. However, several players from the Chinese Super League will be there, some of them famous names. Javier Mascherano, now at Hebei China Fortune, will play for Argentina, while Jon Obi Mikel of Tianjin Teda has been selected for Nigeria. And Beijing Guo’an’s very own Renato Augusto (pictured above) is in the squad for tournament favorites Brazil. If your country will be there we wish you the best of luck; and if not, we can all enjoy a month of the beautiful game played at the highest level.
May the Force Be with You at the Star Wars Experience
Kids, and more than a few dads, will be excited to hear that the Star Wars Experience will open at Wukesong Stadium on June 16. Exhibits include a life-size X Wing fighter, virtual reality games, and recreations of sets from the movies. Pose for pictures with a lightsaber, unleash your inner Jedi – and try not to embarrass your younglings too much.
Summer Rings in the Changes
Summer always brings changes in Beijing’s international community. If you’re leaving, we wish you joy on your next adventure; and if you’ve just arrived, welcome to a vibrant and exciting, if sometimes challenging, city! Sadly, this month, beijingkids will be saying goodbye to our senior editor and Shunyi correspondent Andrew Killeen. He has been a wonderful person to work with and to learn from over the past couple of years. While he won’t be completely absent from the pages of our magazine and the website, all future insights into the funny world of being an expat dad will be done from the Killeen’s new base in Ningbo. We wish the Killeen clan all the luck in the world on their new adventure!
Rock Around the Clock (well, from 11am to 8pm) at the Beijinger Burger Festival!
One of Beijing’s most popular food events returns to Galaxy Soho on June 16-17. The Beijing Burger Festival of our sister brand the Beijinger has a rock’n’roll theme this year, so as well as 40 different vendors tempting you with their wares, there’ll be live bands, a karaoke competition, and a kids’ area for your little rockers. For more information and tickets, check out the Beijinger website: www.thebeijinger.com.
Nothing Sinister at All about Use of Facial Recognition at School
China is at the forefront of the use of facial recognition technology, so the news that a Hangzhou school is monitoring students’ faces with cameras is in no way sinister at all. The system assesses whether the kids are angry, sad, or sleepy, and then sends information to their parents, in a development which is perfectly normal and definitely not a horrific glimpse of a nightmare future. Strangely some parents were not delighted about this ingenious method of putting further pressure on children to conform and perform, but the Principal of the school defended the decision, saying that the cameras didn’t film the students, only tracked their movements and facial expressions. So that’s all right then.
This article appeared on p6 of beijingkids June 2018 issue
Photos: Courtesy of the Beijinger, Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil via Wikimedia Commons, South China Morning Post, Pixabay
