The members of the Asia-Pacific Women’ Association (APWA) attended the annual New Year’s meeting on 22 January 2019. This gathering was hosted at the residence of Mrs Cai Xiaoli, spouse of Zhang Ming, the Head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, who took on the presidency of the association last autumn.
Following the handover ceremony, where the former committee presided by Shanina Perveen passed the torch, Mrs Xiaoli revealed the programme of 2019. Under her presidency, APWA will focus this year on giving China a more active role in the association, aiming to use culture as a bridge between countries.
In 2019 APWA will organise some attractive events such as the Asian-Pacific (AP) International Fashion Show (Women’s Diplomats), the AP March 8th International Women’s Day Celebrations, the APWA’s 32th Anniversary Celebration and the AP European Fair Tale Day.
Mrs Xiaoli also took the opportunity to make the APWA members acquainted with the Chinese New Year, the most important event of the Lunar Year in Chinese culture. This celebration will take place this year on the 5th of February and will initiate the year of the Pig.
The attendees were not only treated to a cultural immersion where they could learn about the history and tradition of the annual celebration but were also invited to enjoy a traditional Chinese drum dance as well as taste various dishes from the traditional Chinese cuisine.
The Asia-Pacific Women’s Association (APWA) fosters friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between ambassadors and female diplomats from nearly all Asia-Pacific countries, through linguistic learning exchanges, food culture, cooking, tea, music, national folk dances, handcrafting and other inspiring interactions.
L. Rooryck
The Brussels Times
