A Spicy Edition of the VNC China Dining Club by Astrid Bouwman Friday evening, July 10, peak of summer in Rotterdam. Guests trickle in one by one at restaurant Sānsān, seeking some relief at a table equipped with air conditioning. By 6:30 PM, the table set for twelve turnis out
by Astrid Bouwman Perhaps a Tuesday isn’t the most obvious day of the week to go out for dinner, but for fans of Cantonese cuisine, every day is a suitable day. That turned out to be the case on Tuesday, June 16, at restaurant Ming Dynasty in The Hague, where
On Friday, June 19, 2026, the start of the new herring season was festively celebrated in the harbor of Scheveningen during the Largest Herring Party. This annual event brought together representatives from the business community, the fishing industry and international cooperation partners around one of the most famous Dutch traditions:
by: Lotte Bakker During the last China Café on June 8, 2026 at the Stadsbrasserie de Utrechter, economist and China expert Heleen Mees was a guest. She provided a clear and occasionally alarming picture of how China, following the bursting of the real estate bubble in 2021, consciously chose to
VNC China Dining Club joins the table at Da Tang Dynasty Hand-pulled Noodles Bar by Astrid Bouwman For the first time in the history of the VNC China Dining Club, there is no rice on the table, but noodles made from wheat flour. In Northern China, this forms the staple
Where does robotics really stand today? Which applications are already commercially relevant and: where are expectations perhaps still a bit far ahead of reality? These questions and more were central to the China Café South, in Eindhoven. The evening brought together two complementary perspectives. Jos Elfring, assistant professor of Robotics
VNC China Dining Club Visits Little Asia by Astrid Bouwman A restaurant in Rotterdam North, where tram 6 stops almost right at the doorstep. The name ‘Little Asia’ suggests a modest establishment. In terms of capacity, that’s true – it seats about 30 people. Large posters of the Hong Kong
by Astrid Bouwman The eighth edition of the dining club, March 12, 2026, took place for the first time outside the Randstad, below the rivers, in Eindhoven. Given the place where the participants lived, we could have gone even further south, as far as Maastricht, because that is where a
Sunzi’s book The Art of War is “essentially a plea for caution” The launch of the new Dutch translation of “孙子兵法 (Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ) – the classic by Sunzi, translated by sinologist and renowned translator Mark Leenhouts (“De kunst van het oorlogvoeren“) – on March 19 sparked a rich discussion on
