CONTENTS

Capital Talk

	“Meet in Beijing” for daily open-air and live performances
	Tiananmen theater under way
	Top photographers shoot city
	Heineken Beat show has genuinely exciting line-up
	Mayor meets French

Life&Times

Out&About

	Shunyi District in focus
	Flowers across the capital

City Beat

What’s Hot
	From wireless thingies on models to little model people on wires
Shopping
	Shopping: Spring shoes, shirts and sports duds
	Beijing in My Focus: Win a brilliant BTM bag with your brilliant snap
Wining&Dining:
	Fresh air and fresher fish
Hotel Bulletin Board:
	Highlights of hotels” promotions in May
House&Home:
	Villas look comfortable at Capital Paradise
What’s On:
	Where to go and what to do

My Beijing

By Markus Schmid, general manager of Swissair China

Having lived in Beijing five years, I have witnessed impressive changes. What I like in particular is the effort made by the Government to make the city green and clean.

What I miss is an efficient subway system where you could reach any corner of the city within half an hour. It is a pity that it will still take many years until this comes true.

My very little free time is spent discovering still unknown parts of the city by bike. Over the years, I have made a lot of friends from all over the world, who sometimes visit me here. I enjoy showing them the wonderful tourist spots.

My vintage-type sidecar motorbike is used for occasional adventure trips around the city.

I have really learned a lot from this big country. I have been allowed to travel a lot through various provinces, by plane, by train and also by car. It is truly unforgettable what I have experienced on my many trips through China. In particular, the wonderful hospitality of the people, wherever you go.

Swissair’s China route was first launched in 1975 with a flight from Zurich to Shanghai via Geneva, Athens, Bombay and Beijing. All stops included, the total duration of the flight was 32 hours. Today, this flight operates non-stop between Zurich and Beijing with a total fight time of less than 10 hours.

We are keen on establishing closer collaboration with many Chinese airlines, as well as further cooperation with China in all the business sectors of the Swissair Group. Whilst this year’s anniversary is a chance to celebrate and look back over the last 25 years of friendly and constructive relations, we sincerely hope it may also mark the beginning of a new and equally fruitful period of links and collaboration between our countries and companies.

For the time being, there are two segments of passenger from China: the first are the European expatriates, living in China. They travel to Europe for their home leaves and business trips. We reach them via their expatriate club, their embassies and their chamber of commerce.

Most of our tickets are sold in Switzerland and other European countries. The demand of customers in Europe to fly to China is very big. China is a very popular destination for business and

leisure. The tickets sold in China also show a steady increase. The promotion we are doing, is more and more focused on various provinces “ not only Beijing and Shanghai, but also throughout the large nation.