The Australia Chamber of Commerce hosts its second annual barbecue on Oct 21 for the business community and friends, featuring a cricket match with a squad from the UK. London's envoy to China Sebastian Wood and his counterpart from Canberra, Frances Adamson, will square off for the coin toss, and Wood plans to suit up for play with his country's team as well.

The family day includes plenty of fun for kids - from face-painting to a bouncy castle - plus plenty of food and Down Under's most popular wines and beers, at Dulwich College in suburban Beijing.

Later in the week, Adamson heads southwest with a business delegation to Wuhan from Oct 23-24. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Australia Week in Wuhan features commercial promotions, a Sydney Symphony Orchestra performance and a gala dinner.

US Ambassador Gary Locke will speak live from Beijing on the current state of US-China relations on Oct 29 during the Asia Society of Texas' sixth annual China Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections. Locke's 7 pm (Houston time) address will follow a 6 pm panel discussion, Houston and Higher Education: The China Connection. Panelists include David W. Leebron, president of Rice University; John M. Rudley, president of Texas Southern University, and Jerald W. Strickland, associate vice-president for international studies at the University of Houston.

The New York-based National Committee on US-China Relations, which organizes China Town Hall, reaches out to groups around the country to host a public viewing of the webcast and present a program exploring their city's ties to China. Last year, 51 venues in 47 cities in the US and China participated in the Town Hall. More information at www.asiasociety.org/texas/.

Frantisek Dlhopolcek, Slovakia's ambassador to China, and Alan Yu, executive vice-president of the China Cultural Academy of Painting and Calligraphy, presented an exhibition by six Chinese artists at the Slovak embassy last week. Works by the artists - Wu Weishan, Li Yi, Chen Xianhgo, Yang Jiansheng, Cui Jin and Sun Kuan - were on display in a special gallery at the ambassador's residence. Dlhopolcek told guests the cooperation with the CCAPC would continue with more shows in the future.

Following the announcement of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that the European Union had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012, EU Ambassador to China Markus Ederer said: "All of us representing the European Union here in China feel deeply honored.

"This prize recognizes the unique effort by European countries to overcome war and divisions and to jointly create a continent of peace and prosperity."

The embassies of Greece and Cyprus teamed up to organize a film festival ending on Oct 18 in Beijing dedicated to the work of the great Greek-Cypriot director Michael Cacoyannis. Hosted by the Central Academy of Drama, the films celebrated both the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Greece and China, and the current Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Chinese Consul General for Houston, Xu Erwen, met with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings at the City Hall during her visit.

Rawlings welcomed Xu and briefed her on his recent visit to China and participation in the US-China Mayors Conference on Investment in Nanjing.

Send embassy and consulate news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.con.cn.

(China Daily 10/21/2012 page5)