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061 1996 Jan-Mar tssuE No. 6l - JANUARY- tr^ARCH1996 ChinaCouncil H Quarter$ +wIfr,ceT,t NORTHWESTREGIONAL CHINA COUNCTL PO BOX751 PORTIAND,OR972O7 (5031725-4567 US PostageStamp Commemorates Year of the Rat for the fourth straight yea4the US PostalService and the Yearof the Boar in 1995.Future stamp install- I will commemoratethe Lunar New Yearin Febru- mentsin the zodiacseries include the Yearof the Ox ary,1996,with the issuing (in1.997),Tiger (1998),Rab- of a Chinesezodiac stamp. The latestis the Yearof the Rat, one of the 12 zodiac symbols,featuring a spe- cially-designedmulticolor papercutrat and artistic Chinesescript characters reading "Yearof the Rat," againsta purple back- ground. First-day ribbon- cutting ceremonieswill be held on February8 in San Francisco'sChinatown Holi- day Inn. The PostalService issued the first Lunar New Year commemorative(Year of the Rooster)in 7993,circu- lating nearly 150million stampswhich were quickly Iff6rHrurumrtion-postal authoritiesde- snatched,rp by collectors . cided on the ChineseNew on both sidesof the Pacific. i year motif. TerranceCaffr ey, Postal i Planning a commemorative Servicestamp designpro- i stamp for the ChineseNew gram manageq,said the I Yearbegan nearly five roosterstamp brought in $5 million of revenuewith brisk salesin Asian-Ameri- gouP' ClarenceLee, Hawaii graphic artist, designed Various images canpopulated regions. In- the Lunar New Yearstampieries for US Posta"lService. were c_onsidered,including vestorsnote that the Chi- exploding fireworks, party nesezodiac stamp series hats with streamers,and a goesbeyond aestheticand sentimentalvalue, citing baby tugging at the beard of an old man. that its true value is diplomatic currency. In1992,the PostalService contacted Clarence Lee, a Following the roosterstamp, the PostalService is- Honolulu-basedgraphic artist,and offeredhim the suedthe Yearof the Dog commemorativeinl994 assignmentto designthe first of the Lunar New year stamps-Year of the Rooster.Choosing Lee was a presently working on the dragon stamp with three double plus for the PostalService, since he is a Chi- more zodiacsigns to go. Format of eachstamp is the neseAmerican and one of the foremostgraphic de- same/but colorsvary eachyear. And the price of signersin Hawaii. eachcommemorative depends on the costof a first- classstamp. ClarenceLee studied art at PomonaCollege and de- sign at YaleUniversity's Schoolof Art and Architec- Leewas alsoasked to designthe first joint issueof ture. He worked for a design group in New Yorlg postagestamps between the United Statesand China then joined IBM as a designer before returning to in1994.Both countriesfound common ground in de- Honolulu in 1965.One of his professorsat Yalewas picting endangeredspecies on the stampsand de- Bradbury Thompsory who was one of two original cided on cranes,the Chinesesymbol for peaceand chairsof the US CitizensPostal Commission and de- friendship.The stampsfeatured the American signerof some140 US stamps. whooping craneand the Chineseblack-necked crane,with Lee designing the stamps andZhao Leeconsidered various possibilitiesfor the rooster Gengzi,a Beijingnature artist, drawing the cranes. stamp, from generic,stylized roostersto Westernand Chineseioosters. He found a roosterwoodcut ftom "I fuel honoredto be the ChineseAmerican chosen the days of the American Revolutionand alsoa Chi- amongmany in the United Statesto designthe Lu- nesepapef cutout of a roosterwhich he brought nar New Yearstamp designs,"Lee said. "My small- back from China many yearsago. Lee submitted estjob (the sizeof a postagestamp) has gotten me sign designsof Western,Chinese, and stylized roost- the most notoriety." ersto the designproject coordinator who let"fly" To aspiringAsian artistsand designers,Lee offers with the Chineserooster. thesewords of wisdom: "Go into it becauseof your Chinesepapercuts date back centuriesago (TangDy- love for i! if you have an obsessionor passionfor art nasty,518-906 AD) in northern China where women and design,pursue it." learnedpaper cutting in childhood. The gaily decora- RichardKoe tive cutouts,usually in red, are usedwidely at festi- val times,especially during the ChineseNew Year Informationfor thisarticle raas compiled from Far East- celebration.Chinese call the cutouts "window flow- ern EconomicReaiew; AsianWeek; Honolulu Star Bulle- ers" and pastethem on the windows of their homes tin;.HonoluluAdaertiser; Paciftc Business Neuts, CA aswell as on presents.Subjects, not limited to flow- Magazine. ers,include dragons,gods, and ferociousanimals- anything symbolic of good fortune. In the meantime,Lee receivedrough samplesof Chi- nesecalligraphy denoting "Yearof the Rooster" which neededto be done artistically.Since he neither speaksnor writes Chinese,Lee consultedhis mothe4, who recommendedher friend Bun Lau, a sidewalk Chinesecalligrapher in Honolulu's Chinatown. SPECIALEVENTS SinceBun Lau didn't speakEnglish, Lee's mother madethe contactand arrangementsat a local street Third ThursdayChina Lunches corner.The result was beautiful Chinesecalligraphy for the roosterstamp. January1,8, February L5, March2l FormosaHarbor Pleasedwith the outcomeof the Yearof the Rooster SW2nd andThylor stamp,the PostalService commissioned Lee to de- 12:30-1:30PM sign the Year of the Dog stamp in'1.993and Yearof never know the Boar in1994.Then camethe contractfor Leeto Vo, who you'll meet or what the I topic designthe remainder of the 12-stampseries. He is of conversationwill be at the Third Thurs- day China Lunch. A variety of China Council mem- China Council Quarterly Portland, Oregon97207 beis sharea family-style lunch and makebusiness Publishedby theNorthwest (503)725-4567 contactsand new friends.The costis about $5.50, RegionalChina Council. [email protected] and thereis alwaysplenty of tasty food in this bus- P.O.Box 751 Editor: RichardKoe 506 S.W.Mifl, Suite275 Publishedquarterly. tling, friendly Chineserestaurant. 2 ChinaCouncil Quarterly A Lazayer'sObserztations on Doing meditationemploys a powerful visualizationcou- Businessin China pled with whole brain techniquesto developthe body and both hemispheresof the brairy therebyena- falkw ChrisHelmer and Ning Fu, of Miller NashWiener bling the practitioner's ability to participate effec- flagerI Carlsen tively and freely in altered state activity. ChinaBusiness Network Lunch Wednesday,January 3 Noon-1:30PM A Gourmet ChineseMeal MarcoPoIo Garden A China Council Fundraiser 1.9NW sth, aenue Cost:$15, members; $20, non-members Fridny,January 26 Reseraationsbylanuary 2 andinformation: 7254567. 6:30PM no-hostbar: 7 PM dinner MandarinCoae,1.1.1. SWColumbia Th" ChinaBusiness Networkof the Northwest Validatedparking aboue the restaurant I China Council invites you to its Wednesday,Janu- ReseruationsbyJ anuary 17 : 7254567 ary 3, lunch seminarfeaturing guestspeakers Chris $30 Helmer and Ning Fu. Ms. Helmer and Ms. Fu will dis- cusstheir observationsfrom a November trip to Fujian lziiking off an occasionalseries of Chinesemeals Provinceand other parts of China. They will share J Veaturing chefsand restaurantsin the Portland howbusiness activity in Fujian Provinceis asfrenzied metropolitanarea, Mandarin Cove'sMingyu Chen has asever. China's recentlyadopted GuaranteeLaW prepareda specialmenu for the China Council to high- which provides a structurefor the registrationand en- light his talent in preparing Northern China cuisine. forcementof security interests,has spurred new invest- Chef Chen,who is originally from Thiwan and has ment and attractednew foreign interest. spent10 yearsin the United States,will presenta meal featuringshark fin soup and Peking duck. faiji and Qigong WeekendWorkshops Comejoin us for an excellentmeal and a chanceto with Master Wen-mei Yu socializewith other China Council members. The January19-21 meal will start with appetizers,including fried ReedCollege,Gym2 prawns and wrapped chicken.Other coursesinclude Tbregister and for information:231-1999 sharkfin soup,Peking duck, GeneralTso's chicken, mandarin scallopswith vegetables,green beans with 4.. with Heart,Reed College, and the Northwest shrimp, and sesamebeef. For dessert,we will be L/China Councilpresent Master Wen-mei Yu, a top servedlichee over ice. instructor of internal martial and healing arts in China teachingseveral workshops: Wu Style Push Hands Mandarin Cove'smanaget TsuiJen, is from a long (Friday,January 19,&10 PM; $55),Liangong: Health lineageof chefs,counting among his ancestorsthe Exercisefrom China (Friday,January 79, ffi PM and cheffor Marco Polo. Saturday,January 20,9-11AM; $75),Buddhist Chi This promisesto be a fun Kung (Saturday,January 20,'J,-5 PM and Sunday,Janu- evening. ary21.,9AM-s PM; $150),and Wild GooseChi Kung Review (Monday,January ?2,7-9 PM; $35). China BusinessNetwork Lunch Master Yu has been teaching intemal martial and heal- ing artsfor over 30 yearsand hastrained with someof Speakerand topic to beannounced China'stop masters.She has devotedherlife to the Wednesday,February 7 Noon-l:30 PM study of the healingmethods and practiceof taiji (tai MarcoPolo Garden chi) and qigong (chi kung). Shespeaks excellent English. 19NW sth Aaenue Cost:$1-5, members; $20, non-members Buddhist chi kung is one of the famousShaolin Tem- Reseraationsby February5 andinformation:725- tFaa ple's oldestinternal energysystems. Wei-tuo is the lJO/ " "guarded god of Buddhism" and.Wei-tuo (or Bud- dhist) Chi Kung combinesbreathing, meditation and f ach month, the China Council invites speakers movementto harnesslife energyto combatdisease, l-with expertisein China trade or in cultural as- tensiorystress,
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