Royal Danish Embassy holds Open Denmark Day 2014

Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing held its annual Open Denmark Day on the first day of the three-day-long Dragon Boat Festival vacation.

The Open Denmark Day celebrates the friendship between Denmark and China and strengthens the knowledge of Denmark in China. Danish cultural exhibition, high quality food and Danish design attracted more than 4,000 Chinese guests.

“I am really happy to open the Embassy’s doors to the Chinese public and to give our Chinese guests a taste of Danish culture, food and design. I hope that the event will encourage more Chinese people to travel to Denmark and experience our country by themselves,” said Friis Arne Petersen, Ambassador of Denmark to China at the opening ceremony of the event.

Throughout the entire day the Danish “Michelin” star chef John Kofod Pedersen demonstrated famous New Nordic Cooking by making a special menu consisting of cured salmon with crispy walnuts, herbs and dressing with honey, pork terrine with pickled beets and rye bread, “Gnalling” cheese with beer and gooseberry compote and “Øllebrød” anno 2014. The visitors were welcome to taste the delicious New Danish cuisine, as well as authentic food from Danish castles.

The Open Denmark Day also featured many cultural aspects about Denmark, including a stand informing about the upcoming Danish Cultural Season in China – “Little Fairy Tale, Big Future.” Danish cultural initiatives in China will be intensified in the autumn of 2014 and spring of 2015 with a substantial cultural program involving a number of major cultural stakeholders in both countries.

The cultural program will include exhibitions, concerts, film festivals, literary events, symposia, performing arts and theatre, special events with a focus on design, architecture and crafts, as well as initiatives focusing on children and young people.

During the day Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen also announced the winners for the Royal Danish Embassy’s H.C. Andersen drawing contest, which was held as an online competition on the Embassy’s social media platforms.

The Embassy has received drawings from children all across China, and the three lucky winners had a wonderful day at the Embassy, where they baked cookies with the Ambassador and received their prize from the competition – a special set of stamps commemorating H.C. Andersen.

Hanyi contributes to the story.