Events
The Lan Chi Pat Association
The Lan Chi Pat Memorial Secondary School, in Tseung Kwan, a new city of the New Territories of Hong Kong, bears the name LAN CHI PAT, the famous twentieth century Cantonese opera singer. It is one of the 26 schools in the territory managed by the large charitable organisation Yan Chai.
“But what does this have to do with wine?” you might say. Château Lynch-Bages, as one of the first grands Bordeaux to assert their presence in Asia, today is very well known and enjoyed in the Middle Kingdom. One often hears Chinese fans referring to it by the name “Lan Chi Pat”, which is easier to pronounce than the French word.
Lan Chi Pat and Lynch-Bages, the school and the vineyard, were destined to meet one day. In 2007, at the request of a friend, Jean-Michel CAZES attended his first benefit dinner to collect funds for the school, organised by Yan Chai. At this event, he made the acquaintance of the Director of the school, Ms SHI Fung-Ling. Friendly relations quickly formed and a cultural exchange project was born.
The Lan Chi Pat school counts some 1,000 pupils aged 11 to 18 years old, to whom they provide a very well-rounded general education. It places an emphasis on opera and music and possesses a superb collection of the artist’s instruments and stage costumes.
In Pauillac, a stone’s throw from Lynch-Bages, the Ensemble Scolaire Saint-Jean, founded in 1850, is a much more smaller, but demanding establishment, which emphasises the teaching of foreign languages.
The partners had been found…
This is when the “Lan Chi Pat Alliance” was created, dedicated to the goal of organising an exchange of pupils between Pauillac and Hong Kong for the spring of 2008. This would involve 10 youngsters 15 years old from each school, accompanied by two teachers. On the Lynch-Bages side, the Commanderie of Bordeaux in Hong Kong at the impetus of Vincent Cheung, Grand Maître of Asia for the Commanderie du Bordeaux, and the Cathay Pacific Airways company provided valuable support to the enterprise.
Given this success, the partners decided to repeat the experience on an annual basis: the French group would lead the way by going to Hong Kong in February or March. And the Chinese students would in turn make their visit to the Médoc in April or May.
After three years, we can but note the profound cultural impact that the exchange has had on our young travellers ... and on their families.