Articles by Helen Chang

Allgemein, Interviews, Opinions 31. January 2026

“World Interfaith Harmony Week” 2026 Grandly Commemorated at the Vienna International Center

On January 30th, 2026, the “World Interfaith Harmony Week” was commemorated at the Vienna International Center with a conference on the theme of “the Relevance of Religions for a Peaceful World Order”, co-organized by the Universal Peace Federation, UNCAV, the Coalition of Faith-Based Organizations and other partnering organizations.   First proposed at the UN General Assembly by King Abdullah II of Jordan in 2010 on September 23, 2010, the World Interfaith Harmony Week has become an annual UN-designated observance held during the first week of February to promote peace, tolerance, and mutual understanding among different faiths. The two sessions concentrated on…

Allgemein, Chinese Community in Vienna, Culture & Literature, Interviews, Opinions 16. January 2026

BACOPA Celebrating Wolfgang KUBIN’s 80th Birthday in Café Museum

On January 9, 2026, BACOPA Publishing House celebrated the 80th birthday of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kubin in the traditional Café Museum in Vienna. Kubin is a renowned scholar, poet, translator, cultural mediator and China expert.  Since 2015, BACOPA Publishing House published 17 titles by Wolfgang Kubin. A further 11 works by him were done by other publishers. In addition, a total of 34 interviews, conversations and films have been created since 2016 that document his literary and sinological work. From 1975 to 2025, Wolfgang Kubin has produced an extensive body of work. In December 2025, OSTASIEN Verlag published the list of…

Culture & Literature 14. December 2025

Advent, Advent, Ein Lichtlein Brennt! 

Advent, Advent, Ein Lichtlein brennt!  Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei, dann vier,  Dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür. This is the most popular song sung by every child in Austria before Christmas. As a festive season, Advent t begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, often referred to as Advent Sunday. Advent season is observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus’s birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming  In Western Christianity, Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year. The name comes…

Chinese Community in Vienna, Culture & Literature, Interviews, Opinions 9. November 2025

International Symposium on Johann Strauss and Contemporary Music Culture Successfully Hosted by the School of Humanities in Shanghai Jiaotong University

2025 marked the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II. The whole year, Vienna has been offering an impressive variety of Johann Strauss events under the title “Vienna goes Strauss”, including concerts, operettas, theater, films, dances, art exhibitions, cultural picknicks, and other forms of performances.  To commemorate this anniversary of Johann Strauss II’s, Shanghai Jiaotong University (Below as Jiaoda) organized a two-day international symposium this October on “Johann Strauss and Contemporary Music Culture”, a first-time and well-implemented cooperation between Jiaoda’s Institute of Humanities and Arts, and the Golden July Music Festival Vienna. Hosted by Jiaoda’s School of Humanities, the symposium saw a collection…

Allgemein, Culture & Literature, Interviews, Technology 25. October 2025

The 2025 Jiangxi Fashion Institute’s International Fashion Art Festival  & the “Runhua Award” – Belt and Road University Student Fashion Design and Skills Competition Grandly Opened

The morning of October 20th 2025 saw the grand opening of Jiangxi Fashion Institute’s International Fashion Art Festival and the 29th “Runhua Award” – Belt and Road University Student Fashion Design and Skills Competition. Over 3,000 Chinese and international guests attended the event. Among the attended celebrities were Shi Ke, Vice Governor of Jiangxi Province and Director of the China Vocational Education Society; Xiong Shengwen, former Vice Governor of Jiangxi Province; Chen Dapeng, Vice President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council and President of the China National Garment Association; Wang Haitao, Deputy Secretary-General of the Jiangxi Provincial People’s Government;…

Interviews, Opinions 7. October 2025

UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Message to Mark Two Years Since the Attacks of 7 October 2023

Two years ago today, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched an abhorrent large-scale terror attack on Israel. The attackers brutally killed more than 1,250 Israelis and foreign nationals. More than 250 others were abducted and taken into the Gaza Strip as hostages, including women, children and the elderly. On this day, let us remember all those who were killed and suffered horrific violence.    The horror of that dark day will be forever seared in the memories of us all. Two years later, hostages remain captive in Gaza in deplorable conditions. I have met with hostage families and survivors, who…

Culture & Literature, Interviews, Opinions 14. September 2025

Exhibition of Miao Embroidery Collection by Du Fei Opening Soon in Vienna

Miao embroidery, visually colorful and captivating, is an ancient art by the Miao people in China. Geometrically symmetrical, aesthetically imaginative and technically complicated, it is a unique, encyclopedia-like means to document the long history of Miao’s who does not have a written language of their own’s throughout history. The exhibition opening at Kunstraum Feller on 24. September in Vienna will exhibit a valuable collection of Miao embroidery by Ms. Mag. Du Fei in the late 1970s and 1980s. During this time, she traveled to many places in Guizhou, particularly the remote gathering places of the Miao ethnic group. Among the…

Chinese Community in Vienna, Culture & Literature, Interviews, Opinions 10. August 2025

Kubin’s 2025 Vienna Reading Session Held again in Café Museum by BACOPA

On 8. August, the Austrian Publishing House BACOPA held again a reading session for the well-known German sinologist Prof. Wolfgang Kubin (Chinese: 顾彬) in Café Museum, Vienna. Wolfgang Kubin has been famed primarily as a translator of Chinese literature and philosophy. At almost 80 years old, he recently launched a new series with BACOPA: Classical Chinese Poets. Following Li Bai (701-762), his Cao Zhi (192-232) has now been published under the title “The Feast of Life.” (German original: Das Fest des Lebens) During the reading session, Prof. Kubin thanked BACOPA for having been – without thinking of profit – supporting his…

Interviews, Opinions, Technology 10. July 2025

“Global Disarmament, a necessary condition for human survival – Special focus on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons”, an Information and Discussion Meeting Successfully Convened at Vienna International Center

On June 26th, 2025, “NGO COMMITTEE ON PEACE – VIENNA” organized an information and discussion meeting at Vienna International Center (VIC) on “Global Disarmament, a necessary condition for human survival – Special focus on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons”. Two speakers were invited to the meeting, including Dr. Klaus Renoldner, IPPNW – International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Medical doctor and sustainability researcher, and Ambassador Alexander Kmentt, Director of the Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Department of the Austrian Foreign Ministry. Author of the book “The Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons: How it was Achieved and…