Chinese whispers

I’ve just hosted wine dinners on consecutive nights in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing designed to publicise the forthcoming mainland Chinese edition of The World Atlas of Wine. Wine importer ASC, long a champion of wine education and recently sold to Suntory of Japan, has been closely involved with the translation and organised every last detail of these dinners – down to getting a bright red pashmina for all 60 participants in the Beijing dinner on the final night of Chinese New Year in order to give it a festive air. (Mind you, the view from the Beijing Shangri...