Prince Frederik and Princess Mary's Official Visit to China: December 6-8, 2012


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Thank you for posting these videos. I was lucky enough to visit Hong Kong this past summer so enjoyed watching the crown prince couple's visit there. However, I did not recognize the beautiful house on the Peak at the end of the film. Would any board members know its story?:flowers:
 
Video from todays Lego event
Click here to view video

Food event with Arla at Embassy Location: Royal Danish Embassy Crown Prince couple will support Danish dairy products and Arla’s activities in China. Kronprinsparret hjælper med at placere dyr og bygninger i landskabet, hvorefter der skåles i mælk lørdag d.8.december 2012 på den Danske Ambassade i Beijing, her sammen med den danske ambassadør i Kina, Friis Arne Petersen (tv) og Frank Gaoning Ning, besyrelsesformand i Cofco (th). (Foto: Keld Navntoft/Scanpix 2012)


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An article from Billedbladet about the cold cold weather and a picture of a freezing Frederik and Mary :)

There is also a new video with journalist Ulrik Ulriksen, who also seems to freeze a lot ;)

Billed-Bladet - Kronprinsesse Mary fik kuldechok i Kina - se video

Is there anyone who knows something about the flowers Frederik wears on these pictures? :flowers:

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Danish+Crown+Prince+Couple+Visit+China+23Lyajg4XGol.jpg
http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Danish+Crown+Prince+Couple+Visit+China+DTq1mgjlRMkl.jpg
 
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thanks everyone for the pictures and links. :flowers:
an outside fashion show in freezing weather :eek:

It looks like they quickly head home though, no sightseeing, since Frederik is regent on the 9th.

This picture of Frederik is very nice : )
http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Danish+Crown+Prince+Couple+Visit+China+yfxHIVSUG3dl.jpg

Also I like these two of him playing Badminton?
i think they attended a match between Denmark and China
http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Danish+Crown+Prince+Couple+Visit+China+yb0z8Kc1ikvl.jpg

http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Danish+Crown+Prince+Couple+Visit+China+FDrpvwn0-fUl.jpg
 
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Well, M&F have returned home to a snowstorm.

It's pretty bad now in this part of the country. :snowman:

So I guess it'll be a cosy day indoors today.:igloo:
 
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I'm surprised how little coverage the visit got in the Danish media.

As far as I can tell TV2 hardly covered the visit at all and I don't think DR1 was much better. Oddly enough as China is so importantly economically.

And the more serious business papers which usually cover such commerce-offensives, well, they have in their infinite naivite decided to block most of their main stories for anyone except subscribers.
They do that from time to time, then realise people don't subscribe anyway. - As there are public service channels and free newspapers around, how many are going to subscribe for a newspaper in the middle of a financial crisis anyway and up to Christmas of all times? :nonono:
 
Me too, Muhler. But Tv2, however, covered the visit. There were good and long clips in the news in the evenings. The journalist Winnie Laursen (who almost always is with F+M when they are on official visit) was also covered this visit. Tv2.dk, for example, has put one of their clips up on their website :flowers:

Se Mary bygge lego-huse med kinesiske børn - TV 2 Nyhederne
 
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Thanks, Roskilde :flowers:

Saturday, no wonder I didn't know about it. Both of us were out to Christmas lunch and didn't see the news yesterday. :cheers::wine:

A funny little clip. The boy, who is seven years old, has a pretty tough schedule on weekdays but on weekends he's allowed to play as much as he wants. His mother very much approves of LEGO as it sharpens the creativity of the boy. - And in case you are wondering, the thing he and Frederik build together was a tree. - Albeit a....remarkable tree, but I've seen much worse at modern art exhibitions. :lol:

The visit turned out to be profitable for LEGO, as they among other things secured an order to supply 400 institutions (schools of some sorts) with material, in order for the students to play-learn.
 
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A number of large pictures of Mary in particular freezing big time!
Hope she doesn't get ill.
Holding an event in minus ten degrees C is really a brilliant idea!

http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/901/5/5901559-kronprinsparret-besger-beijing.jpg

http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/901/5/5901456-kronprinsparret-besger-beijing.jpg

http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/901/5/5901458-kronprinsparret-besger-beijing.jpg

http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/901/5/5901464-kronprinsparret-besger-beijing.jpg

http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/901/5/5901480-kronprinsparret-besger-beijing.jpg

http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/901/5/5901800-mink13242513.jpg

The article itself: Mary, er det dig? - Iskold Kronprinsesse i Kina - Mode & skønhed | www.bt.dk

Thanks Roskilde, yes we had a funny Christmas lunch. You too as well, I trust? No hangover the next day though, just a bit sleepy - buuut, then we, well I, had the pleasure of clearing the sidewalk for snow - only to see more of the bloody stuff landing!
 
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:previous: Thanks, Fairy Tale :flowers:


Is it just me, or was there a couple of Danish tones in Mary's pronounciation in the speech she gave?

I did notice Mary say "for ex-a-mple" as in 'a' for apple instead of "for ex-arm-ple". Aussies always say it like this ;)
 
I did notice Mary say "for ex-a-mple" as in 'a' for apple instead of "for ex-arm-ple". Aussies always say it like this ;)

Thanks, Mystiblue. :)
I think I get the nuance as I also pronounce the word the way you describe Mary did.

Dear Muhler, I found this article from Børsen about their days in China.
Kronprinsparret på tour de force for dansk design i Kina

Ah, at long last. And why would they want us to pay for old news?
Oh well, they'll get over this subscriber nonsense at some point. :nonono:
 
I have only just caught up with events having been away the last week and noticed that Fred's suit coats have all shrunk. In most photos a button is straining across his middle. You could not call Fred fat so something must be up with his suits. What do you think?
 
It's a pretty wellknown phenomenon for men who can't be bothered checking their clothes.
The problems are neck, length of sleeves, belly and shoulders - all that has to fit together - it rarely does!

If the sleeves have the correct length and it fits across the belly, it's too wide across the shoulders and too tight in the neck.

If Frederik is anything like the man I think he is, you will have to drag him kicking and screaming into a store selling suits. And once inside it's "let's get it over with. - I'll take, that and that. - That fits me fine - Let's get out of here". So no adjustments and the result? Well....

And when men who are not interested in clothes stand in front of mirror something magical happens, the no-one-will-notice-that-minor-imperfection-filter goes down

Uniforms are always tailored, which is why he looks better in them.

No, he should leave the responsibillity for buying clothes to Mary. Women are simply genetically better suited for that, I've experienced it countless times myself.
Women can lift up say a shirt and after a brief glance, lasting no more than three nano-seconds, at their husband standing several meters away, in a wintercoat, determine: "No, it doesn't fit you" and they are dead right, - every time!
 
Have to agree with you Muhler, experienced that with my husband.
 
Summary of a number of articles in Billed Bladet #50, 2012.
All written by our man in Asia, Ulrik Ulriksen.

(This covers the actual visit. There is also an interview, which will follow later).

The purpose of the visit was to promote Danish products at the Business of Design Week in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not only one of the main gateways to China it's also the "in-place", which the rest of China look to to and follow.

The Chinese are a bit snobbish in regards to products. Brands are very much a status symbol in China, and the more expensive the better. Some Danish companies that has had problems with the Chinese market, because even though thier product are fine, cheaper and often better, they are not exclusive enough and they are not expensive enough, so there is no status in having them and as such the Chinese don't want the products.
But exclusive brands like Georg Jensen and Royal Copenhagen and B&O sell like warm bread! (Which is also why we love Chinese tourists here in DK and are prepared to carry them from the cruise ships to the stores and back. They spend a seriously lot of money and are no trouble. Tourists from heaven!)
So the Chinese are wonderfully snobbish and having representatives from a monarchy with a 1.000 years of history helps a lot when it comes to promoting our wares. (*) Mary also made sure to wear several pieces of jewellery from Georg Jensen it has been noted.
So M&F were here there and everywhere promoting Danish goods, so it was hardly a holiday. Starting on day one with a long visit to the Danish stand at the exhibition. Then time for a lunch at a villa owned by A Danish billionaire, Hans Michael Jebsen (**). Before continuing to the local Yacht Club. (***) here they boarded a yacht and went for a cruise around the harbour.
They also posed obligingly with Frederik asking the photographers: "Where would you like us to stand in order to get the best picture"?

After this maritime experience it was off to a Nordic restaurant, where the photographers caused a short traffic jam - no doubt to the delight of owners of the restaurant.

Then it was off to Beijing and very different temperatures. Including an outdoor fashion show, where Mary was visibly freezing an certain body part off, while the Sirius-acclamaticized Frederik coped better with the minus twelve degrees C temperature, not counting the wind chill factor!
M&F also visited the Danish embassy, where the among others met the badminton player Peter Gade, whom Frederik claimed is much better known in China than the DRF. He and Peter Gade played an outside match with the Chinese player Chunlai - wearing winter coats.

The long day in beijing ended with a Christmas dinner at Kempinsky Hotel, complete with a somewhat early Lucia procession consisting of Danish children. Here Mary wore an Elise Gug dress, worth 12.500 DKK. :eek:
There were 200 guests at the dinner, who were served mouthwatering Scandinavian dishes. A couple of hours after the dinner ended M&F were on the way to the airport and on the way home. - A very busy trip!

It is mentioned en passant that the manager for Georg Jensen, Ulrik Gade Due, is a friend of M&F.

(*) I've said it before, when it comes to commerce we Danes are basically used-horsetraders and all means count. Which is why we smile all the way to the bank afterwards...

(**) In some of the pictures you can see M&F posing next to a couple. Mary in blue and the wife of Michael Jebsen with ehh, chubby knees wearing a greenish dress.

(***) Yes, we export costum build yachts to China as well.
 
thank you Muhler. :flowers:
Yes a dashing and charming couple like Frederik and Mary surely did the trick to bring some added atention. good for Denmark ;)

Busy trip no doubt but Mary and Frederik look like they had fun (not counting Mary nearly freezing ;))
 
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Excerpts from interview in Billed Bladet #50, 2012.
Interviewer: Ulrik Ulriksen.

- Many will find this interview boring.
However I find it most interesting, because it illustrates that M&F sure has done their homework and also are perfectly aware of their role and why they have been flown to China in the first place.

Q: You went on the working trip to Hong Kong and China during a, for a family with children, busy time, the Christmas period, so how will you catch up when you return to Denmark and your children?
Frederik: ”Well, Christmas is the time for presents, so it just showering the children with presents, then you are forgiven”.
Mary: ”No, he doesn’t mean it like that, but we are very much looking forward to coming home and having a cosy Christmas-time with them”.

Q: How do you feel that the Chinese have recieved you and all the Danish commercial initiatives?
Frederik: ”That’s a really good question. We have been well recieved. Both the Crown Princess and I and the Danish initiatives. It’s also important that we communicate directly with the Chinese with this visit rather than doing it in a less personal manner”.

Q: Do you feel your physical presence here means something to the Chinese?
Frederik: ”Yes, it means something that you show that you have the will to come, the will to be present with them. And the Chinese appreciate our openess and desire to give them something. The best example lately was that Denmark moved the little Mermaid to Shanghai. That ws a huge gesture according to what I have been told by the Chinese. It’s really a big friendly gesture that a country takes its perhaps best treasure and say: This you will be allowed to see, but not touch for five weeks. That’s something they don’t forget in China”.

Q: What has been the difference between the first part of the visit, Hong kong and the second part in Beijing?
Mary: ”In Hong Kong there was focus primarily on design and innovation and it ws incredibly exciting to see the whith of Danish design and innovation and how there is a core in how we do things. How we live, how we develope our society. That’s a part of our Danish DNA”.
Frederik: ”The Hong Kong Chinese have become much more used to Western influence and as such Hong Kong is several leagues ahead, design-wise, from the mainland Chinese. They will want to take advance of that lead but at the same time they also want to share with the rest of China. With their cousins on the Chinese mainland. That’s what we see now. And I think we can see that there are many Danish companies that are getting in place, so that we can be the first Westerners who should the significans of our unique design in the big country”.
 
Good interview. I believe having royals to emphasise a countrys wares is more of an advantage than say a politician doing it. The red carpet is always rolled out. We don't have a royal family promoting our goods from Australia. We do have a royal family but they promote UK goods almost exclusively. So Denmark is far ahead of us I believe in this respect. With China having become more than an emerging market place in the business world of the west, perhaps we will see more visits there by royals.
 
- Many will find this interview boring.
However I find it most interesting, because it illustrates that M&F sure has done their homework and also are perfectly aware of their role and why they have been flown to China in the first place.

Q: How do you feel that the Chinese have recieved you and all the Danish commercial initiatives?
Frederik: ”That’s a really good question. We have been well recieved. Both the Crown Princess and I and the Danish initiatives. It’s also important that we communicate directly with the Chinese with this visit rather than doing it in a less personal manner”.

Q: Do you feel your physical presence here means something to the Chinese?
Frederik: ”Yes, it means something that you show that you have the will to come, the will to be present with them. And the Chinese appreciate our openess and desire to give them something. The best example lately was that Denmark moved the little Mermaid to Shanghai. That ws a huge gesture according to what I have been told by the Chinese. It’s really a big friendly gesture that a country takes its perhaps best treasure and say: This you will be allowed to see, but not touch for five weeks. That’s something they don’t forget in China”.

thank you Muhler:flowers:
a very thoughtful interview and its shows that Frederik and Mary understand their roles in this type of trips and have done their homework.
Nothing, in my opinion, can beat the personal touch of a direct visit. :flowers:
 
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