Warnborough President, Dr Brenden Tempest-Mogg, and Vice-President, Dr Julian Ng, were invited to Qingdao, a coastal resort city in eastern China by the Qingdao Huitong Institute for International Food Culture (HIIFC). Qingdao was a venue for watersports during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

This is because HIIFC and WC have entered into a partnership to provide executive training including a speciality Mini MBA programme to key players in the China hospitality industry. Longtime WC partner, Amanda Ci, was responsible for facilitating this important cooperation, and she was on hand to welcome the WC visitors.

The visit was timed to coincide with the Qingdao International Beer Festival and the Qingdao Food Festival. Mr Hongwei Huang, the director of HIIFC met and signed contracts with Dr Tempest-Mogg. Mr Huang also is the leader of the Qingdao Culinary Association which boasts a large membership.

As part of the visit, the WC dignitaries visited the festivals and partook in the culinary delights on show. Visits were made also to various culinary schools and institutions who were members of the Culinary Association, whose students would be undergoing the WC training.

The first cohort will begin their programme in September. We are delighted and hope that this trip will be a tasty-mony of great things to come.