Nerd Nite Hong Kong

Topic: Through the Looking Glass: A Journey Back to the Tang Dynasty

Quick Nerdisms: In the distant past, at the peak of the Chinses civilization, there was the Tang Dynasty. From 7th century, for 300 hundred years of the surreal golden age, China thrived and became literally the center of the earth, where cultures, arts, technologies, religions, economy and ethnics from all over the world mingled, integrated and bounded together. If you want to experience this fantasy not from movies nor in dreams, but with your own eyes in reality, you are in for a treat. A place right in the heart of this metropolis can take you back to Tang dynasty and experience its glories culture, religion, art and architecture. Will this experience be authentic? Well, the place I am going to take you to is the first and only cultural site in Hong Kong that is listed on the world cultural heritage backup list of China.

Nerd Cred: Jian Yang, MD, PhD, FHEA, doctor of some boring stuff. Did his MD in Beijing University all those years ago, went to Bristol for a PhD that had something to do with epilepsy. Wrestled with depression in HKU (as a research interest, not that he was depressed, but then, who wasn’t) for several years. Now happily cultivating half of the future Hong Kong doctors in the School of Biomedical Sciences, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU, teaching anatomy, histology and things that hopefully matters. Loves Tang dynasty culture and architecture, and has been a volunteer and cultural ambassador of Chi Lin Nunnery and South Lotus Garden for a decade.

Topic:US – China trade: how responsible is China for the decline of US manufacturing employment?
Quick Nerdisms: It’s easy to hear from the news that US bluecollar workers have suffered because of Chinese exports to the US. However intuitive this idea might be, how much should we believe it? This talk will break down the academic research on Chinese exports and US employment to show that the reality is far more nuanced.

Nerd Cred:  Gregory Whitten is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Economics Department of Lingnan University. He has a BA (in Economics, French Literature, and International Studies) and an MA in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an MSc in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. He has published in Agricultural Economics, World Economy, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

Topic: Open API development in HK