The Beijing Upper East Side International Culture Year 2009 opened at the Traders Upper East Hotel on March 29, 2009.

The Beijing Upper East Side International Culture Year 2009 opened at the Traders Upper East Hotel on March 29, 2009. This cultural exchange project, sponsored by Beijing Foreign Cultural Exchanges Center and Yang Guang Company Limited, will vividly portray an image of Beijing's international community via various cultural activities. Wang Hui, director of Information Office of the Beijing Municipal Government, Wang Hongzhuan, deputy director of the Beijing Investment Promotion Bureau, and Zhang Chunxiu, deputy head of Chaoyang District, attended the opening ceremony and announced the opening of the Beijing Upper East Side International Culture Year 2009.

The Beijing Upper East Side International Culture Year 2009 will focus on Beijing's international community culture and will become a multicultural platform for exchange. At the same time, it will showcase the contemporary internationalization of Beijing while serving as an example for and encouraging other communities to create their own multicultural and harmonious international homes.

The Beijing Upper East Side International Culture Year 2009 will feature an international wedding festival in May, an international jazz festival and beer festival in August and an international drama festival in October.

During the opening ceremony on March 29, Spanish flamenco and bop dances performances, a world photography exhibition, contemporary sculptural works, magic and other performances were presented. During the among-family interactive game, performances by children from an international school closed the event.

The Upper East Side community provides homes for nearly 2,000 families from 42 countries and will become a colourful international cultural exchange place with the opening of the Beijing Upper East Side International Culture Year. These international families brought their special lifestyles and cultures from every corner of the world, and they have also experienced Beijing's many positive changes. More importantly, they thoroughly enjoy the high-quality lifestyle provided by this mature international community. To connect the architectural arts with daily life, the Upper East Side provides an exceptional international environment and vigorous life for the residents. As the slogan of the culture year, "We Are Family" infers, residents and visitors to the Upper East Side will enjoy a happy life while making new friends with people from around the world and from different cultures.