Sun Qun
Deputy Director, Beijing Design Week Committee
W
hy He’s Interesting: The man who brought us the Rubber Duck: Vittorio Sun Qun is deputy director of the Beijing Design Week Committee and is a key figure responsible for raising Beijing’s profile in the international design community, getting Beijing labeled a UNESCO Design City and opening dialogue and trade platforms between Chinese and international designers. A big name in Italian design publishing, the Shanghai native hopes that by bringing government, industry and the public together to share and benefit from the same ideas, a stronger feeling of trust can be generated in the community. “We are not stylists for the city, it’s not about making the city prettier, it’s about solving issues, asking questions. It’s like, a lot of people say that Chinese students are good at taking exams, but aren’t good at asking questions. So we think Beijing Design Week should be about asking questions.”
leon LEE
Proprietor, Apothecary and Janes & Hooch
08
Years in Beijing
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22
photo: mitchell pe masilun and courtesy of leon lee
hy He’s Interesting: A former editor of this fine publication, Leon moved out of the magazine business and, with Chef Max Levy, opened Apothecary, which set a new standard for the cocktail bar experience in Beijing. Since then, he’s added Janes & Hooch, named one of the 20 Best New Bars in the World by Conde Nast Traveler’s website, along with finding time to be the program curator at Post Mountain Art Space, and a contributing writer for fashion mag Numero (China). “I used to say that to live in Beijing is to have front row seats in the theater of the world. To this day, I believe this is true ... although I wouldn’t mind salted butter popcorn.”
October 2013