UBL TC meeting 9-13 May 2005 in Hangzhou

[jon.bosak@sun.com]

Hello UBL TC,

I'm happy to report that we appear to be set for the May UBL TC
meeting in China.  The meeting will be hosted by the China
National Institute of Standardization in Hangzhou, which is a
beautiful city in Eastern China about 200 km southwest of
Shanghai.

William Chan, who co-chairs the UBL Chinese Localization
Subcommittee, has forwarded this description of the city:

   Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province at the
   sub-provincial administrative level, is the provincial center
   in politics, economy, culture, science and education. It is
   also an important national tourist city with its beautiful
   scenery and a famous city in history and culture affirmed by
   the State Council. Located at the southern wing of the Yangtze
   River Delta, the west end of Hangzhou Bay, the lower reaches of
   Qiantang River and the southern end of the Grand Canal
   (Beijing-Hangzhou), it is an important central city in the
   Yangtze River Delta and a hub of transportation in southeast
   China. The geographic position of the city proper is latitude
   30 deg. 16 min. north and longitude 120 deg. 12 min. east.

Another description I found on the Net describes Hangzhou as "The
cradle of the Chinese Civilization with a history of 2200 years;
regarded as 'Paradise On the Earth' for its scenic beauty."  This
city, established by the First Emperor Qing, was formerly known in
English as "Hangchow."

The TC meeting will be held in a hotel to be arranged by the CNIS,
and phone access to the opening and closing morning plenaries will
be provided through the usual UBL conference bridge.

As most of you know, I will be unable to attend the meeting,
which will (as agreed earlier) be chaired by Tim McGrath, but I
strongly encourage those members who can attend to make every
effort to do so.  As well as providing an occasion to make
essential contacts in a critically important region, this meeting
will present the best opportunity to meet with our Asian members
and receive content input from our Asian localization
subcommittees during the UBL 1.1 development cycle.

Note that the week prior to the meeting (beginning 1 May) is the
seven-day Labor Day holiday, a major tourist event in China; this
should be taken into account in planning your trip.

Further details will be provided as we approach the date of the
meeting.

Jon