Back from China

Greetings again. I hope you’re doing well.

Late last month, I spent a week in Beijing, China. I was there mainly to take part in a meeting. I also gave additional presentations and met with other colleagues and former students.

Returning to Beijing is special for me because for 2 years I taught scientific writing there, at what is now Peking University Health Science Center. This teaching in the 1980s led to my other international work—including my work with AuthorAID.

The meeting last month was for editorial trainees from the China Medical Board Program in Biomedical Writing and Editing. This program ran from 1996 to 2007. Chinese colleagues ran the Chinese aspect, and I ran the US aspect.

The meeting with the editorial trainees was a combination of update and reunion. I enjoyed hearing about the trainees’ successes in teaching scientific writing and doing scientific editing.

Likewise, the trainees seemed to appreciate the talks that a colleague and I gave on what’s new in scientific publication. Part of my talk was on AuthorAID. The trainees—some of whom had done Chinese translations for AuthorAID—seemed quite interested.

Other highlights of the visit included giving a talk at the Chinese Medical Association, which publishes many journals. I had worked there 1 day per week while living in Beijing. It was good to be back.

My stay was busy, but I managed to do a little sightseeing. The photo that accompanies this post was taken near the site of the Beijing Olympics.

Until the next post—

Barbara