When Jianping He invited me to come to the opening of the 4 x Troxler and the Melk Imboden exhibition as part of a design festival in Hangzhou, China, I had no idea what was expecting me, and I naively assumed that the "Phoenix Gallery" was a room just outside the new Xianshang Campus of the Chinese Academy of Art. I should have woken up when Jianping asked me to prepare a short speech for the opening ceremony, that I was to give alongside the President of the Academy, the Mayor of Hangzhou, and the Governor of Zhejiang. While I was flattered by the honor, I still suspected nothing, and I even ignored the giant poster on a building (right) when our bus drove us to the exhibition opening.

Billboard for Phoenix Creative Park

When we finally arrived at Phoenix Creativ Park, I could not believe my eyes:

While Jianping welcomed us, I realized that all the buildings of a huge abandoned cement factory had been converted to exhibition space, artist studios and lofts. The Phoenix Creative Park in the Zhejiang Cultural Creativity Industry Zone is just one of ten major centers around Hangzhou that are planned in an ambitious program to make Hangzhou "a center of cultural creativity industry in China". The governement intends to build on the synergies between Hangzhou's booming tourist industry, and the potential of the famous China Academy of Art and other art schools with a current yearly enrolment of 60'000 students. The program begins with the visionary statement ".. the cultural creativity has become the symbol and emblem of the knowledge economy, and become a major engine and driving force for the promotion of economic and social development." Jianping He is now the Art Director of Phoenix Creative Park, and as such will play a major role in this exciting phase of chinese history.

Jianping He welcoming visitors to the Phoenix International Design Festival

There were many signs that the opening of Phoenix Creative Park was no ordinary event:

The end of a ceremony is traditionally marked by some kind of firework,	here a cloud of confetti delivered with golden canons, accompanied by a string quartet.

To my right are the artists Imboden, Troxler, Moosbrugger, Justice and He, at my left high governement officials. I was kept on a short leash by my interpreter Tianying, who was worried that I might miss my speach, or the TV interviews, so ironically, I had only little free time for some of the poster exhibitions:

Melk Imboden, Hiroshi Tsunoda and Eva Moosbrugger

Melk Imboden showed the photo portraits of graphic designers that he had published in a book last year and exhibited in Lucerne, Switzerland

together with the posters by the corresponding designers. Eva Moosbrugger's glass onjects and Hiroshi Tsunoda's product designs, lamps and logos, are in the vitrines.

Posters by Niklaus, Annik und Paula Troxler, and fashion design by Kathrin Troxler

Niklaus Troxler's exhibition poster, a repeating poster	Jianping He introducing Niklaus, Kathrin, Paula and Annik Troxler
	Paula and Annik Troxler
Paula Troxler	Kathrin Troxler

New Generation - 11 chinese designers

Type design by Studio More from Shanghai	Fashion design by Wang Ying
Posters by Li Jiong and Long Gang	Niklaus Troxler casts a critical eye
	My wife Anne who took many of the pictures on this page

Some of the people I met during the Phoenix Design Festival

Aweng, art director, Hangzhou	Bi Xuefeng, graphic designer, Shenzhen	Candice, editor, Intouch Zhejiang Hangzhou Weekly	Bob Chen, graphic designer, Hangzhou
Chen Zhengda, graphic designer CAA, Hangzhou	Dai Shu man, graphic designer, Hangzhou	Dong Jian Hua, graphic designer, CAA, Hangzhou	Jon Fong, graphic designer, Hangzhou
Joseph Foo, graphic designer, Malaysia	Gu Jiayan, graphic designer, More, Shanghai	Gu Xiao, graphic designer, More, Shanghai	Han Bin, Phoenix Creative Park, Hangzhou
Han Tianying, interpreter, Hangzhou	Han Xu, graphic designer CAA, Hangzhou	He Jianping, graphic designer, Hesign, Berlin & Hangzhou	Veronica Ho, Dean of the One Academy, Malaysia
Huang Kuang-Nan, president National Taiwan University of Arts	Huang Yonggang, graphic designer, Shanghai, Hesign, picked us up at the airport	Melk Imboden, graphic designer and photographer, Switzerland	Jiang Zhenhua, graphic designer, More, Shanghai
Lorraine Justice, director of Design School, Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Kan Tai-keung, graphic designer, Hong Kong	Sun Hee Kim, sculptor, Berlin	Jana Kloss, sinologist, Hesign, Hangzhou
Freeman Lau Siu Hong, graphic designer, Hong Kong	Tommy Li, graphic designer, Hong Kong	Leo Lin Chun Liang, graphic designer, Taipeh	Apex Lin Pan-Soong, graphic designer, Taipeh
Anita Lingg, manager of Eva Moosbrugger, Austria	Angelo Luedin, movie director, Switzerland	A maid of honor, Hangzhou	Manman, graphic designer, Hesign, Hangzhou
Eva Moosbrugger, glass designer, Austria	Pan Jian Yang, graphic designer, Shanghai	Pan Qin, graphic designer, Ningbo	Amanda Tam, manager of "Kubrick" bookshop, Hongkong
Kathrin Troxler, fashion designer, Switzerland	Annik Troxler, graphic designer, Switzerland	Paula Troxler, graphic designer, Switzerland	Niklaus Troxler, graphic designer, Switzerland
Yvonne Tsan, purchasing manager of "Kubrick", Hongkong	Hiroshi Tsunoda, product designer, Barcelona	Wang Huiru, graphic designer, Shanghai	Wang Ying, fashion designer, London
Annika Wolfzettel, graphic designer, Hesign, Hangzhou	Xu Jiang, president CAA, Hangzhou	Xu Jun, graphic designer, Hangzhou	Yu Jiadi, graphic designer CAA, Hangzhou
Yu Ming Lung, graphic designer, Taipeh	Zhang Liyan, graphic designer, More, Shanghai	Zhou Fong, graphic designer, CAA, Hangzhou	Barbara Zuercher, movie director, Switzerland

Abbreviations: CAA China Academy of Art, Hesign, More