HONG KONG, December 31, 2012 — As 2012 comes to an end, we look back at Asia Society Hong Kong Center's accomplishments in our first year of operations at our new home in Admiralty.

Since the grand opening of the Center on February 9, we brought more than 150 programs to the general public, spanning business and policy, arts and culture, as well as a new core component — an exhibition and exhibition-related programs — attracting a total of 34,485 visitors.

We invited prominent speakers such as Ezra Vogel, Henry Ford Professor at Harvard University; Zhu Min, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Nicholas Platt, Former U.S. Ambassador and senior diplomat, President Emeritus Asia Society; Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand; Cui Tiankai, China's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; Guido Westerwelle, Germany's Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Former Deputy Chancellor; and historian Niall Ferguson. We closed out the year 2012 with World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan.

On the arts and culture side, we hosted a fundraising Cantonese opera performance by Law Kar-ying, Li Pui-yan, Dr. John C.C. Chan, and Lady Ivy Wu in February and a Buddhism in Contemporary Society lecture series. We organized two film festivals: International Buddhist Film Festival 2012 Hong Kong in May and the Asia Society Summer Film Series 2012 in May and June. Dr. Shan Jixiang, Director of the Palace Museum in Beijing, also spoke at the Center on the future of Chinese museums. World-renowned cellist Wang Jian gave a solo performance at the Center after a screening and discussion of the film From Mao to Mozart. We transformed our roof garden into a stage for the theatre production of To Kill a Mockingbird in October. We also co-presented A City Retreat Lunchtime Concert Series with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.

In addition, we hosted our first Family Day, with a Thai theme, in May 2012. Asia Society Gallery (former Magazine A) also featured two three-month long exhibitions, Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art and When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry from the Susan L. Beningson Collection, which attracted a total of 19,854 visitors through mid-December.

Please watch the video below with highlights from Asia Society Hong Kong Center in 2012. We look forward to bringing more fantastic programs to the community in 2013.

Video: 2012 highlights (5 min., 33 sec.)