January was a month of fulfillment and harvest. HOPE’s 2-day annual staff conference took place in Shanghai’s historic Xu Jia Hui on 12-13 January with a theme of art and history.

Day 1:

Xu Jia Hui used to be a centre for foreign culture and exchange. It was named after famous Paul Xu, one of the first persons in modern time China bringing about foreign culture and Christian faith. A museum called Tou-Se-We witnessed progression of Chinese culture absorbing foreign culture.

Other than museum, HOPE team also went to see the St. Ignatius Cathedral.

A special activity of the conference is the staff photo competition on Xu Jia Hui. Every HOPE member took their favourite angle down and a panel of judges consisting of representatives from parents, HOPE students and teachers from partner institutions selected their favourite. Winners were revealed during dinner time. Here are the photos of the winner:

At dinner time, Daniel summarized 10 top news for HOPE. He especially pointed out that the average working year for staff in HOPE has reached 8 years, with one third of them having been with the company for more than 10 years and 3 of them 2 decades. For veterans who have been working longer than a decade, Daniel gave out surprise gifts.

Game time was also a time worthwhile remembering. Staff drew their expectations for HOPE in the coming 2024.

Day 2:

The second day was a day about art appreciation. The team went to Oil Tank ArtMuseum to see an exhibition called ‘Friends in the Art’.