Hello from Adelaide, Australia.  I'm at the IUTAM Congress.  The big news today:  the 2012 IUTAM Congress will be held in Beijing.  The Chinese delegates made a brilliant bidding.  Among promised items are good food, low registration fee (which will pay for all lunches), National Conference Center in the Olympic Village, and a tour to the Great Wall (which is also included in the registration fee).  So start planning for the trip.

Professor Bai Yilong, of the Cinhese Academy of Sciences, will chair the 2012 Congress. 

Wei Yang, the president of Zhejiang University, presented the bidding to the Congress Committee.  At the dinner he told me that the Chinese delegates had been bidding for hosting the Congress for 20 years, a whole generation!  Heartiest congratulations! 

I wish the Chinese delegates had also promised a visit to Terracotta Army in my home town.  Wishful thinking I know.  Maybe we can persuade our colleagues at Xian Jiaotong University to host an after-Congress event.