Led by the president, a high delegation of Renmin University paid a visit to Maastricht University this week. Renmin is the Chinese word for “people” .Renmin University was the first university that was founded under the Communist regime and the president was very proud of this. The university is very strong in social sciences and a good partner for Maastricht. The visit was nice, but there was one major problem. Initially the delegation planned to arrive in the morning and leave in the evening for Amsterdam. But as the date of the visit approached, their schedule became tighter. The final schedule was tight but doable: the delegation would arrive in the afternoon at about 2PM and wanted to leave at 8PM. The most risky part was the reception (5.10 – 6 PM including 3 speeches) followed by a dinner in “De Rozemarijn”, 6.10-8 PM. To serve a dinner in such a short time slot is already a challenge for “De Rozemarijn”. The food is great, but it takes some time before the food is served. Of course the schedule was too tight, in particular because our UM president, who had to deliver the first speech, came late. So after the reception we hurried to the restaurant and arrived at about 6.20 PM. When we were all seated, the president of Renmin University suddenly announced that he wanted to leave at the latest at 7.15 PM because he was tired. For a Chinese dinner, this is normal. The food is served right away all together at the round table and then you just “dig in”. After about one hour the most important person leaves the room and before you can blink your eyes, everybody has disappeared. The difference with a Maastricht dinner cannot be larger. After some discussion we managed to convince the president that if we would be able to finish at about 7.45 PM he would be in time in Amsterdam. The chef and the waitresses in De Rozemarijn did an excellent job. Our 3-course menu was finished at 7.30PM and it was most funny to see that the moment the president of Renmin University finished his dessert, he stood up and was ready to go. Of course, the other members of the delegation followed and the Maastricht people were left alone for their coffee and tea. Yes, it was a remarkable event and once again we noted that although the world has become flat, it is the “hills” that matter.