Where is Amateur Radio growing the fastest? The answer may surprise you -- it’s China. The enthusiasm of Chinese radio amateurs was very much in evidence at ARRL Headquarters on Tuesday, May 24, when a dozen amateurs from Beijing and Shanghai toured ARRL Headquarters. The group -- which included representatives of Chinese AMSAT -- had attended the Dayton Hamvention® the previous weekend, where a booth for the Radio Association of China and its subsidiary, the Chinese Radio Amateur Club (CRAC, pronounced SEE-rack), was a part of ARRL EXPO.

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, met with Zhu San Bao, BY1CRA, Executive Vice Chairman of The Radio Association of China, to hear about the evolution of Amateur Radio in China and to explain ARRL operations in more detail. China is now represented in the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) by the Chinese Radio Sports Association (CRSA). CRAC has been established to cover all aspects of Amateur Radio and is assuming some of the functions of the CRSA.

The Chinese guests capped a busy period of international activity at HQ that began on Monday, May 16, with a visit by Gopal Madhavan, VU2GMN, who is a Director of IARU Region 3, as well as President of the Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI). The following day, two officers of the Viet Nam Amateur Radio Club (VARC) -- Chairman Nguyen Minh Duc, XV2REH, and President Nguyen Bac Ai, XV2A -- arrived to tour ARRL Headquarters and to discuss their plans for hosting next year’s IARU Region 3 Conference.

All of these visitors included Dayton in their itineraries. While the Hamvention always attracts many foreign visitors, the theme of this year’s event -- Global Friendship -- made their presence especially appropriate. To mark the theme, the ARRL EXPO area included exhibits representing, in addition to China and the IARU itself, four IARU Member-Societies: Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (Germany), Japan Amateur Radio League, Qatar Amateur Radio Society and Radio Society of Great Britain. The Radio Amateurs of Canada exhibit was nearby, rounding out our “global village.”