Today I set about finding an apartment in Beijing. The sun is occluded by the dust clouds thrown up by the perpetual construction in the city. As a result it is almost impossible to figure out which direction is north/south/east or west as one stands in one of the numerous non-descript square blocks.
I can rent a 3 bedroom apartment like Rob’s, just outside the 4th ringroad, for RMB4600 per month. The cost of accommodation is about half that of Singapore.
Popular here are SOHO developments – apartments that are zoned for use as offices. This is for two reasons: the traffic and the idea of buying one and letting the company pay the mortgate.
I met Hua, the former manager of EBA, for lunch. She has partnered with Wendy Ho taking an office in SOHO with 11 young staff sitting at shiny new computers, the odd Nano left synchronizing i-Tunes.
Apparently PR firms are growing at a rate of 40% or so, the local firms outpacing the multi-national ones. She thinks my plan to set up is a good one. I feel at once pleased and disappointed; it’s the right idea to be here but there is already stiff competition.
When I went to Singapore in 1995 I had done much less research and was fearless; this time my rigour raises anxiety. I resolved to not look down, but simply keep climbing the great wall of China.
At the end of the Day Rebecca took me to see an area of Beijing called 798 to the north east. Converted factory units are being used to house art galleries; Chinese and European contemporary art. High ceilings, industrial equipment and whitewashed walls with stylish young curators. I signed up my sister Shelley, an artist, for the newsletter from the JapanChina Art Project. I am pleased to find a bohemian quarter in this city rapidly destroying all remnants of history in favour of modern SOHO blocks.
The evening 
was s
pent wi
th Rebecca, Carly, Lisa and two Danish chaps at A Fun Ti – Xinjiang folk music and table top dancing. 
