Luxury Chopsticks

This week marked the first time that I was not pre-occupied with operational things, except installing the washing machine, and upon my return from Singapore I was greeted by a clean and tidy SOHO and felt that life is getting good. I landed 2 months ago to set up a Beijing office and finally I have a working office, started legal proceedings and completed EASTWEST China’s fee paying project, this time in Shanghai.

I decided to work with Ken Lee, the chap who endeared himself to my by his observation that snow on my arrival in China was a good omen, and started proceedings to set up the Representative Office. There is a reasonable list of required items with the China business operating as a subsidiary of the Singapore Company. An indication of how many ministries will be perusing my Registration documents, Bank letter of good standing and personal resume, was given by the requirement to submit 12 colour photographs. The process should take four weeks and cost RMB8,500. Ken was the only accountant who wanted RMB; a shrewd move as I watch the US$ depreciate daily in spite of two American congressmen being in Beijing to threaten a 27.5% import duty on China unless it revalues the currency.

It seems that China and the Chinese are now going to have to wrestle with wealth, and the Government announced on Tuesday 21^st its plan to impose a consumption tax on disposable wooden chopsticks, wooden floor panels, yachts, and luxury watches as of April 1 of this year. 15 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks, the eating tools dating back for 3,000 years also called kuaizi, are thrown away every year.

I amuse myself now with looking for Chinese words with identical Pinyin spellings and the same of the four tones; Kuai (4^th tone) also variously means quick, piece, meat chopped, middleman, a unit of money, and happy – hence shengri kuai le (happy birthday). Of course the Chinese character is different but really context is so important to understanding Chinese. I have been considering restarting Chinese classes now that the day to day operations in the office are nearly complete. I still have an intellectual fascination with the characters, am anxious about the inability to not be in command of the company that will be set up here, and want to be able to enjoy events that aren’t specifically for expatriates.

On Friday I went to see a Chinese production of ‘The Playboy of the Western World’[1], and sat through an Irish turn of the century play as good as deaf. The play, a comedy in 3 acts I was later to learn, centres on a young man who gains favour in a small village by claiming to have murdered his abusive father. Seemingly inconsequential, it struck me that this was a challenging play to stage because it strikes at the heart of the Confucian reverence for elder men, especially the father. Here were young Chinese actors and actresses dressed as workmen and massage parlour harlots acting out filial infidelity and sexual promiscuity. It may not sound like a big deal sitting in London or New York, but for Beijing it dawned on me that the amateur group were brave for their play selection and overtly sexual displays on stage.

Their urban anonymity reminded me of the book that my father has recently published[2], in which he analyzes a British Victorian society suffering from ‘cultural schizophrenia’ – a period depicted in literature at once in love with the romanticism of the rural past and passionately embracing the modern urban reality. As I landed in Shanghai, China’s most modern metropolis, for the Asian Public Real Estate Association’s inaugural conference, I was to see the comparable pace of change in China to that which transformed the UK during the industrial revolution.

The APREA conference is our second fee paying project managed out of the Beijing office, with full support from the Singapore team. David Turnbull, former CEO of Cathay Pacific showed photos of the transformation of Shenzen, across the border from Hong Kong, from farming land to tightly stacked urban maze of concrete, steel and tarmac. “To feed all the Chinese people, the small farms will be consolidated and the farmers moved to high rise complexes like this,” said the avuncular Mr Turnbull.

The massive urban development in China means more good business for the delegates at the conference and indeed for me, but as mentioned previously is having a social cost. Presumably a number of the 78,000 civil disturbances recorded last year are the result of this transformation, and the loss of a physical connection with the earth and a forced embrace with the concrete future. With wooden chopsticks considered a ‘luxury’ it seems that the rural poor will be paying yet another price for urbanisation.

 

Footnote: requirements for a Representative Office

The application letter (to be singed by General Manager or Chairman of BOD), please provide following information
Name of the RO, both English and Chinese.
Registration Place of RO (can be extracted from rental agreement)
Name of the Chief Representative and representatives
Business scope
The intended operating period of the RO (normally 3 years)
Photocopy of the Headquarters’ Business License
Photocopy of the Credential Letter issued by the bank of the HeadquarterOriginal Appointment Letters of Chief Representative and Representatives issued by the Director or General Manager of the Headquarter
Identity certificates (Passport or ID card) of Chief Representative and Representatives
The resumes of Chief Representative and Representatives (including education background and working experiences)
12 Photos (2 inch, light blue background) of Chief Representative and each Representative
Office Rental Agreement (the lease term should be not less than one year)

 

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[1] J.M. Synge John Millington Synge (1871-1909)

[2] The Victorian Novel, Professor Emeritus, Louis James. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN:0-631-22628-1

2,791 Miles out of my comfort zone

I have missed writing the diary, a function of a rather stressful and purely self-imposed extraction from my comfort zone in Singapore. Moving three different apartments in as many weeks, missing out on more horse racing with the Queen, and moving 2,791, has me to question why, at the age of 39, I am embarking on another start up.<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[1]<!–[endif]–>

If I am honest it is less to do with ego this time than with a sense that I must keep challenging myself, or I will atrophy in the uber comfortable confines of Singapore. Arriving back from Beijing to Singapore two weeks ago I realized just how easy it is to relax in an environment where really all major decisions and threats have been neutralized by warm weather and omnipresent government control. As the latest elections in Singapore ‘heat’ up the main debate is happening on-line, but journalist Lee u-wen of the Today newspaper worries about Bloggers, ‘They're anonymous, they are eager to comment, but do they know the rules?<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[2]<!–[endif]–>[2] According the Parliamentary Elections Act bloggers ‘are legally not allowed to indulge in anything that can be construed as campaigning. ..Nor can blogs conduct "political advertising"[3]. ^{<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>}Listening to Power 98 with fresh ears, I heard all the recruitment advertising for the army – I’d forgotten that one of the main stations is Singapore Armed Forces Radio. The patronizing tone, the false American accents and the absence of any issues being discussed on any of the stations reminded me immediately of the China International radio in Beijing – these two states are run in parallel lines and somehow the perpetual dumbing down reduces one to aquiesence.

As I moved out of my China-town apartment and into St. Martins Lodge, the stability of the Singapore political system seemed more of a guarantee than a threat. I bought the 3 bed apartment at the top of Orchard Road as a base for myself as I headed to Beijing, but I hadn’t envisaged the strength of longing that I would have for actually settling in. Sonya, one of the team at EASTWEST, urged me to organize a housewarming party, and as I watched Queenie face paint friends I knew that she was right to encourage me. Jim Littel, instrumental in the Beijing housewarming 2 weeks prior, observed that I have a habit of holding parties in empty spaces – and that’s kind of how life feels right now; 2 new spaces for new opportunities.

Some of my inspiration comes from the sense that I am not the first to do this, far from it in fact, and indeed I am sometimes embarrassed it has taken me so long. Singapore is the 7th largest trade partner of China. Temasek Holdings, established in 1975 to own and manage the Singapore Governments assets, has invested over US$4.2bn in China but this is dwarfed by the US$33.15bn in bilateral trade each year, although in fairness it appears that nearly 90% of that is Chinese goods being sold or shipped via the ports of Singapore. There are some 1,217 projects that Singapore companies have invested into China, and I guess that with my little venture we can make that 1,218, as EASTWEST is technically a Singapore company.

I mentioned my latest exploits to Daisy Goh, Deputy Director International Operations of the Economic Development Board, as we placed our S$5 bets at the Queen Elizabeth II horse races on Saturday. The British High Commissioner had kindly invited me. I thanked him that day shortly after he was knighted by the Queen, becoming Sir Alan Collins. I asked him if he had been slightly nervous kneeling before an 80 year old lady waving a length of sharp metal about his head, and it occurred to him then that he had been in some danger and it rather added to the occasion. Daisy and I were pleased to place winning bets in the US$275,000 Queen Elizabeth Cup, and I chose to see it as a good omen for my own race to get EASTWEST established in Beijing. Daisy is an interesting and well travelled mandarin of the EDB, having studied and worked in Paris and been responsible for negotiations with Lucas Film and other creative industry initiatives, and it was with pleasure that I accompanied her in the High Commission Jaguar back to town from the Kranji race course, overlooking the Straits of Johor.

On the drive back, Daisy echoed Ken Livingston comments, Mayor of London who said on opening Mayoral offices in Beijing and Shanghai, “I view closer relationships with China as the very highest strategic policy for London.”<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[4]<!–[endif]–> I took these words, and the winning of S$14 on the Queens Cup, to be encouragement as I boarded Air China 970 from Singapore to Beijing – this is the overnight flight that leaves at 00:15 and arrives at 06:00 and promises no sleep as the seats fit Asian behinds and the trolley dolleys wheel through when they should in theirs. It was only halfway into the 30 minute trip at dawn to JianWai SOHO, sipping my Starbucks latte, that I remembered that in order to reduce my luggage to a prudent 20.7kg I had stowed my tennis and squash rackets in the overhead locker. These were now en-route to Singapore no doubt. By the way – there is no English language phone number on the Air China website – not any, and certainly not for left luggage.

All this moving has resulted in me losing several things, and forgetting others, in a way that I have found disturbing not for the loss of a material possession but rather it has lead me to question whether after 10 years in the comfort zone I have not lost something else.

<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>
<!–[endif]–>

Man zou.

(take care)

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<!–[endif]–>[1] Ever the eternal optimist, in researching this diary I discovered that if the fortune of Bill Gates was stacked in US$1.00 bills it would reach from Singapore to Beijing, 2,791 miles. Coincidence – or just a comforting thought – I know which I will believe.

[2]<!–[endif]–> http://www.todayonline.com/articles/107441.asp

[3]<!–[endif]–> ibid

<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[4]<!–[endif]–> Straits Times page 51 March 4^th

50,000 Lommodipys

Beijing Diaries. Vol. II. Issue. IV (26 Feb 2006)

50,000 Lommodipys

On closer inspection China is full of contradictions, counter currents in the tidal waves of change and culture. In my fourth week in Beijing I listened to Mr China, hosted an art exhibition and learnt that in spite of some signs of non sense, this place is opportunity in chaos.

About 100 expatriates struggled to find seats at the Bookwork café on Tuesday to hear “Mr China[1]” himself, Tim Clissold. This is a book about China’s “institutionalized confusion,” and we listened keenly to his accounts of spending US$400m on companies only to learn of managers building identical competitive factories with the proceeds, long negotiations with factory managers as Tim tried to give them pay increases, and was held hostage by workers fearful for their jobs. At the end of 4 years the New York investor’s money had drained away into the soil of China’s industrial heartlands. Uncharitably, as Tim expounded on the new opportunity being Chinese companies buying western ones, I thought that failure had been rather profitable for the Armani clad author, if not for those who had funded his China MBA.One of Tim’s leading themes is that China has the apearance of being illogical while foreigners abandon their senses when they have their passport chopped at the gates of the middle kingdom. Both appear to me at once true and false. Mark Day, Chief Representative for the Motion Picture Association[2] who has worked in China for 30 years, told me that the difference between Oriental and Occidental people is that Orientals exist on shame and occidentals on guilt. In other words that face and collective acceptance are motivators in Confucian societies compared to individual atonement in judao Christian ones. Therefore westerners, including me, come to a society that is operating on an equal but opposing philosophy and when they meet both are disorientated, both struggling to create order which is structurally impossible. Chinese behaviour seems illogical because it is driven by a different set of values, like that of the factory manager who resisted a pay increase because he lived in the same dormitory as his workers and acceptance was more important for his wellbeing than self aggrandisement.

I had similar degrees of confusion attempting to settle into Unit 0504 of Jian Wai SOHO on Friday – one month after coming to China. It doesn’t seem possible to have one worker labour at a task, and once the two cleaners had finished their 1.5 hours of work I passed them RMB40 (US$5) to settle the RMB35 (US$4) invoice. Twenty minutes later and must gesturing I relented and found another RMB6 so that they could return to me RMB10. Meanwhile a band of 5 men came to poke, point, consult, plan, discuss, agree, talk on walkie talkies,review and ultimately change the light bulb for the decking. It didn’t cost any more money to have all these workers, but there are so many people that a task for one person becomes overly complex and purpose for a committee.

Perhaps B&Q needs a committee to work on their signage, as they play their part to keep Chinese at work in their homes doing DIY. British retailer B&Q is one of the largest retailers in China, promising on their signage, “More than 50,000 Lommodipys to ofeeryou one-stop shopping[3].” Near SOHO is the Beijing branch, 1 of 48 stores which contribute GBP116.8m (US$203m/RMB1.624m) turnover to the Kingfisher Group with sales of these Lommodipys growing at 55.7% per year. I purchased a HAIER microwave for RMB279 (US$34) to complement the Hyundai stereo that cost a princely RMB190 (US$24). It seems illogical that these goods can be so cheap, but considering the agency cleaners cost RMB12 (US$1.5) per hour in the capital city, it is perfectly conceivable that factory workers in second tier cities like Xian are earning US$20 to US$30 per week – what one American factory worker would make in one hour[4]. The 50 to 60 people that came to my SOHO warming party on Friday are living the modern China lifestyle; a cosmopolitan mix of well heeled young Chinese and westerners aspiring to be the next Mr or Mrs China. Rebecca[5] kindly agreed to have a showing of her contemporary Chinese paintings by Tong Zhenggang and Yao Junzhong and sculptures by Yong Jie Pang. It has been a month since I got to China and this was a real milestone for me, one that required making a commitment to Beijing and starting the process of building a social network which for me, is soul food. As the days pass, the self doubt of relocation is transitioning to an awareness that the “institutionalised confusion” of China is something that everyone contends with, and that the feeling of chaos is like living next to a busy road – after a while you don’t notice the noise. Mark told me that SARFT[6], the ministry that Frank Yao[7] works for, limits the number of American movies entering China to 20 per year. The various ministries involved have negotiated royalty payments in excess of 70% leaving the 7 Hollywood studios with significantly less than the 50% that they receive in other markets. As I paid RMB10 (US$1.2) for the fully packaged DVD of the ‘non-approved’ “BrokeBack Mountain” at the store today, I considered that in the face of “institutionalised confusion” someone, somewhere can always get something done in China, even if it is not the person or in the way that one might have expected. After 4 weeks I have no pretensions to be Mr China, but I have invested in a few Chinese Iommodipys.

Man zou (take care)

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[1] ISBN: 0060761393

[2] http://www.mpaa.org – responsible for anti piracy in China and also my neighbour in Soho

[3] I include the handphone camera shot poor as it is simply to prove the retailer really had this sign. Apologies for the quality – I was stopped earlier from taking photos by an astute manager.

[4] 2004 reports indicate that the average manufacturing wage is $54,000 a year. Source: http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2004/01/dispelling_the.html?t=archive

[5] Myself, Rebecca, Allen (Mckinsey consultant) and Vivian (entrepreneur).

[6] State Administration for Radio Film and Television

[7] See Beijing Diary 19th of February

China Boy

I’ve made progress this week, the blanket of snow covering Beijing on Monday being a good omen by legend, as it brings water for the crops in spring. In the first working week of the Year of Dog I have learnt about the myriad laws for company incorporation, rented an office in downtown Beijing and been given an insight into who survives in Beijing, who thrives and who simply walks away.

Monday morning began my education into the labyrinthine legal maze facing me in setting up the company here. Essentially my decision is between setting up an FIE (Foreign Investment Enterprise) as either a Representative Office or Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE). As far as I can understand, they key difference is that the Representative Office cannot function as a stand alone entity, unable to invoice or receive payments from a client. It is taxed 10% on its expenses, and staff have to be hired through FESCO or another government linked employment agency. The real benefit is that there is no need to bring cash into China. The WOFE functions entirely as an independent business with all the rights that gives, costing between US$5,000 and US$15,000 to set up. A function of currency controls, the WOFE must have a stated working capital and this money must be brought into China and registered with SAFE (State Administration for Foreign Exchange). Four consultants later and I am confused whether I need to commit RMB100,000 (US$12,000) or US$100,000 to ensure that my license for a WOFE would be approved. Each consultant had differing stories of which amount would ensure success with the up to 14 ministries that need to approve a business license application.

Pondering the legal entity I was able to be more decisive when it came to committing to an office. I was sold on Unit 0504 in block 10 of Jian Wai SOHO, one of 20 blocks designed by Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto. However, when I told Tina, the rather capricious agent, she said it wasn’t available. Why take me to see a unit that’s not available At 136m2 for RMB8,500 (US$1,620) it is US$7.92m2, less than a third of what the most expensive accountants, Dezan Shira, spend and half that of the cost conscious Mr Lee of Lee & Lee, and so I believed the 5^th level unit in this centrally located complex represented good value. The deciding factor was the decking area that meant we could sit outdoors – unique to the 5^th level and a feature I haven’t seen in any other offices. Body language is universal, and as I sat determinedly in the sumptuous red chair of the Jian Wai showflat, Tina understood that it would be prudent to find the owner, prising open her clam shell phone and securing in principle agreement. By Thursday I had signed the bi-lingual rental contract provided by SOHO management corporation with the young track-suited owner Li Xioalin, and handed across RMB2,500 (US$312) as a deposit – the maximum ATM’s will give out per day.

Excited, I went to Centro in the Kerry Centre, the informal second board room for many expatriates, and met with Americans David Wolf and Kristian Kender. I asked David, a commanding figure with a capacity for facts, figures and over 10 years living in China what would be his advice to me, a China apprentice, “retain your sense of intrigue and remember that you don’t ever know it all.” As we drank Australian red wine listening to the American jazz singer in the Hong Kong owned bar at the epicentre of one of the fastest changing societies, it seemed sensible enough advice to follow – a week of exploring the legal complexities, viewing real estate, and trying to figure out how to see my blocked blog, had left me fairly worn out.

I dedicated my Friday afternoon to regaining some of my lost fitness – for I have realised how this relocation has dislocated my appetite, sleep patterns and ability to ever feel less than tired. I checked out Bally’s^[1] Gym in SOHO which included full facilities and a pool for RMB5188 (US$648) per year and then had a trial work out at Evolution – I was entitled to a free session for buying too much coffee at Starbucks.

Friday evening was spent putting back the calories as I celebrated Rob & Sarah’s birthday at a new and unfeasibly small Mexican bar called Saddle. Amazingly I bumped into two people that I had studied Mandarin with in January 2004 at BCLU – a French girl whose affinity with Beijing is expiring and an ABC (American Born Chinese) lad called Patrick who was most obviously in his element. Beijing, with all its dirt, spitting, pace, and need to be wary of all things, can be both a safe port and purgatory.

There is no doubt that IKEA on a weekend is like Dante’s inferno. Starting with Circle One – Those in limbo asleep on anything that doesn’t move. Circle Two – The lustful after the specials in the ‘sale bin’. Circle Three – The gluttonous who had second helpings of the Swedish meatballs in the restaurant. Circle Four – The hoarders who tucked towels under their arms. Circle Five – The wrathful who got frustrated at the silly Swedish names of everything. Circle Six – The heretics who tried to leave by the fire exit even though the sign said it was alarmed in every conceivable language, and Circle Seven – The violent trying to leave the crushing pay queue. Circle Eight – the fraudulent who came without any intent to buy; that was Rebecca and I as we couldn’t handle the inferno.

In one way IKEA is a microcosm of China – where modern retail meets Chinese reality, a place of real consumption and aspiration. SOHO, owned by a Chinese, designed by a Japanese, rented by an Englishmen and furnished by Swedes, may be an indication of how quickly there may not be such a simple figure as a China boy. How exciting is that!

Nearly as exciting as going to Rebecca’s art gallery opening this evening stylishly named, ‘88 Art Documents Storehouse’ in Feijia Village. There I met many famous artists including Tong Zhengan, but I fell in love with the China boy paintings by Yao Junzhong (sample at top of article). The art scene in Beijing is vibrant, exploring issues of modernisation, romanticism of the past and wrestling with the moral distraction and attractions of commercialism.

Writing from his hotel room in a very different city, Montreal, a good friend Keith Mitchell wrote to me in response to Brittle – and I wanted to share this verse. There is a poet in us all.

China Boy

I wonder, why?
Approval? Never!
Excitement? Maybe.
Adventure? Probably.
Challenge? Certainly.
Pretending with extravagant visits.
Satisfied with collecting stamps.
Fear is our leader.
But his defeated opponent.

That’s all for this week:

Man Zou (慢走) – which means literally walk slowly, or take care.

Great Expectations

Sitting in the grandly named Metropolitan, unit 10-A, that lies outside the fourth ring road of Beijing, I am listening to Handel’s Messiah enjoying the uplifting score after my first week in China that was marked by missing Singapore, skiing, my first car crash, and some cynical conversations about China.

I will only permit myself one cathartic sentence to say that leaving Singapore has not been easy; my wonderful friends, the super team at EASTWEST, balmy weather, riding my scooter in shorts to the driving range, and sheer ease of life, have all been missed. As it was my decision to set up an office in Beijing, I can give myself no sympathy but have tried this week to stay committed to my vision for leaving my home of 10 years on the eve of my 39th birthday, arriving at dawn on the 25^th January, to start a new company in the biggest potential market on the planet.

One of the fastest growing markets in China is leisure, with China becoming the fourth biggest tourist destinations, and also a fraction of its own population enjoying leisure time. In my first week I’ve been skiing twice to different resorts. My expectations were high when Carly and Mary Jane told me about Nanshan, one of 200 ski resorts in China, and we hired a Hyundai elantra and driver for RMB600 (US$72) to drive us 1 ^1/2 hours north of Beijing. The car park was filling up with Audi’s, Hyundai, and Toyota’s containing passengers able to spend RMB340 (US$42.50) to ski[1]. The confusion was inside where the Chinese practice of having multiple people for one function was in evidence – buy a ticket from one person and have it checked by another a few feet away. Luckily for Carly she was able to rent the entire ski outfit too – another indication that this wasn’t St. Moritz. A good friend of mine, Steve, had refused to come skiing because of the appallingly high number of accidents on the slopes – Chinese ski as they drive; into one another without indication or brakes.

On Friday my cab driver duly looked left as we crossed a 4 way no stop junction and the other driver looked right – both entirely neglecting to look at the direction of on-coming traffic. I did – but my Mandarin doesn’t extend to ‘that big car is going to hit us’ – at least not quickly enough. Both drivers got out and proceeded to light smokes without remonstration, which surprised me, and within minutes the roads on all 4 sides were backed up as other drivers drove as close as they could for a look. Somehow it is like the cars arrived but the roadsense gene, like the enzyme for processing alcohol, just doesn’t exist in Beijing drivers.

I was on my way to meet Marianne Freise, a German lady who has lived here for 5 years and used to run a large PR firm. Marianne has been kind enough to share some information about the competitive PR scene here, not least the practice of giving a Hong Bao (red packet) with cash to journalists when they come to an interview or conference. She passed me also details of a lawyer and I spent a happy day emailing lawyers and accountants to set up appointments to learn about company incorporation here. It felt good to be slowly starting the wheels turning and piecing together the costs for legal, staff, accommodation, taxation. The main anxiety of course is not the cost of setting up the business, but rather getting the clients.

It has been my vision, or theory, that all eyes will focus on China until the Olympics are over on August 24^th 2006. Certainly when I turned on my TV this Sunday morning to CCTV 9 (the only English language channel available without cable) a songstress was singing “I love Beijing, I love China, I love the Olympics, I am in love” and so it seems to me that China is as excited as everyone else. I want to help people make the most of the Olympics – and I believe I need to be here to do that. The questions to answer this week will be:

a) Legal form the company will take – Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise or Representative Office.
b) Size and location of office – knowing that Chinese staff choose a company partly on the prestige of the location.
c) Size and location of the apartment – knowing that Beijing traffic can be, quite literally, bad for ones health.

The question on the lips of the mates I had a beer with, while watching England thrash Wales in the 6 nations match on the South African channel, was how in favour China will be after the Olympics. My own naivety was crushed on Wednesday when, after only a week on-line, my blog and the entire wordpress.com blog publishing portal was blocked in China. ‘A nice little business in China” – is viewable from everywhere except from where I am. Marianne was telling me of having emails sent by her firm to a lawyer entitled “legal disclaimer” being returned to her with a “get out of here” remark. Her lawyer didn’t ever receive the email. I am reading a book by Gordon G. Chang[2] entitled “The Coming Collapse of China” and it depicts an authoritarian regime desperately holding onto power and attempting to assuage the rural poor, reconstructing the bankrupt financial system, while maintaining a face of calm composure to the outside world.

I am not sure that I have maintained a calm composure myself this week, in a darkened dry moment getting out my Treo and tapping ‘Brittle.’

I’m brittle. Beijing.
Shaving blades scratch and slash
My nose bleeds
The dried blood never leaves
Early or late to bed
My burning eyes always China red
In the Beijing dust lies the future and the past
Brittle Olympian, I will last.

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[1] Bear in mind average income in China is still only US$4 per day. Rob told me that at the same resort the local peasants had barricaded the road previously demanding monies be paid to them by the resort and it’s patrons.

[2] Isbn 0-09-944534-4

Domestic bliss

I went shopping armed with my dictionary. I managed to buy a Midea kettle (the best brand the shop assistant assured me) with transparent sides which lights up the water with a delicious blue glow when it boils. The only downside is the power cable is only 6 inches long, a full 6 inches too short to be plugged in without me holding the kettle in mid air.

Found O-zone fitness club. 800RMB for 1 month or 4650RMB for 12 months – it’s the same price as Singapore. I thought my mandarin was breaking down when it seemed that if I joined for one month I could not use the pool, although full term membership brought with it a hearty swim. It was indeed the policy to deny short termers the pool! I found it hard to resist joining though when the brochure entreated me “Join – what are you warting for?” I must call Fisher to confirm.

Evening spent with Hua, Marianne, Rebecca and Ste (a Danish granite merchant) at the Aria bar in the China World hotel. Apparently Ste buys granite in China in vast quantities and ships to Europe. As the most stylish bar in Beijing I checked to see if they also had Midea blue glow kettle but was quietly smug to think that I was the only consumer to have snagged this impressive asset.

Finding digs

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 spent with Rebecca, Carly, Lisa and two Danish chaps at A Fun Ti – Xinjiang folk music and table top dancing.

Beijing – minus zero before dawn

Landed at 06.00 to minus 5 degrees. Quite a change from 30 degrees 6 hours earlier when I boarded the plane. A seat on China airlines costs half the price of one on Singapore Airlines; I think it’s because the seats are about half the size, the food half as appetizing (I declined the tray) and when we landed in Beijing pre-dawn we had to board a miserable bus and wait on the tarmac with the minus 5 degree wind biting at the bare shoulders and legs of the passengers still dressed for sunnier climes. I can only presume that they’ll have this sorted before millions descend for the Olympics in 926 days from now.

Still – Met with Robster and he passed me his key before heading to work as head hunter, and then I connected seamlessly with the broadband internet in one of the numerous coffee shops in Beijing; it’s a crazy business model as I sat for two hours sipping half a cup of cheap (RMB 12/US$1.5) coffee.

Objective for the day – Get connected

Task one: Get a Beijing mobile. Went to the shopping centre and managed to recall enough of my beginners Mandarin from this time in 2004 to negotiate a new prepaid card. In China they have numbers all listed out with different prices; the cheap ones (like mine) have a 4 (unlucky because it sounds the same as death in Mandarin) and the more 8’s (luck) the more expensive. +8613439650295. For RMB75 I have a new prepaid and downloaded another 100RMB of credits from China mobile -I’ll see how long it lasts.

Highlight of the day – calls from family and friends to wish me ‘Happy Birthday’ – nieces from France gave me a sing song; the first time I’ve ever heard Camille (4) and Elea (3) sing. I am too far away from them too often. The price I pay for my selfish endeavours.

Task two: Getting the network started. I made appointments to meet an old PR partner for lunch tomorrow, a PR consultant to Omnicom on Friday for dinner and solid confidant and friend from my 2004 stint here, Kristian Kender, on Sat. afternoon. Between them they know plenty about the market, the prices, the staff, the legal issues and pitfalls of this journey.

Evening is with Robster and friends – Rob has kindly set up a birthday party for me. It’s important to keep the momentum as I have left behind wonderful friends, colleagues and a lifestyle most would envy. A quick visit to his new office at Consult Group and off into town.

Beijing – what a gift!

Changi airport: Checked in to Air China flight 970 paying S$105 for the 5kg excess luggage – in the age of high fuel prices nothing is given for free.

Mixed feelings after spending intense 2 days with the team at EASTWEST to ensure that they are all well, and have a clear sense of purpose for the next month.

I will fly to Beijing on the red eye and will welcome in my 39th birthday somewhere over Hong Kong, landing at 0600 to a welcome of snow, rapacious Beijing taxi drivers and the challenge of setting up an office in Beijing.

It’s 1000 days to the Olympics (opening 08.00 on 8th August 2008) and I intend to get established and be ready to do what I can to support the British Olympic team when they get there/here.

Looking forward to opening birthday cards sent from home and saved for the tranquility of 5 miles high.