Great post Kaiser. As someone who recently returned to the US after 8 years in Shanghai (and 2 decades before that in Taipei), your letter was poetry to my ears, albeit with a strong Beijing kouyin. I am also scheming as to how I can spend half the year in China. For those of us who have spent significant time in country, we realize that beyond the hyperbole (positive or negative) daily life continues and the core factors that attracted us in the first place haven't really changed.
A seriously informative post—but maybe more importantly, a seriously inspiring post. Glad to see some of us former Beijingers are making it back. You may find this (stylistically very different, and much shorter) post of mine to have some overlap, or to at least be entertaining: https://chajournal.blog/2024/02/25/in-beijing/
Thanks Kaiser for this post, a welcome reprieve from the mindless anti-China rhetoric of many Western media! During June/July I spent twice a couple of weeks in China (Beijing, Shaanxi, Shanghai and Liaoning), and my impressions were very similar to yours. The situation in general looks much better than half a year ago; definitely no economic collapse. But one main problem remains: Both Chinese and foreign business people are still rather pessimistic. Many private entrepreneurs feel they are under double attack from Washington and from Zhongnanhai. To really get the economy roaring again, there is a need to re-gain the confidence of private investors who now feel very much unloved.
Great piece and definitely one I personally connect with - I've recently made my way back there as well for a visit and had a great time with family and friends, and I was astonished by the scorching heat, the clear blue sky and its further evolution in just about everything I could think of, resonating particularly with your passage about its consumerism. (I'll tell someone off if people say there's no good food in Beijing again!).
With what I saw, I'm expecting great things to come with the easing on visa and digital infrastructures made easier for the visiting foreigners. The attempts are obvious and effective, although there's a lot of room to improve, I'm sure it'll be amended soon.
It's nice to see Peking Bikinis in hutongs, the battalion of bike traffic with people smoking and texting in their slides again beside both historical sites and modern mega structures... There's something magical and relaxed about Beijing I can't put my finger on, and one that's comforting. Perhaps I'm thinking in the eyes of a visitor, as I did hear about just how competitive and stressful the life here could be for children and parents. Hope your stay was fruitful Kaiser, but judging from your essay, it absolutely seemed that it was!
So happy to hear you had such a good experience! I long to go back to Taiwan, where I spent almost 5 years between 1990-2001 - (and then 18 months in Beijing 2007-8) - can’t wait till I get to the stage when kids have flown the nest & I can take 6 months & head back!!
When I lived in Beijing in 2000, the amount of dust/pollution was such that my white t shirt would be yellow after biking through the town. It sounds like Beijing is tackling climate change with gusto, something that I wish my town in Alabama would emulate.
Was also recently there for a couple weeks last month, though I would point out that a lot of the goodies in China, would be very very difficult to enjoy for the average foreigner (i.e, those that isn't fluent in Mandarin and don't know the general outlays at lesat to some extent.) for example, driving around with the Gaode map was amazing, much better than Google map, but then I realized it was in Chinese only .... which obviously isn't a problem for me, but probably will be for quite a few others people I'd suspect :P (granted, to even get to the point of being able to self drive in China itself probably already self selected out the non Chinese speakers. )
Almost all apps now require at least one time phone text confirmation, and most apps can only be registered with local phone numbers, while this is understandable, that combined with a very much self sufficient and large local app eco system, again makes for some serious problems for non speakers .
Great post Kaiser. As someone who recently returned to the US after 8 years in Shanghai (and 2 decades before that in Taipei), your letter was poetry to my ears, albeit with a strong Beijing kouyin. I am also scheming as to how I can spend half the year in China. For those of us who have spent significant time in country, we realize that beyond the hyperbole (positive or negative) daily life continues and the core factors that attracted us in the first place haven't really changed.
A seriously informative post—but maybe more importantly, a seriously inspiring post. Glad to see some of us former Beijingers are making it back. You may find this (stylistically very different, and much shorter) post of mine to have some overlap, or to at least be entertaining: https://chajournal.blog/2024/02/25/in-beijing/
Thanks Kaiser for this post, a welcome reprieve from the mindless anti-China rhetoric of many Western media! During June/July I spent twice a couple of weeks in China (Beijing, Shaanxi, Shanghai and Liaoning), and my impressions were very similar to yours. The situation in general looks much better than half a year ago; definitely no economic collapse. But one main problem remains: Both Chinese and foreign business people are still rather pessimistic. Many private entrepreneurs feel they are under double attack from Washington and from Zhongnanhai. To really get the economy roaring again, there is a need to re-gain the confidence of private investors who now feel very much unloved.
BTW I published a short summary of my impressions here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7218730669378592768/
Great piece and definitely one I personally connect with - I've recently made my way back there as well for a visit and had a great time with family and friends, and I was astonished by the scorching heat, the clear blue sky and its further evolution in just about everything I could think of, resonating particularly with your passage about its consumerism. (I'll tell someone off if people say there's no good food in Beijing again!).
With what I saw, I'm expecting great things to come with the easing on visa and digital infrastructures made easier for the visiting foreigners. The attempts are obvious and effective, although there's a lot of room to improve, I'm sure it'll be amended soon.
It's nice to see Peking Bikinis in hutongs, the battalion of bike traffic with people smoking and texting in their slides again beside both historical sites and modern mega structures... There's something magical and relaxed about Beijing I can't put my finger on, and one that's comforting. Perhaps I'm thinking in the eyes of a visitor, as I did hear about just how competitive and stressful the life here could be for children and parents. Hope your stay was fruitful Kaiser, but judging from your essay, it absolutely seemed that it was!
Wonderful piece! Didn’t have the chance to meet last time, see you in your next trips!
So happy to hear you had such a good experience! I long to go back to Taiwan, where I spent almost 5 years between 1990-2001 - (and then 18 months in Beijing 2007-8) - can’t wait till I get to the stage when kids have flown the nest & I can take 6 months & head back!!
When I lived in Beijing in 2000, the amount of dust/pollution was such that my white t shirt would be yellow after biking through the town. It sounds like Beijing is tackling climate change with gusto, something that I wish my town in Alabama would emulate.
Was also recently there for a couple weeks last month, though I would point out that a lot of the goodies in China, would be very very difficult to enjoy for the average foreigner (i.e, those that isn't fluent in Mandarin and don't know the general outlays at lesat to some extent.) for example, driving around with the Gaode map was amazing, much better than Google map, but then I realized it was in Chinese only .... which obviously isn't a problem for me, but probably will be for quite a few others people I'd suspect :P (granted, to even get to the point of being able to self drive in China itself probably already self selected out the non Chinese speakers. )
Almost all apps now require at least one time phone text confirmation, and most apps can only be registered with local phone numbers, while this is understandable, that combined with a very much self sufficient and large local app eco system, again makes for some serious problems for non speakers .
Kaiser - what is the Chinese name of the Golden Weasel bar? Heading to Beijing next week and I'll need to check it out!
Sometimes you’ve gotta just get out of that driver’s seat & give someone else a go. That’s what rest stops along highways are supposed to be for.
It’s official: Kaiser is coming back as rocker musician. 🤘🤘🤘🤘🎸🎸🎸