I know, I know – I’ve been delinquent for a month, failing to meet the criteria I set up for this site a long time ago: lots of posts every day, each one wittier and more insightful than the last. And to make the situation even more shameful, I haven’t said a word about the most dramatic event of my life in years, my move back to Beijing.
I’ve now been here an entire week, but four days were spent from dawn through dinnertime with my new client; I had my phone turned off and saw no email the entire time. And this state of affairs is likely to continue. My new job is unlike any I’ve had before, and I simply cannot get distracted by extraneous compulsions, like blogging, eating and sleeping. I will try to set aside an hour every day to put something up, but those days of ten new posts in a single day are over for now. That demanded copious amounts of time surfing for news, not to mention then coming up with something special to say about it. All those links on my blogroll – I haven’t clicked a single one in a week. For the next 18 – 24 months, my life is going to be like this. I’m not complaining; it’s the opportunity of my life and I still can’t quite fathom how it came to me. But it calls for a new lifestyle, a new discipline. I have no choice.
About Beijing…. Despite the crisp temperature and usual aggravations (mainly the agonizingly slooooow Internet) , I am loving it. When I lived here during SARS I had no one, no friends to speak of, no one to ask questions to or hang out with. In terms of relationships, this blog is a miracle worker. I now have so many friends here and in Shanghai, so many offers of help that I’m really overwhelmed. I spent this morning at an event a reader invited me to; that reader and others are helping me find an apartment. Instead of drifting in the freezing wind, I feel I’m part of a community, and that makes all the difference.
Beijing never looked so good. I know it’s cloying to repeat the hackneyed phrase that “China is changing,” and yet there’s no way to avoid it, not when the change is this radical. Beijing has become, in many ways, a sophisticated urban center with many of the amenities – and freedoms – you’d expect in New York or Amsterdam. At the same time, the people of Beijing, who kind of scared me a few years ago, seem infectiously nice. I don’t know if this reflects their maturity or my own, and I admit I’m mystified by it. I had so many ugly experiences in 2002 with nasty cursing taxi drivers and people who tried to rip me off. This time, it’s been a wholly different experience; I feel that I’m not in the same Beijing. Of course, I’ve only been here seven days, four of which were spent walled off in a conference room at the city outskirts. But still, I’m seeing tangible, dramatic examples of transformation everywhere I look. Needless to say, I’ve still had a number of “only in China” experiences, but this time they’re making me laugh, not cry.
So I’m loving Beijing and feel that somehow fate brought me back here, as though it knew I had unfinished business here. Three things prejudiced me when I was here last: a record cold winter, being all alone and SARS. I think it was the aloneness that hurt the most; even if (when) the temperature plunges, and even if bird flu arises as the next SARS, having friends will make it all small stuff.
Meanwhile, I won’t be able to be here responding to comments all the time and replying quickly to emails as in the past. I think the site will survive: It’s morphed into more of a forum than a blog and I hope fewer posts won’t kill it off. As usual, as the number of posts drops, site traffic has disintegrated in recent weeks, but I simply can’t worry about it. I’ll probably never stop blogging, but it’s got to take a lower place on my list of priorities. Thanks for sticking around and for bearing with me. And let me repeat: I’m loving Beijing and am so glad i came back.
1
By Daniel
I just joined TPD and Richard immediately hangs up his saddle! Well nearly!
Is he trying to tell me something? Should I check my deodorant?
January 14, 2007 @ 5:28 pm | Comment
2
By 88
>>sophisticated urban center with many of the amenities – and freedoms – you’d expect in New York or Amsterdam.
Good bagels and hash bars? Let’s not go nuts here: Beijing is less craptacular than it used to be — maybe it has reached the level of Boston or London, but objectively speaking (of course) NY and Amsterdam are in a different class.
Now if you’d said LA…well, Beijing surpassed that stage before it ever heard of the Olympics.
January 14, 2007 @ 8:27 pm | Comment
3
By kenzhu
Um…Richard where did you go in Beijing. I’ve been in small cities in Ireland that are much more cosmopolitan than Beijing. I guess, in three years I’ve seen more department stores and the other window dressings of the common-denominator, corporate, walmart western-culture. Let me know when you find a store that has a good wine selection and then I might start changing my mind.
January 15, 2007 @ 6:48 am | Comment
4
By richard
Hey, allow me my honeymoon with Beijing. I’m not going nuts – it’s still Beijing, with lots of warts and bad weather and fuck-ups. But I really have seen the cool nightlife and underground places that I didn’t see in 2002. I could have thought I was back in Greenwich Village. I’m not saying Beijing is now like Greenwich Village. Just that if you look for these types of places, they are there. I tried looking four years ago and they weren’t here, or they were better hidden.
Also, the sophisticaltion of the people I hang out with here – it’s like there’s been a seismic leap. Again, I’m making this observation in regard to a relatively small section of the population and am not saying all Beijing is now totally hip and cool. And, as I said more than once in the post, these are the observations after a mere three days of having the city to myself. They are first impressions and may alter significantly in the weeks ahead. But don’t get upset that I’m enjoying Beijing – there really is a lot here to enjoy, if you really want to find it. (Again, based on my first impressions this week.)
January 15, 2007 @ 8:54 am | Comment
5
By chriswaugh_bj
Welcome back, Richard. Don’t let the nay-sayers get you down, despite (or perhaps because of) all the reasons to hate this city, as you have discovered, there are many reasons to love it. Good to hear you’re having a better experience this time round.
January 15, 2007 @ 11:51 am | Comment
6
By richard
Thanks Chris, it seems I’m damned if I like Beijing and damned if I hate it – some readers will blast me for taking either side. The truth is there’s a lot here to like, as well as plenty to complain about. What I truly believe is there are increasingly more things to like, and a lot of the things I once complained about are being improved. It’s not utopia yet, but it’s a lot less resident-hostile than it used to be, and in some ways it’s actually a cool city.
January 15, 2007 @ 12:07 pm | Comment
7
By 88
>>some readers will blast me for taking either side.
I wasn’t blasting you. I was joking, really. Also, I have a moral obligation to belittle Boston and LA whenever the opportunity presents itself. I actually prefer Beijing to Shanghai in a lot of ways (but not the food).
January 15, 2007 @ 12:22 pm | Comment
8
By OtherLisa
I would give you a long, rapturous description of the wine bar I just went to this evening..but of course, LA is worthless.
Richard, see you in Beijing shortly! I’m ready to hit the nightlife.
January 15, 2007 @ 12:47 pm | Comment
9
By Brendan
Hey, welcome. I just got back to town a few days ago myself, and I have to say, it’s great to be back in Beijing. Be it ever so humble and all that.
Let the canards know when you’re free for dinner/drinks
January 15, 2007 @ 3:25 pm | Comment
10
By kenzhu
Richard, sorry to blow up your honeymoon. I guess if you’ve had some really good experiences you should describe them, not simply just tell us that Beijing is the new cultural Mecca. Just remember that piece of advice from junior high: show not tell
January 15, 2007 @ 9:22 pm | Comment
11
By Ivan
Well, thank God Ivan is gone. Because if Ivan were still commenting and blogging here, then TPD might slow down and the TPD community might fall apart, if Ivan were here.
HA! HAHHAHAHAHAHA!
(dripping with sarcasm the size of Niagra Falls)
Oh yes, oh yes, TPD has become a more peaceful place (or in Californian terms, “less rude”) since my departure.
And boring as hell.
Thank you, Nurse Ratched! (cf, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.) Thank you, Nurse Ratched (whose name is legion), thank you for making TPD a very CALM place after you purged TPD of Ivan’s madness and (OH! OH SO NAUGHTY), “rudeness.”
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, you can see how much this blog has improved, now that it has been purged of Ivan’s “rudeness”.
Oh yeah. (Dripping with more sarcasm like Niagra Falls…..while the site meter goes down and down………….)
January 15, 2007 @ 10:04 pm | Comment
12
By Ivan
Well, thank God Ivan is gone. Because if Ivan were still commenting and blogging here, then TPD might slow down and the TPD community might fall apart, if Ivan were here.
HA! HAHHAHAHAHAHA!
(dripping with sarcasm the size of Niagra Falls)
Oh yes, oh yes, TPD has become a more peaceful place (or in Californian terms, “less rude”) since my departure.
And boring as hell.
Thank you, Nurse Ratched! (cf, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.) Thank you, Nurse Ratched (whose name is legion), thank you for making TPD a very CALM place after you purged TPD of Ivan’s madness and (OH! OH SO NAUGHTY), “rudeness.”
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, you can see how much this blog has improved, now that it has been purged of Ivan’s “rudeness”.
Oh yeah. (Dripping with more sarcasm like Niagra Falls…..while the site meter goes down and down………….)
January 15, 2007 @ 10:06 pm | Comment
13
By Si
@88 – it has reached the level of London!?!?!
yeah, beijing, with its theatres, art galleries, museums and vibrant multicultural communities really puts london in the shade…..
January 15, 2007 @ 10:23 pm | Comment
14
By Raj
Maybe it’s better to simply enjoy what Beijing has to offer, than say it’s “great” or “crap”.
But personally I’m glad I don’t have to worry about the “before-and-after” with Chinese cities. I’ve only seen them this century, so I can just afix my general standards to them without caring about the fact a shopping centre used to be a field.
January 16, 2007 @ 1:50 am | Comment
15
By z
It is childish, petty, or simply stupid, to get upset when Richard found Beijing to be a reasonable livable city.
January 16, 2007 @ 2:32 am | Comment
16
By flotsam
– “reached the level of London” ????
– “really puts London in the shade.” ????
I can’t say London is my favourite city [and I happen to be from the UK] but from a cosmopolitan and cultural viewpoint it takes some beating.
But when it comes to pollution levels, I agree, Beijing leaves London standing.
January 16, 2007 @ 6:10 am | Comment
17
By Sonagi
He-e-es ba-a-a-a-ack!
January 16, 2007 @ 8:16 am | Comment
18
By richard
Ivan, good to see you back. I think site traffic has plunged due to the lack of posts in recent weeks – this has happened many times in the past when I’ve gone away. A lot of the traffic comes here from aggregators and search engines like Technorati and from other blogs linking to fresh posts. No new posts, no hits from the aggregators or other blogs. Now, perhaps most of the readers were coming here to see your comments – that’s kind of hard to measure, but it’s not inconceivable. Why don’t we do a test for a few days: keep commenting and we’ll see if traffic rises in parallel with your contributions.
Meanwhile, yes, the site has been boring in recent weeks and will probably get more boring. I’m very unhappy about it but I have to make choices. I can’t have two full-time jobs, and keeping this site firing on all cylinders is a fulltime job.
January 16, 2007 @ 8:34 am | Comment
19
By richard
I guess if you’ve had some really good experiences you should describe them, not simply just tell us that Beijing is the new cultural Mecca.
Thanks for telling me how I should post.
Beijing isn’t necessarily the new cultural Mecca. But there are some very cool places here if you look for them. Maybe one day when I get the time I’ll write up individual places. But right now I only have time to offer a general overview. My apologies if you found this deficient, offensive or stupid.
January 16, 2007 @ 8:39 am | Comment
20
By OtherLisa
I’d also imagine the site traffic has dropped due to all the connection problems in the PRC.
Sorry I haven’t been keeping up my end. Stoopid job. Stoopid social life…
January 16, 2007 @ 8:42 am | Comment
21
By Brendan
Dude, Richard, didn’t anyone tell you? Liking Beijing makes you a PRC apologist! Welcome to the club!
January 16, 2007 @ 11:26 am | Comment
22
By richard
I’m learning, Brendan. I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint some readers. I am no China hater and I think there’s going to be a lot of pro-China content in this blog going forward, along with the usual anti-government rants. I didn’t move here because I hate it, but because I actually like it and see so much promise here.
January 16, 2007 @ 11:59 am | Comment
23
By richard
Lisa, you’re right, the impossible Internet here in CHina hasn’t helped. I know the traffic has plunged, but at nearly 1,800 readers a day, each one staying on average more than 2 minutes per visit, I don’t really think it’s that terrible.
January 16, 2007 @ 12:35 pm | Comment
24
By Bukko in Australia
Don’t feel the need to apologise for not blogging. Living is more important than blogging, and if it isn’t, then one needs to get a life. Most blogging is just wanking anyway, and commenting on blogs is usually just spouting off in an attempt to show how clever one is. At least it is for me.
Please keep providing a perspective on China to lots of people who are interested in it but who are not there. And a different perpective for your readers who are. And a place for CCCP sdpies and trolls to snoop, apparently. But no pressure, mate!
January 16, 2007 @ 12:47 pm | Comment
25
By Al
Whats everyone got against nude negroes/
January 17, 2007 @ 8:32 am | Comment
26
By OtherLisa
Go away, Al.
January 17, 2007 @ 2:46 pm | Comment
27
By nausicaa
Glad you’re enjoying Beijng, Richard! It’s no New York or Berlin, but it’s got its charms, and it’s been and will probably always be my favourite city.
(I’m guessing that the bloom will wear off the rose soon enough for you, though. ;-))
Ivan, what I can say? Give us another chance and come back please, you brilliant bilious bastard. If our dime-store politesse bothered you so much, you wouldn’t still be lurking here.
January 18, 2007 @ 5:51 am | Comment
28
By Al
Obviously other lisa has a problem with nude negroes. What she doesnt realize is that having nude negro females walking down your street could make your day.
January 18, 2007 @ 9:49 am | Comment
29
By OtherLisa
Al…why are you here?
January 18, 2007 @ 3:04 pm | Comment
30
By boyce
“But I really have seen the cool nightlife and underground places that I didn’t see in 2002.”
Names, please! Just curious which places you think are a cut above what you found here in 2002?
Cheers, BB
January 21, 2007 @ 9:32 pm | Comment