I couldn’t bring myself to write my diary on Sunday – Mum and Shelley left Beijing at mid day and all of a sudden the city of 14 million people felt as empty as a village grave yard at dawn. It had been a wonderful holiday with the cities, hutongs, rivers, and galleries providing the perfect setting for rediscovering one another while exploring the dynamism of China. . Over the decade of setting up businesses many thousands of miles away from home, I had 
developed pretty good armour, essential in the battles with insecurity that ambush an entrepreneur. Having close family nearby was in the early stages a massive readjustment, transitioning to a questioning of my solo global tour, and maturing to a sheer enjoyment of having unconditional support from people who trust and love me. For anyone reading this diary that knows a person starting a business, I urge you to reach out to them and say “peace be with you.” Peace being with me wasn’t on the minds of the officials at the Andingmen Immigration centre on Monday as I went to extend my visa. I have mistakenly managed to get an “L" Visa which is ‘issued to an alien who comes to China for sightseeing or visiting family members/friends.’ Partly true, in that I did have visiting family, but I felt the ‘alien’ description to be a bit harsh. I didn’t broach the terminology with the young lady who enjoyed listening to my stammering request for an extension. I could not retain my one year multiple visa if I wanted to extend this stay although I could fly to Hong Kong, a full 3 hours away, and keep this “L” visa. Application for an “F” visa – also for ‘aliens’ – would take longer and need a letter from my office. I had wanted to triumph with my mandarin but as a precaution had taken the ever impatient Nicole with me, and the official smiled as Nicole explained the impossibility of my situation. I sat shaking my head when the young lady cooed in perfect English, the “RMB499 (US$62) is exactly the same price as it costs a Chinese to stay in England.” Life seems hard enough sometimes without the frustration of institutional pettiness 
Tuesday and Wednesday brought elation and frustration in equal measure. Finally I would be able to buy myself a couch as I won a client entirely on the strength of the China operation – Coding Technologies. What was particularly nice was that this came as a result of two referrals; one from Thailand and the other from Beijing. The German company makes audio compression technology for mobile phones – interesting subject matter, but not something I was about to attempt to sell in Chinese. Nicole sent out the release, still unconvinced that any magazine would want to publish our client’s information. My friend Hisham told me once that I have tendency to do too much myself, not delegating enough. In China I am disabled to an extent that has me considering his words as I reflect on the need to delegate almost every aspect of my professional life here as I am to some extent mute. For some one who makes a living talking, this is the ultimate disability. Nicole ran out of time, and to some extent, patience, and I was left with a release sent but not followed up – with some journalists writing to me in Chinese. I called on the media monitoring company that supplied me with the original media list, who told me that they would like to help me, and that I should call them when I did need help, but on this ocassion, they couldn’t help. My first client engagement was turning into a similar feeling to being a legal alien at the visa office. Clara of Kai Communications has come into the picture again as a saviour and her calm professionalism is restoring my faith in modern day heroines. A modern hero, John Sculley, former Apple CEO, is visiting Beijing on the 12th June and I have become involved with the event being organized by the China Entrepreneurs. Sculley is one of a growing number of people beating a path to Beijing in search of ventures, and I can’t help but think how nice it must be to arrive with an advance party knocking down all the walls before one gets here. 
For our last outing Shelley, Mum and I went to the Mutianya section of the Great Wall. Dick, an English speaking guide had told Shelley on Thursday that he would take us to the Wall for RMB200. However at 0800 on Friday morning a nice young lady called to confirm the pickup. We would have a guide and for RMB400 we would go to the Wall, Ming Tombs and the Jade Factory. After much back and forth we agreed to go to the Jade Factory but not have a guide nor visit the tombs for RMB 200 – the factory pays every guide RMB100 in petrol coupons, increasingly valuable as fuel has increased 30% to RMB5.09 (US$0.63) per litre forcing taxi fares up from RMB1.60 to RMB2.00 per kilometre this week. The toilets were attended by an extremely happy man who immediately proceeded to massage my legs as I washed my hands. Surely enough we bought a stone carving before setting off for the wall, some one hour away. The building of the Great Wall began in B.C. 214 under Emperor Qin as the Han Chinese tried to stop the barbarian Mongolians from the north invading the new unified China. 300,000 labourers were used to connect a number of the existing defensive walls into a Great Wall, which over the following 1000 years was extended to 4,160 miles. I never cease to be amazed by the scale of the vision of the Chinese rulers nor the way in which the Chinese work together to accomplish this vision. 
Shelley, my sister, when asked about a lasting impression of China said ‘there is a palpable sense of collective strength and progress, and somehow an acceptance that there will be casualties on the road to progress.’ For Mum it was ‘that China is such a diverse and rich place country that is so misunderstood outside.’ As we we watched the Beijing Jugglers and acrobats at the Tian Di Theatre it ocurred to me that some of the rigidity that leads to the frustration in the Visa queue is same strength of purpose that created the Great Wall, and manifests itself today in the heroic acts of the modern day circus. China is a country of many victims, but also many heroes and heroines. With the departure of Mum and Shelley, it is bereft of two of mine. 
developed pretty good armour, essential in the battles with insecurity that ambush an entrepreneur. Having close family nearby was in the early stages a massive readjustment, transitioning to a questioning of my solo global tour, and maturing to a sheer enjoyment of having unconditional support from people who trust and love me. For anyone reading this diary that knows a person starting a business, I urge you to reach out to them and say “peace be with you.” Peace being with me wasn’t on the minds of the officials at the Andingmen Immigration centre on Monday as I went to extend my visa. I have mistakenly managed to get an “L" Visa which is ‘issued to an alien who comes to China for sightseeing or visiting family members/friends.’ Partly true, in that I did have visiting family, but I felt the ‘alien’ description to be a bit harsh. I didn’t broach the terminology with the young lady who enjoyed listening to my stammering request for an extension. I could not retain my one year multiple visa if I wanted to extend this stay although I could fly to Hong Kong, a full 3 hours away, and keep this “L” visa. Application for an “F” visa – also for ‘aliens’ – would take longer and need a letter from my office. I had wanted to triumph with my mandarin but as a precaution had taken the ever impatient Nicole with me, and the official smiled as Nicole explained the impossibility of my situation. I sat shaking my head when the young lady cooed in perfect English, the “RMB499 (US$62) is exactly the same price as it costs a Chinese to stay in England.” Life seems hard enough sometimes without the frustration of institutional pettiness 
Tuesday and Wednesday brought elation and frustration in equal measure. Finally I would be able to buy myself a couch as I won a client entirely on the strength of the China operation – Coding Technologies. What was particularly nice was that this came as a result of two referrals; one from Thailand and the other from Beijing. The German company makes audio compression technology for mobile phones – interesting subject matter, but not something I was about to attempt to sell in Chinese. Nicole sent out the release, still unconvinced that any magazine would want to publish our client’s information. My friend Hisham told me once that I have tendency to do too much myself, not delegating enough. In China I am disabled to an extent that has me considering his words as I reflect on the need to delegate almost every aspect of my professional life here as I am to some extent mute. For some one who makes a living talking, this is the ultimate disability. Nicole ran out of time, and to some extent, patience, and I was left with a release sent but not followed up – with some journalists writing to me in Chinese. I called on the media monitoring company that supplied me with the original media list, who told me that they would like to help me, and that I should call them when I did need help, but on this ocassion, they couldn’t help. My first client engagement was turning into a similar feeling to being a legal alien at the visa office. Clara of Kai Communications has come into the picture again as a saviour and her calm professionalism is restoring my faith in modern day heroines. A modern hero, John Sculley, former Apple CEO, is visiting Beijing on the 12th June and I have become involved with the event being organized by the China Entrepreneurs. Sculley is one of a growing number of people beating a path to Beijing in search of ventures, and I can’t help but think how nice it must be to arrive with an advance party knocking down all the walls before one gets here. 
For our last outing Shelley, Mum and I went to the Mutianya section of the Great Wall. Dick, an English speaking guide had told Shelley on Thursday that he would take us to the Wall for RMB200. However at 0800 on Friday morning a nice young lady called to confirm the pickup. We would have a guide and for RMB400 we would go to the Wall, Ming Tombs and the Jade Factory. After much back and forth we agreed to go to the Jade Factory but not have a guide nor visit the tombs for RMB 200 – the factory pays every guide RMB100 in petrol coupons, increasingly valuable as fuel has increased 30% to RMB5.09 (US$0.63) per litre forcing taxi fares up from RMB1.60 to RMB2.00 per kilometre this week. The toilets were attended by an extremely happy man who immediately proceeded to massage my legs as I washed my hands. Surely enough we bought a stone carving before setting off for the wall, some one hour away. The building of the Great Wall began in B.C. 214 under Emperor Qin as the Han Chinese tried to stop the barbarian Mongolians from the north invading the new unified China. 300,000 labourers were used to connect a number of the existing defensive walls into a Great Wall, which over the following 1000 years was extended to 4,160 miles. I never cease to be amazed by the scale of the vision of the Chinese rulers nor the way in which the Chinese work together to accomplish this vision. 
Shelley, my sister, when asked about a lasting impression of China said ‘there is a palpable sense of collective strength and progress, and somehow an acceptance that there will be casualties on the road to progress.’ For Mum it was ‘that China is such a diverse and rich place country that is so misunderstood outside.’ As we we watched the Beijing Jugglers and acrobats at the Tian Di Theatre it ocurred to me that some of the rigidity that leads to the frustration in the Visa queue is same strength of purpose that created the Great Wall, and manifests itself today in the heroic acts of the modern day circus. China is a country of many victims, but also many heroes and heroines. With the departure of Mum and Shelley, it is bereft of two of mine. 
