Beijing Countdown - 320
Fatherhood Countdown – 33 days
I can’t believe that it has been two months since I last wrote. Well, in truth I can, because life has been a maelstrom of emotions, thoughts and necessary actions. I feel as though I am now re-emerging from a period during which I felt as much an observer as a participant, and felt disturbingly separated from any feelings that I could share. Now I am back.
Centre stage has of course been creating a new home for the imminent arrival of LP.
LP (Little Person) is the androgynous name we’ve given the baby because we have chosen to keep his/her gender a surprise. In our quest for a new home, Wei and I viewed some 25 dubiously appointed places, including an expensive (US$3,500 pcm) apartment decorated with red carpets on the walls, black marble walls separating rooms, and a 4x3ft broom cupboard fitted with a bed and toilet for a maid. Don’t ask. We finally settled on a 264m² 18th floor city centre apartment at the auspiciously named Global Trade Mansions.
What is amazing in negotiating with landlords here is that the normal rules of negotiating don’t apply . . .
Many landlords don’t legally own the property or have paid for them outright as one of the few safe havens for cash. Interestingly, Beijing is one of the few cities in Asia where rental prices are falling due to the ever increasingly supply, and we were able to convince our landlady to accept slightly less than her 10% yield target for her rental returns. C1-18A is a magnificent home that both Wei and I dreamt of – better than either one of us would have chosen alone, but better than both us could have imagined.
The extra space is useful because LP is due on Oct 30th, and will join what appears to be a growing band of new little citizens of the world. Our combined friends have had 12 babies this calendar year. Wei is proving to be a canny Mum already, sourcing things from around the world. Buying large wheel strollers is hard in China and so we ordered a Manhattan lite from Selah, Washington State. We have bought English baby bottles on-line from www.leyu.com in Beijing and a swing from Singapore. LP is already part of the global economy and along with his/her playmates will hopefully enjoy a not too warm future.
I have been adding to global warming in the past two months by traveling a lot, the price of having offices in two places that both need attention. I ended up in Singapore three times in four weeks for a combination of new business pitches and mopping up for staff that failed to deliver on work promised. The combined effect has been that I have felt as though I am spinning plates 3,000 miles apart and praying not to hear the sound of them crashing down as I contemplate the new costs of nesting. Fortunately EASTWEST Beijing is now starting to really gather momentum with new leads almost daily and the challenge is to find the ones that we can close and deliver on quickly and effectively. We are close to nearing the psychological RMB1m in sales and that feels like a good accomplishment. From Global Trade Mansions, I can see my office and feel somewhat amazed at the pace of change that my life has undergone in 18 months.
For some unforgivable reason one of the milestones that I didn’t mark in my Diary was that of 365 days to the Olympics; on reflection I felt overwhelmed by the personal challenges I was facing and considering the onslaught of athletes coming to Beijing was the least of my concerns. I submitted my application for tickets at http://www.tickets.beijing2008.cn/ but received none of the allocation. Wei received two tickets for a boxing match and one ticket for the closing ceremony. Less than 10% of people got the tickets that they applied for. One of the strange quirks of the lottery is that opening and closing ceremony tickets were allocated singly – the resale market is going to be crazy as people try to go in pairs. In a last ditch attempt I have submitted an application to be one of the eight foreign torchbearers at the opening ceremony. Vote for me if you can find me at the China Daily Olympics Torch page. Look for the picture of Wei and me in the "All Applications" box at the bottom of the page. At the moment, our photo is top row on the far right.
As Beijing gets ready to welcome its guests, Wei and I are making home as in any other city and that feels super. In readiness for the upcoming Party Congress there are more crackdowns on the media and blogs are again being blocked. But on the other hand there is also a crackdown on "illegal school shuttle buses" and "unqualified kindergartens" to improve child safety. The continuous contradictions exist with the desire for control and measures taken towards progress. At a recent Economist conference one speaker commented that the Chinese family lives with four generations under one roof: Emperor Pu Yi & imperialism, Mao & cultural revolution, Deng & openness, Hu & internationalisation. It is no wonder then that this level of discontinuity has led to such a complicated society. As we make our nest ready for LP I pray that for his/her sake that this society continues to display the best qualities of each of these generations.
Man zou
