Beijing Diary 3rd August 2008 On my 39th birthday when I landed in China on 25th January 2006 I had conspired to build my empire quickly and easily in readiness for the Olympics and then to make my fortune in these two upcoming weeks. I was very much mistaken on all counts. The Opening Ceremony finds me having made significant inroads into establishing the company here, and two more besides, but it has taken significantly longer and more expense that I had planned, the saving grace being the joys of fatherhood and finding in Wei, a wonderful partner. 
We’ve spent the last six months wondering whether Beijing would really manage to shape up to expectations for ‘One World, One Dream.’ The controversy surrounding the torch relay was countered by the global sympathy over the Sichuan earth quake. The subsequent immorality of local officials stealing aid monies, and worse still the silencing of parents who are in arms about the substandard quality of their schools which lead to unnecessary deaths, has left observers including me wandering which way to turn. One of the central questions for me is whether the Olympics herald a great change in perception or a great act of self – deception. Opposing reports by the China Daily and Hong Kong Standard of a Hong Kong reporter assaulting a police officer during the latest tickets fiasco were illustrative of the dichotomy taking place in the media. This week when an Olympic official likened the Beijing pollution to sitting in a ‘steam bath’ I think there was an incredulity tempered with anxiety; Beijing really does need the games to be a success. I had made the mistake of believing that these Olympics were about fun and business and sport, but they are about much more than that. They are about China’s arrival on the international scene but at a time when internally the conflicts taking place are huge. I sometimes ask myself why the Government, which is all powerful, needs to pander to the international audience, but then it occurred to me that perhaps this is because the international respectability may come to counterbalance the negative domestic sentiment building around issues such as wealth inequality, inflation and pollution. It is the pollution that is making Wei and I most worried for Amity, as she crosses the 9 month mark and her surroundings become our main consideration. I calculate that we are close the 1,350 diaper’s changed mark, which makes us a net contributor ourselves to the local problem. Fatherhood is great, although I would have to admit to finding the need to put someone else first not easy for me; I have a terrible nagging feeling that I am being left behind all the time. Wei is a natural mother and I think too that women just get their emotional centre wrapped around the baby better than men do; not a pc thing to say but after 40 I resolved to be less defensive about these things. In one of the last great entrepreneurial acts that I had last year I booked a Villa the Commune, and we are going to make good use of a bad decision. As part of it’s amazing security procedures the Government made over 124 visa application changes in the last 6 months, Olympic ticket purchases have been literally a lottery (another one I didn’t win) and finally traffic bans are making logistics a nightmare. Apparently hotels are at 60-70% capacity instead of the 90-95% anticipated, and many people have left Beijing. The Villa is emblematic of my attempt to make money by setting up in time for the Olympics – it was a great idea but logistics and sentiment have left me with an expensive picnic spot by the Great Wall. Wei and I will go, along with Amity and our friends, celebrate our engagement. While in Singapore overlooking the Symphony lake on Thursday 24th July I proposed to Wei. It was a magical moment under the stars. As we travel the world to start new lives we do have only one world to live in and one dream to share it with. I will watch the Olympics with quite a different view to that which I had imagined, but a happier and healthier one I am sure. That is as long as these blue skies remain overhead. Man zou
We’ve spent the last six months wondering whether Beijing would really manage to shape up to expectations for ‘One World, One Dream.’ The controversy surrounding the torch relay was countered by the global sympathy over the Sichuan earth quake. The subsequent immorality of local officials stealing aid monies, and worse still the silencing of parents who are in arms about the substandard quality of their schools which lead to unnecessary deaths, has left observers including me wandering which way to turn. One of the central questions for me is whether the Olympics herald a great change in perception or a great act of self – deception. Opposing reports by the China Daily and Hong Kong Standard of a Hong Kong reporter assaulting a police officer during the latest tickets fiasco were illustrative of the dichotomy taking place in the media. This week when an Olympic official likened the Beijing pollution to sitting in a ‘steam bath’ I think there was an incredulity tempered with anxiety; Beijing really does need the games to be a success. I had made the mistake of believing that these Olympics were about fun and business and sport, but they are about much more than that. They are about China’s arrival on the international scene but at a time when internally the conflicts taking place are huge. I sometimes ask myself why the Government, which is all powerful, needs to pander to the international audience, but then it occurred to me that perhaps this is because the international respectability may come to counterbalance the negative domestic sentiment building around issues such as wealth inequality, inflation and pollution. It is the pollution that is making Wei and I most worried for Amity, as she crosses the 9 month mark and her surroundings become our main consideration. I calculate that we are close the 1,350 diaper’s changed mark, which makes us a net contributor ourselves to the local problem. Fatherhood is great, although I would have to admit to finding the need to put someone else first not easy for me; I have a terrible nagging feeling that I am being left behind all the time. Wei is a natural mother and I think too that women just get their emotional centre wrapped around the baby better than men do; not a pc thing to say but after 40 I resolved to be less defensive about these things. In one of the last great entrepreneurial acts that I had last year I booked a Villa the Commune, and we are going to make good use of a bad decision. As part of it’s amazing security procedures the Government made over 124 visa application changes in the last 6 months, Olympic ticket purchases have been literally a lottery (another one I didn’t win) and finally traffic bans are making logistics a nightmare. Apparently hotels are at 60-70% capacity instead of the 90-95% anticipated, and many people have left Beijing. The Villa is emblematic of my attempt to make money by setting up in time for the Olympics – it was a great idea but logistics and sentiment have left me with an expensive picnic spot by the Great Wall. Wei and I will go, along with Amity and our friends, celebrate our engagement. While in Singapore overlooking the Symphony lake on Thursday 24th July I proposed to Wei. It was a magical moment under the stars. As we travel the world to start new lives we do have only one world to live in and one dream to share it with. I will watch the Olympics with quite a different view to that which I had imagined, but a happier and healthier one I am sure. That is as long as these blue skies remain overhead. Man zou