Shenzhen first impressions

I've been here 2 weeks now, of which i've been living around the Huawei campus which is in the suburbs. It is only a 30 min bus ride downtown, or shorter by taxi (though at rush hour, both might take longer) and I've made it downtown a few times to meet friends for dinner (and to do a health check which is required to change my work permit).

Downtown Shenzhen is split in a few different areas but as expected there is a lot of new, tall office buildings and shopping malls, though further towards the border with Hong Kong you have the older buildings. There's some nice parks and a decent subway with a few lines (it's growing, and there should be a new line opening next to our apartment in 18 months or so). As most people now know Shenzhen was a tiny fishing village 30-odd years ago and now is a city of 10m people or so. It seems it has been planned quite well with a good highway system to get around and good interchanges and intentional placement of things like exhibition centres, universities etc.

Originally Shenzhen also had a border around it as it had different economic/tax systems compared to the rest of China (it was the "experiment" for China's economic reforms). Though that border no longer exists there are reminders of it, for example, one of the main highways heading north out of the center through the hills still has a big checkpoint there, which is not used. The highway just splits in the middle and goes around it, and the bus stop sits next to it - you walk through a ghost building full of customs boxes and railings for queues that have no been used for several years. Because of this there are other oddities too - two different colors of taxis, the green ones can only go in the suburbs (outside where the border was) and the red ones can go in the inner city and the suburbs.

No-one that lives here now over the age of 20 was born in Shenzhen. Everyone has moved here since the 80s so you get a real mix of accents (though the majority do seem to be from Southern China) and thankfully everyone speaks Mandarin (the same dialect as in Beijing) rather than Cantonese which neighboring Guangzhou and Hong Kong speak (and dominates around southern China) so that makes life a bit easier (though all Cantonese speakers can speak mandarin too). However it has also led to Shenzhen's reputation as being the crime capital of China (particular due to the high number of migrant workers that are only here short-term) though its probably way better than many Western cities, it does unfortunately mean its less common to just cycle around and leave a bike padlocked up somewhere like in Beijing.

However Shenzhen is actually quite bike friendly with lots of bike paths on the pavements, and a whole system of "Green Paths" which are hundreds of miles of bicycle lanes for more serious biking along the coast, through the hills or elsewhere, and another network of local bike lanes in different districts. Today I took one of the main bike lanes that goes up and over the hill that separates my suburb form downtown. It was a hard ride, but fun and a good way to test how capable my new fold-up bike is! The weather right now is perfect, about 25 degrees and not humid... unfortunately the Summer might be another story, but we'll see.

Shenzhen also has an area where the foreigners live, called Shekou, which has lots of trendy bars and restaurants (much centered around a massive boat placed in a small lake with fountains and accompanying light/music show). It is really convenient there to get a ferry to Hong Kong airport in half an hour (and to Hong Kong itself in an hour) and I guess some people like the sea-views. However it's over an hour commute from my office and more expensive. We're quite happy living a Chinese lifestyle in a beautiful community with 3 playgrounds, a big swimming pool, and lots of grassy areas for the kids to play on (as well as the balcony overlooking the mountains and a reservoir nearby to run around).

Shenzhen seems to have a few key features. One of which is the ridiculous nature of the apartment complexes. Shenzhen is the real estate capital of China. Most of the big real estate companies started here (to build the city from scratch) and made a lot of money here. There are so many ginormous apartment complexes with tends of buildings in each phase (and then some have more than ten phases as the company added more buildings on adjacent land they purchased). Most of the complexes are well designed though.

The second is that outside of the old border, there are a lot of local high streets or villages where the migrant workers live. These little villages haven't changed much in 20 years and are run-down, but cheap and full of atmosphere. Beijing had some too but Shenzhen has lots as they needed (and still need) cheap places for the migrant workers to live. We're going to enjoy exploring these places!

The move

A lot has happened in a month since I last wrote. I wrapped up my work at BSR, moved to Shenzhen, started working at Huawei, and found a new apartment here. Andrea and the girls are still in Beijing for a few months due to Andrea's work but will hopefully move early in the new year, while I'll be going back to Beijing next weekend to see them (and managing other plans so we can see each other every couple of weeks).

The main reason for the move is around the job - which is a really exciting opportunity for me, and hopefully Andrea will be able to make her work benefit from the move too. It might be tough on Hannah to move to a new kindergarten, and we';; likely have to find another nanny for Leah, but we've been open to moving somewhere else for a while since we've been in Beijing a long time. And Shenzhen is a great place - it's cheaper and greener than Beijing. There's no such thing as Winter here and there is less pollution.

We're going to have to adjust our lifestyle that's been fairly fixed in Beijing (going to parks, cycling everywhere, certain favorite restaurants, of course certain groups of friends) but we'll manage. We know a few people down here who i've already met up with and of course through our work we'll make many new friends (Huawei's campus here has 40,000+ working there for a start)!

At first it does seem strange to have different routines (how to get to work, how to get to kindergarten, where the local shop is etc) and it was really hard (and tiring) finding an apartment and trying to work out what is more important (a kindergarten that is 2 mins walk vs 10 mins walk; a local high st with tens of restaurants vs a few restaurants down stairs; a subway 5 mins walk away or 2 20 mins away; and more on bus stops, balconies, number of bedrooms, a bath, a study, a big kitchen, a swimming pool, a kids playground, and many other things). Eventually we made a decision and we'll see how things work out!

Paternity leave

As a result of a national holiday and paternity leave, three weeks off is coming to and end. I've gotten into a real "fatherly" routine and it feels like its been months! Waking Hannah up in the morning to get her ready for kindergarten, dropping her off, going to the new, local, market to pick up fruit, taking Leah downstairs for a "walk", helping Andrea out with work or catching up on reading whilst Leah sleeps, hanging out near Andrea's office the rest of the day (so she can provide the feeding when necessary) and then dashing back to collect Hannah again from kindergarten. It's a weird experience "playing" with a baby that can't really see or hear properly, can't really move around or grip anything, and can't acknowledge anything. Quite different to life with a 2.10 year old who is always talking (and certainly not afraid to tell us what is wrong with her if something is wrong rather than guessing with a baby), always having an opinion and quite demanding to keep satisfied (though also happy doing quite a lot on her own).

In fact we definitely do have a school "run" of sorts. We're always running to get to kindergarten in time since Hannah always needs waking up and then it takes a while to get her past the grumpy stage, address the twice-daily fight to brush her teeth, and then get downstairs. The plus side is that the kindergarten is literally a very short run away. Out the gate, and then a 100m dash to the kindergarten. In fact when we pick Hannah up (we're normally the ones doing the running to make sure we are there in time), and Hannah comes out with her best friend, they promptly and unprompted, begin running back home heading through the gate to the playground. So much for being exhausted from kindergarten!

Anyway, she's settled in fine; obviously having her best friend in the same class helps. I'm sure she's a bit behind as she's one of the youngest in the class and her Chinese is not quite as good as the others (presumably) but then we did just save 40 pounds on not needing to buy an English CD set that all the other kids are buying to use at home! She still gets an English lesson at kindergarten I believe (they have one foreign teacher) but I'm not sure what it covers. I'm sure it will be tough when she has to move to the new kindergarten next year.

Leah's also doing fine - we only have one other child to compare with, but as expected the first few weeks are easy with her mostly sleeping and feeding at 2-3 hr intervals. I forgot how much they defecate - though when she does it is much more pleasant than when Hannah does! She continues to get daily conversations/arguments going with the locals over us taking her outside before she's a month old. Thankfully they all just accept its a "cultural difference" and i don't bother with any actual reasoning (i.e. "maybe historically if you lived in an unsanitary and hold/cold environment, it made sense to keep a vulnerable baby and mother inside for a while, but in a well-off modern society with clean showers, clean clothes, heating (or a/c), vaccinations and concrete rather than mud outside, I don't believe you need to do that any more"). Andrea would go crazy if she couldn't shower for a month (and to be honest most of my Chinese friends don't stick to that cultural norm despite pressure from their grandparents).

We strongly believe kids need air (and its actually been quite fresh in the last week), sunshine (it's a nice 20 degrees in the daytime at the moment and lovely in the autumn sun), and exposure to nature (though Leah's eyes and ears still aren't really aware of much she is so young). For those outside China you really have no idea how much of an issue this is. We literally have had gangs of disproving elderly surrounding Leah telling her she needs to go inside and even trying to force more clothes on her (she was already way too hot). Funny that feelings run so high on that yet most of the time they'll happily smoke at home and few people in China have worked out what a chlid-seat is in a car yet, let alone think of actually having two hands on a steering wheel rather than one on a mobile phone. We've seen signs, thankfully, that those safety considerations are beginning to enter young people's understandings of Chinese culture more and more even if not the elderly.

So, two more weeks of work at BSR and then a new job in a new city.  More excitement, but i can leave you with the thought of how lucky we are that because we wanted a couple weeks alone with the kids we gave our nanny a couple weeks off (she returns on monday once i go back to work) and so last week was the first time I've had to mop the floor in about six years. The benefit of having a small one-bedroom apartment is that it doesn't take long :)

10 days old and time for first beer festival

So we've made it to 10 days. The baby is true to form: lots of sleeping, lots of feeding and lots of bowel movements. Not hugely responsive, but not a lot of work really. Andrea is getting on with work with the baby next to her at home (her team are basing themselves out of our apartment whilst Andrea still recovers - she's mostly recovered now). I'm on paternity leave without a lot to do.

Hannah has now had 3 days at kindergarten. Its going ok, made easier by being in the same class as her best friend, but she's still shy around all the others in the class and the other teachers. I'm sure she'll be fine in due course. In a sign of the times we get regular photos and updates from the teacher during the day on WeChat and there is a WeChat group for the parents to be kept informed of developments by the school.

She's loving Leah - always wanting to watch her, touch her and play with her. She's almost forgotten about Lei Lei (her doll), though this evening she played at another friend's house and spent a while having tea with her doll. Everything about Hannah is incredibly adorable at this age - what she says, what she does, how she dances, her desires (to wash hands). I'm sure Leah will be just the same in a couple of years too.

For those who don't know a lot about Chinese culture, we break all the rules. The mother is not supposed to go out the house for a month (or have a shower); the baby is supposed to be kept in for a month or more and you should get a special nanny in for the first month to look after both the mother and the baby. We've not been taking the baby out a lot, since the air pollution has spiked this week, but she's been out and about and we get some strange comments and stares from the neighbors (even though she's so big she looks like she's already a month old). We also gave our nanny a couple weeks off since there is so little for her to do! When we take Leah to her first beer festival tomorrow we'll probably get away with it as it will mostly be foreigners there! The craft beer scene in China only began 3 years ago but has really taken off, and not only amongst foreigners. Many local restaurants now serve craft beers on tap from some of the local breweries. I have to hope Shenzhen, where I'll move in a month or so, will be the same.

Meanwhile we've reached an interesting time in the HK issue - I guess we'll know shortly if the protests will die out or be reignited; my new running watch finally arrived from amazon (it was weird having to take a mobile phone out of my pocket all the time just to know the time); and Andrea and I both got fed up with our broken phones and got new ones: OnePlus Ones, which are 4G and fantastic so far.

Baby number 2

It's been a long 10 months for Andrea; and it's also been somewhat strange. This time you kind of know what's going to happen, yet at the same time there was always the unpredictability of what will actually happen. And so we tried not to just think we can do it all in our sleep just because we had done it once before. And yet, we sort of did... we didn't need to buy much, we didn't stress out much, we just desperately hoped she'd come early and put Andrea out of her misery, which she'd been in for ages.

And when we went to the doctor yesterday, about 3 days after the due date, the ultrasound showed Hannah was about 5kg give or take 0.9kg (ultrasounds aren't very accurate at extremes apparently). So we presumed she'd probably be around 4.5kg. The doctor didn't want to advise for a C-section, but with the size of the baby, the large amount of fluid, the fact the baby was still not even close to coming out, and so on.. she really had to advise for it. Deliveries 1 week or more late start to become risky, let alone large babies. So we scheduled one for the next day, 3.30pm.

Just like that. Such a strange feeling. For weeks we'd been wondering... everytime Andrea groaned i asked if it was contractions (it wasn't - just pain). And panicking a little (lots of fluid could lead to early water breaking without the baby being ready to come out which is dangerous). And then just like arranging to have a coffee with a friend, we scheduled (the exact word the doctor used) to have a c-section. We took our leisurely time to pack, arranged everything with Hannah and our nanny, and at lunchtime hopped in a cab to the hospital.

After a couple hours preparation I had to stand outside the Operating Room for ages whilst the anesthetist worked his magic, then jumped in some robes and went in. The line was drawn, the cuts made, the fluid sucked out, the baby pushed and pulled out, the cord cut, and the cleaning up begun. It was not a pretty site and i had a very queezy stomach myself from watching, so i focused instead on the baby, trying not to worry about Andrea and hoping that was all fine.

Just like last time the baby was cleaned a bit, measured, footprinted,  vaccinated and photographed. After a while we took her upstairs for a bath and weigh. At 5.45kg, she might be the heaviest baby ever born in the hospital (the hospital has about 200 births a month) and she looked humungous compared to the normal size baby also in the cleaning room. Anyway Leah Rachel Lane is doing well, breastfeeding fine, sleeping fine. Andrea is recovering and may finally sleep tonight for a few hours which is more than she has for months, due to the discomfort of being so big.

And I'm remembering how amazing it is to be a father again, whilst trying not to throw the baby upside down and around my head like i was doing with Hannah this morning. In fact we even forgot we had to change her diaper, and just remembered in time before things began leaking out (Hannah has been potty trained for several months). So now it will be back to the feeding, burping, sleeping routine for a while; Hannah will come tomorrow to see her little sister (she's well prepared and very excited, though how she will balance Leah and her doll (Lei Lei) I'm not sure - and it's a bit confusing that their names are so similar!) - of course little Leah won't understand anything we say, can't do anything herself, and well, we just have to turn back time a bit and re-learn things. And try to make sure Hannah is not neglected; is happy to share her things etc.

Anyway, a few more days in the hospital, several friends to come visit, and millions of cute pictures of the two girls will follow I am sure, and I can enjoy a couple weeks of paternity leave.

Hong Kong

So finally, after a decade of living in China, there is a half-decent attempt to question the government's approach to, well, government. There's been attempts in the Mainland before - either individual activists, or signing of certain documents like Charter 08 - but the government has blown them out the water quickly and unfortunately severely punished those involved. In most of those cases, actually, what has been asked of the government is to respect the Chinese constitution (unfortunately the government prefers to make up its laws as it goes along as well as its punishments, and doesn't bother to pretend there is an independent judiciary, let alone any interest in implementing the constitution which is supposed to guarantee certain freedoms).

Now, Hong Kong has caused some problems for China. To be honest few ever thought those in Hong Kong (who protest regularly, such as on the anniversary of the Tiananmen protests) would ever do anything serious or sincere. The theory has been that most of those in Hong Kong are doing quite well so don't really have much to complain about, and their progress is highly dependent on Mainland China so they need to stay close. But all of a sudden some broken promises and some minor violence has made people remember that they do actually belong to Beijing (I think they forgot and just liked the benefits of being part of China without the costs), and it is a Beijing that does not listen to what people want.

So a few interesting questions - the most prominent being about how will the protests end? well, thankfully Beijing realized that using force tends to backfire, at least in a small, well connected, well educated, and highly outspoken city (force has worked in Xinjiang, Tibet and other areas). So they are just going to wait, say nothing and hope that eventually the protestors will get bored or tired or give up. Beijing doesn't compromise and doesn't want to be seen to compromise to those who protest (what a precedent that would set...)

So what will the protestors do? This is really the litmus test. As we've seen with previous protests (including the Occupy protests around the world a few years ago), things do just peter out unless they are stepped up. But stepping up requires more commitment from protestors - do they really want to do something serious here? Are they willing to take the risks? What can they do? The protestors talk about occupying government buildings - this would be interesting since it would need some use of force. And it's going to test the government's ability to just stand-off and do nothing. I'm intrigued to see what will happen...

Meanwhile of course no-one in the Mainland knows what is really happening as the government's censorship is so incredibly effective (and most Mainlanders are so patriotic they'd see this less as about democracy and more about separatism which they certainly don't support); but at some point, eventually, might word spread (depending on how things end in HK) - and will people in the Mainland start to get certain expectations? And this comes as over the last 2 years the government has cracked down harder than it has for decades on those who it disagrees with, has moved to really enforce its autocratic rule, and is acting incredibly draconian.

Of course the government has done a great job bringing economic and social progress in the last few decades and now seems serious about addressing the environmental issues too. The question is about the lack of progress in improving governance. Can one stamp out corruption without an independent media, independent judiciary or any form of democracy? one would think not, but maybe this government can do it. Or maybe it won't.. and the endless anti-corruption campaign will just show the people how corrupt those in power are, and encourage them to seek some real change to address it. So what happens in HK might have bigger consequences for what happens across the border in the future.

Personally I've always hoped the government would give a little, slowly, in a measured way which i see as the only option for a safe evolution towards whatever the future looks like (and it doesn't have to be a full democracy in the Mainland, but some form of independence of the judiciary, some form of empowerment for the people, and some form of choice is likely - there are other Asian examples of these). Unfortunately it seems the government is going the opposite route. I hope it knows what it is doing and where this is going...

Lei Lei the doll and waiting for meimei

Wow, a month has gone past since I got back to China and quite a lot has happened I suppose, yet at the same time a lot has not happened yet. Obviously the biggest thing not to have happened is the birth of baby #2, aka “meimei”. As Hannah says “baby come out – baby not coming out” yet. Tomorrow is the due date, and despite the big baby, and the unfortunately large amount of pain Andrea has been in for a good 3 months, the baby clearly does not want to come out early. Well, she’ll come eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later.

In preparation we got all Hannah’s old baby clothes down and washed them. There are a lot. Even after sorting them out we realized we had nowhere to put them. So Hannah got a new wardrobe for her (large) clothes, and the baby clothes go back in the wardrobe where they were 2 and a half years ago originally. We bought a few new bits and pieces, but not a lot. What we did buy has been commandeered by Hannah for her doll (Lei Lei) to wear/play with/sleep in etc.

In fact the month has really been the month of Lei Lei. She goes everywhere with Hannah. Hannah cooks pretend food for her using her little plastic kitchen, Hannah washes her, clothes her, hugs her, puts her on the playground equipment with her and more. In fact it has been quite useful; when we want Hannah to brush her teeth, we can brush Lei Lei’s first, and then Hannah is more keen. Hopefully this bodes well for the arrival of her little sister. Also Hannah has really become independent. She goes and washes her hands herself, washes the dishes and partly dresses and undresses. In fact she starts kindergarten in a week or so.

Earlier this month we went to our first gay wedding; that of one of my former colleagues and close friend, Scott, and his partner Brian, who we regularly stay with when we go to Shanghai. It was a wonderful occasion and later made international headlines around the world (gay weddings aren’t allowed in China, so this was at the British Ambassador’s house, which is UK territory) – because millions of Chinese people read about the wedding on social media and commented on it. It’s probably done more to advance discussion on gay rights in China than anything else for years!

In other changes, the weather has begun to cool down. The nights are much cooler now. No longer 28 degrees, and a much nicer 15. The daytime can still be a nice 20+ which is good for shorts, but some days it’s definitely trousers weather.

There's been a few interesting things happening at work – some fun conversations with the Daimler Board as well as their China team who are researching changing social trends in China; a conference looking at the role of IT standards in developing more resource efficient economies, and the like. Our office in Beijing has been closed (we emptied it out on Thursday; there is a new Shanghai office instead) which has meant several colleagues leaving, and some implications for me which I can talk more about later.

England and Germany

After Italy it was time to go to the Isle of Wight for Hannah's first trip camping. The weather generally held up and we did some good cycling, a bit of walking, and quite a lot of relaxing. Campsites are great places for kids that just want to be outdoors running around. Ours had an outdoor heated swimming pool as well as playground and games room. The Isle of Wight is really geared up for tourists, and families, with some great local attractions (such as a wonderful model village), good beaches, and incredibly family friendly pubs. We enjoyed the fresh air and scenery and came back nice and tanned!

After a nice evening celebrating my sister's engagement, Hannah and I hit the airport to go to Germany. Missing our flight due to traffic and ar*eholes at Luton Airport security (tip: always go for the line with the older staff, not the younger staff) meant we came back again the next day to finally get to Germany. There we spent time with the in-laws but mostly with the dog and sheep, whom Hannah seems to care the most about. Though when it comes down to choosing when we went to a large farm, it was still the local dog that won over more than the cows, pigs, rabbits, or even the horses.

We rode on a horse and cart, visited the local Castle (very briefly as everything was only in German), went to the zoo with another child (the guinea pigs were popular, but still I think Hannah enjoyed the playground, the little amusement rides and her friend more than the animals), and went to one of the many beaches nearby (on the edge of lakes). It was a very nice time, with generally good weather and plenty of traditional German food (we ate a lot of sausages, bread and potatoes).

Next up was a weekend far up in the North of England for a wedding - great to see old university friends again as well as hit the dancefloor. Driving 450 miles through England is a good reminder of how empty and green much of England is - and how beautiful its rolling hills are. Indeed Clitheroe, where the party was, is a nice little town, and one that really comes alive in the evenings. And after a second engagement party for my sister (different participants), a last minute trip to London to see some other friends it was time to fly home.

Almost a month away from Andrea went very fast, and Hannah managed well. Hannah's spoken English came on leaps and bounds, more than my German did that's for sure. It's good to be kept busy, and its wonderful to spend time with family. Hopefully it won't be too long till we're back again, though as a slightly bigger family! In the meantime I'll remember with fondness the ales, cream teas, steak and kidney pies, deserts and playgrounds as well as the laughs and tantrums. Arriving back in Beijing to Andrea and beautiful blue skies and 30 degree weather has helped smooth my arrival and yet again its back to the other life...

Living it up in Italy

After a weekend in the UK I spent a week in Italy with my mum, sister, her fiancee and Hannah. We spent a week around Lake Garda and Verona. We first based ourselves up in the mountain close to the lake in a group of small villages known as Tremisone. Pretty high up in the mountains, we had amazing views and fantastic car journeys up and around the mountain roads that cut through cliffs and required driving in 2nd gear most of the time. The Hotel (Panorama) was not easy to find but was great value with a nice pool, breakfasts and staff.

The first day we went to Limone, a very pretty village on the lake with an interesting lemon museum/plantation. On the second day we did the West side of the lake visiting Tignale (also high up in the mountains with spectaculr views), the beach at Gargnano, an olive manufacturer (the olive oil was so good you could almost drink it straight up and some of the flavors were incredible), a wine tasting, and Salo (for dinner - it has a nice promenade as well as pretty buildings). Day three was a boat trip across to Malcesine, another sublimely pretty town with a wonderful castle (where we witnessed a british couple getting married on the castle rooftop) and more nice shops. Day four was a trip to Arco, which seems to be the capital of the area for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, canyoning, climbing and all sorts. It has a pretty centre near the church but also a fantastic castle in the hills. Unlike the one in Malcesine which was all in one piece and very touristy (with some nice exhibitions), this one was really in ruins, but all the more spectacular. It also had a great little green in front of it with a bar! Then we finished the day on the beach at Riva Del Garda, of course getting dinner too.

On day five we went down to the south side of the island spending some time in Desenzano and Sirmione. Desenzano was similar to many of the old towns: very pretty with nice shops and riverfronts. Sirmione was a little more special, tucked into a tiny space jutting out into the lake and without barely any space to move due to a real overload of tourists, but it did have the most amazing ice cream ever. The afternoon finished with a few hours at a water park. I can`t recall the last time i went to a water park, i guess it must have been 15 to 20 years ago, but at this one, Beth, Josh and I went full out on all the rides, with a few really spectacular one. Indeed the one that has a sheer drop begns with you getting into a glass elevator at the top of the stairs and then the bottom falls out, leavng you in free-fall down onto the slide. Scary stuff. Awesome stuff. The neighboring other ride with two people in a double ring was a tiny bit less scary and more fun, with a sharp drop and then a jump! A very well spent few hours. Hannah even woke up from her afternoon nap in time to spend an hour playing at the beach there and going on the kid slides.

Finally we made it to Verona to stay 3 doors down from the arena and spend a day and a half walking around doing the usual Italian city stuff: churches, piazas, shopping, eating. Verona of course has the Romeo and Juliet balcony. It also has a much-less visited Roman amphitheatre which is very cool, and a fantastic garden. Probably the first Renaisance garden i have been to in Italy, insted of seeing Renaissance style gardens in other country homes and the like around the world! Deciding we were bored of churches and art (apologies, but none of us really that big on art and we`ve done Florence, Rome, Paris, London etc) we then dashed back to the lake (Peschiera) for some more beach time before flying back to the UK. An excellent week!

We certainly gourged ourselves silly on pizza, pasta and ice cream non-stop. And it was all incredible, especially ofte sitting outside with great views of this stunning lake or wonderful piazas. We managed a slightly grumpy 2 year old quite well, trying to fit around her afternoon nap time and trying to make her excited to visit churches, walk around streets, and explore churches. We didn`t always succeed but on the whole she was good and quickly adapted to the late night culture! Let`s just say that Hannah needs fun, not art, pretty buildings or walking. Though she loved the playgrounds and beaches too.

We unexpectedly came across a little piece of Germany in Italy in that more than 70% of the tourists to Lake Garda seem to be German and most restaurants have even adapted their menus accordingly (particularly offering boiled potatotes with everything) and even the ice cream shops were flogging German-style sundaes as much as they were traditional gelato. Most of the staff we encountered spoke german and most of the cars we saw on the road were german (if they weren`t italian). My first airbnb experience was excellent, hiring a 2-bedroom flat in dontown Verona for 2 nights. The lady who owned the place was so helpful and the place was great. And lastly I really had fun driving the mountain roads in daylight and night. Oh, and did I mention how good the food and ice cream was? Let`s just say a little girl had a lot of little treats!

two months and now its two and a half years

The last two months have flown by with a few business trips, some glorious weather (mostly) and a lot of fun with Hannah. In two days time she will be two and a half years old. I've been uploading some more photos and videos over the last few months to the flickr page and also looking back and some of the older photos and videos.

It is remarkable how much has changed, even in just a couple of months, and the changes have been much slower than when she was younger. But we've got the potty training all finished which is good for the environment at least! The last little bit (without going into details) was not that much fun, but it's done. We've got some real interactions between Hannah and her two best friends (Wan Wan and Mino) and its simple adorable watching them play together, whether in the swimming pool or outside, dancing or jumping, singing or digging in the dirt. It's also incredible seeing the intelligence levels zoom up. She's predicting what is going to happen, using her (strangely amazing) sense of direction to direct us around and amazingly able to have good conversations without resorting to tantrums when she does not get what she wants. She's counting and talking, running 200m, and acting like a 25-year old at mealtimes when we go out (sometimes), sitting and eating on her own, getting drinks and so on for over half an hour before wanting to run around.

Yet she is still a child - happy playing with ice, going on a slide 15 times in a row, pouring water in a bucket for hours on end and watching the same thing on TV over and over again. Andrea and I just spend most of our weekends with her and much of our evenings, since it's hot all the time. It's nice to come home from work, get changed, and play outside with the kids.

China of course continues to make the headlines all the time. Things are never boring here, whether it's the government crackdown on charities, corruption or just foreign companies altogether; little spats with neighboring countries over various disputed islands; continual blocking of websites and so on.

I am regularly talking to various people about China - business people, MBAs, and others. Recently it was half the Board of Daimler which was interesting. And it is an interesting place to talk about and discuss and compare with others. Of course its difficult trying to generalize. So much is happening and things are so different throughout the country and depending on your perspective that there are always exceptions. But there are definite trends.

And yet these trends are often going against each other. There is a logic to this - an underlying theme around power and stability, but it's not always clear. Usually because not everything is happening intentionally and is often the result of various political issues at some level, or personal grudge elsewhere. The government is quick to act won't take risks. Always erring on the side of safety and caution, which does not always work out best for many of those involved.

It's hard --but important-- to put everything into perspective and also look beyond just China. At the same time it is remarkable what governments get up to all around the world. Things that for some people seem like common sense aren't to others and so strange decisions are always made, balancing interests, rather than necessarily making the best decisions.

Meanwhile life goes on - World Cups get played (The Chinese care a lot about it) and won (though always by the same teams, this year's winners are certainly worthy), the air pollution comes and goes, water coolers, beds and phones break down and require getting fixed or repaired, and holidays get planned. 2 and a half weeks until Hannah and I will be in Europe!

A word a day

Ice. Bowl. Arrow. Ant. Jam. Bed. Bike. Water. Ring. Done. Finally Hannah has begun speaking more English words (we think her Chinese is better) and a new word is coming out every day. She's speaking in sentences too, though many of the words in those sentences are not yet real words they'll likely be so soon!

Is there any reason behind each word? She likes some sounds more than others (easier to pronounce) and some words she does use quite often. Meanwhile she still has to improve some other words. Down and sit, for example, are probably only understood by Andrea and I.

I've uploaded some of her birthday party photos and from our holiday in Gran Canaria. As always, they are on www.Flickr.com/adamsphotos.

Role reversal

One of Hannah's first words was "more". It was frequently said, whilst a shake of the head provided the alternative. A few months later she moved onto saying no, though still refuses to say yes (instead used a very teenager-like grunt). We quickly learned one of those tricks you don't find in a book: give the child two options and she'll often pick one of those (and the adult can give two good options) so avoiding the inevitable "no", or even better just tell the child what's happening/we're doing together (ideally making it sound really exciting).

So that was then. We'd be doing the asking and making the requests and she'd be responding. But now, since Hannah's vocabulary and sentences are picking up, she's the one asking us and we're trying to avoid saying no by giving alternatives (or falling back on the other big trick you don't read in books: the art of distraction). This is much harder since the consequences of a child not getting what they want are much worse than one not giving you what you want! The consequences vary but usually go through phases: the throwing of the head back if she's in your arms, the lying in the floor, the running away, the throwing of objects to the ground etc.

So it's been fun negotiating this and learning new skills to deal with Hannah. From the power of suggestive questioning to the art of prediction. Working out when and how to use carrots and sticks is a tricky one (it's not a good idea since then you risk getting stuck using that carrot or stick every time); more useful is the skill of giving the child what they want to get what you want. An example: let's walk on the wall to get over there. Of course as a parent we're always a role model and this can be used to one's advantage, e.g. follow mummy up the steps. Sometimes you can use a challenge or competition to get action, e.g. can you run up that hill or can you eat all 3?

In fact these and many other newfound skills are potentially very useful in other contexts too!

The last month has been very pleasant since it quickly became spring and then summer. So weekends are spent outside as always. Evenings often involve playing football or eating out, though not yet outside....though the evenings are warming up too. New projects have started at work etc.  I write this from Tianjin, where we've come for the day to walk around the nice colonial architecture and tourist markets. Speaking of which it's about time to leave the coffee shop, wake Hannah up from her nap and do some more exploring....

Tokyo - beef tongue, fried tempura, sushi and more

I had just a couple of days in Beijing to unpack and pack again and I was off to Hong Kong for a few nights. When I arrived it was warm and after meeting a friend for lunch I was off to one of the islands for a couple nights for some planning meetings. The outlying islands are much cheaper than Hong Kong Island, and much more relaxing.

Mostly they are tiny islands that you can run around (or across) in an hour. They have great seafood, nice beaches, fresh sea air, and no cars. It's not what you expect Hong Kong to be like and the easy accessibility of these islands is one factor that makes Hong Kong so appealing. In fact many people even live out there, enticed by the lifestyle and cheaper rents, and willing to take the 30 minute ferry ride into the main island every day. It was great to see colleagues again, have some fruitful discussions, have some fun, and enjoy some warm hilly runs.

After a weekend in Beijing, I was then off to Tokyo for some meetings and conferences, almost 2 years after my only previous trip there. Tokyo is an interesting, predictable, place. Its big, they eat lots of great food, everything is efficient, people are insanely polite and respectful, and so on. At the same time Tokyo is a strange mix: the smart but soul-less business district and office buildings, the simple but effectiveness stlye of restaurants and food, the lights and people that make it bustle, the ridiculous number of convenience stores, the crazy technology (taxis that electronically open and close your door for you, the toilets with more buttons ang gizmos than a toy shop, and more. Since Andrea doesn't eat fish and is mostly vegetarian, it was a chance to change my eating habits for a week too - and vey healthy it was too (especially combined with a morning jog around the palace which i highly recommend - though remember to run anti-clockwise!).

Japan remains an intriguing place with a unique culture and history, a strange language that veered off from Chinese, a declining population, a total lack of women in the workforce, a penchant for hierarchy, a loyal workforce, a highly efficient group of companies yet ones that struggle for innovation, and a modest culture that is trying to adapt globally. Its an intereesting comparison to China, one that is often made, and in some respects (e.g. economically, technically, infrastructure-wise) might be where China will end up in 20 years, while in other respects (e.g. environmentally and politically), we can only wish China might end up in such a good place.

Of course Japan is also stuck with history - and China won't let it forget its historic aggression. Or rather the Chinese government won't let its citizens forget Japan's historic aggression. The government here likes creating problems with Japan to distract from domestic issues and to increase the nationalistic spirit. The last few years have been particularly bad and look to be getting worse. One hopes there is sense somewhere so nothing will degrade too much, but for the unfortunate Japanese companies, sales regularly slump in China when the media frenzy is whipped up.

I enjoyed my trip learning about a new culture, interacting with various companies, trying out different dishes, finding hidden alleyways and restaurants, and enjoying more uncensored internet. Now, after 5 weeks of fast, uncensored internet I'm back in Beijing without any more travel plans for the foreseeable future, suffering with the slow internet amd bad air (which we can't ever forget, even when we're not in the country since it is the only thing anyone asks me about, no matter which country I am in). But its nice to be back with the family, cycling everywhere, going to toddler birthday parties, and of course wasting time staying up late to watch awful football matches online.

Now the attention will shift to some new projects that are starting, Andrea's busy schedule of travel and conferences, and dreams of warmer weather which are slowly coming true. And though no-one stops talking about the air, it also seems other things are on people's minds hear nowadays: politics, corruption, terrorism, plane crashes and other unfortunate incidents. As always, China is an interesting place to be!

3 weeks back in the UK and it wasn't too wet!

I'm now sitting in the airport at Moscow. I thought the bars in the airport would have the Spurs game on, but of course right now is the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics so no chance of that. Instead I'm watching the Spurs game online. It's been--as usual--a whirlwind of a 3 week trip back. There was a week working, several days in Gran Canaria on a beach/pool/sun holiday, several days in Wales on a walking/family holiday and a few other days inbetween seeing some friends, my cousin's new baby (Harry Lane), and spending time with the family and shopping.

 

It's always interesting working in London. On this trip it was dominated with meetings and events related to sustainable investment in China. I met with a lot of investors to help them understand the opportunities for more sustainable investing in China--and of course how BSR can help them. The field is much more advanced in the UK and the conversations are interesting, as were some of the events I attended.

 

In Gran Canaria (a Spanish island close to Western Sahara), hours of research on Trip Advisor paid off as we spent 5 days at a wonderful resort in a nice bungalow. There were some nice swimming pools as well as paddling pools, playgrounds and entertainment for children. 4 of the 5 days were beautiful sunshine and hot enough for shorts and t-shirts, swimming and relaxing by the beach that was not too far away. The Playa des Ingles has a nice promenade, some good restaurants, and a few shops. We had some good Paella and Sangria at one! We took one day to drive across the island stopping off at a pretty coastal town (Puerto de Mogan) and some wonderful peaks in the mountains with great views, and an enjoyable drive up windy roads. We also spent some time at a nice old town called Teror and a wonderful Spanish dinner in Arucas. 

 

In Wales we went to some good pubs, had some good sunday Roasts, played around in a Butterfly Zoo, did some Mini Golf, spent a wonderful couple of hours with a hilarious Welsh Tour Guide down an old coal mine (The Big Pit), had lots of tea, and did some more shopping around the restored docks in Gloucester. Despite the recent floods we weren't too badly affected choosing to walk away from the rivers, though we did see a lot of flooded areas. Along with some time spent enjoying good food in London and walking around some of the best parts of London in the City and South Bank, it was a typical, very English, couple of weeks.

 

And of course everyone enjoyed spending time with Hannah, whilst Hannah enjoyed playing with everyone, particularly the dog and other children. We'll find out in the next couple of weeks how she takes being apart from everyone and is skype video satisfies her cravings to see her family and the dog!

 

Now it's back to Beijing!

There is something to be said to going on this kind of holiday - no wondrous sights or amazing culture but relaxing, fun and very enjoyable combined with nice (if not spectacular) natural beauty. 

Ma

Since I returned from the US in early November there has not been any rain or snow (officially it's now been 98 days and counting...). Apparently London and Germany are using up Beijing's share and then some. Due to some windy days there's not been much air pollution and the temperature has been fairly mild. not getting much below minus 5 most days, and some days hitting plus 5 in the daytime. In the sun, a late morning run on the weekends along the canal has been beautiful. Apparently the warm temperatures, dry weather and lack of snow have meant it's idea for getting the cold though - and all three of us managed to get a little sick at least once over the last few months.

In Germany where Hannah and Andrea have been for the last week, the snow has made life more interesting for Hannah--she loves playing with the snow, but hates the actual snow falling in her face. In a couple of weeks she'll forget all about that and enjoy the sand instead once we get to the Canary Islands for a short break. I've had the place to myself during this time (though I'm still working in the daytime); it does feel very empty and lonely. At first there was a nice feeling of having some time alone, but that quickly passed. It will be nice to see them next week in London, that's for sure.

Beijing's had this strange feeling over the past month - with only a couple of weeks between Christmas and New Year, it's been quite slow and uneventful. Lots of people are away and we've been wishing people happy new year non-stop for weeks on end; some christmas decorations were taken down, to be replaced by chinese lanterns, but many buildings and malls had just created something generic that could serve both purposes and keep it up (at least for lights anyway, maybe some trees have disappeared recently). The firework stalls have been set up on many street corners. Chinese New Year officially starts on friday, and though officially it is only a 1-week holiday most people take a week extra off before or after, and some take more. Officially there is a 40-day window when people will be doing most of their traveling home.

See you in the Year of the Horse

(horse is "ma" in Chinese - "ma" is also mother (it's written differently in chinese, but sounds the same in english) and hence was Hannah's first word and still one of her favourite words)

2014: The Year of Wa Wa

Though in a few weeks the new Chinese year of the horse will begin, it's already clear that though Ma (Chinese for horse, and also for mother) was Hannah's first word, 2014 will not be known for the horse. Instead it is shaping up to be the year of Wa Wa.

Wa Wa is the name of Hannah's doll; one that was ignored for months, possibly even years, until a month or so ago, when all of a sudden (as you may have seen on Hannah's facebook page), Hannah became obsessed with Wa Wa. Hannah sits her on the table to watch whilst we eat breakfast, takes her to sleep with her (the poor dog that used to have that role must be sad), expects us to kiss her after we kiss Hannah, puts socks on her, and often won't put her own knickers on until after Wa Wa has hers on!

It's very useful for us - if Hannah doesn't want to do something, we can propose that Wa Wa does it first, or that they do it together. Wa Wa is another option for distracting Hannah when we need to, or motivating her. At the weekend having Wa Wa helped speed Hannah's recovery after her vaccinations, for example. Particularly adorable, when we were in a park looking at a kite, Hannah wanted to show Wa Wa, so held her up and pointed to the kite. We just need to make sure we don't lose her!

Christmas 2013

As we near the end of another year, it's truly cold and its truly Christmas in a Chinese way. A lot of people seem to be taking a few days off (maybe foreign companies are giving them some time off, as officially the only public holiday is Jan 1st) and of course much of the Western world has stopped, so things are a bit slower. There are major attempts to plant Christmas trees everywhere in office buildings and shopping malls, as well as Christmas lights on any trees outside such buildings. There's occasionally some Christmas music played too, though its usually not too loud. Certainly there is an abundance of emails with various Christmas and New Year greetings (and bear in mind the Chinese New Year is not till Jan 30th, so there may be a second round of email cards then!)

The Lane family here is not really into Christmas but that might change as the little Lane gets older. She does seem to like opening things. She was a bit confused about a fake wooden present that we have next to our little Christmas tree that we got given for free a year or so ago in a shop. She tried to open the present, but it's a solid wooden block.

As I look back on the year, as ever China has continued to change: the new leadership, new policies (some are potentially significant affecting migration for example), new trade reforms, increased tension with other Asian countries over various neighboring islands, massively increased domestic awareness on air pollution (and some political response to improve it) amongst other things.

My work has been fairly stable with a variety of different projects related to China and some not related to China as well as some successful events in Beijing and Shanghai where I've made a more intentional effort this year. Other aspects of BSR's work definitely picked up towards the end of the year and next year should be more interesting. Andrea's certainly been the busier of the two of us, getting money, hiring staff and organizing activities around the country. Life should be interesting for her too next year.

Some things have stayed the same: same apartment, same social activities, same regular trips back to Europe every 6 months, and same occasional holidays elsewhere. Same level of Chinese and same awfully poor German.

Now its almost time to head into 2014, a few more weeks of work, a birthday for someone, and then back home. I'm already looking forward to the Hong Kong trip at the end of February for some warmth and time on the islands.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Corruption, air and Shanghai

Today an excellent op-ed in the NY Times from Friedman makes the important point to the Chinese President that if he is serious about addressing corruption (which he claims he is, having recognized that corruption is seen as the main reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union as well as most previous Chinese empires/dynasties) then he really needs to allow the media to investigate high-level corruption (which is he is not allowing, by blocking websites from foreign media that report on these issues and potentially kicking their journalists out the country). He also accurately notes that technology has already enabled citizens to explore and discuss these issues, so it's better to let the media bring them to the government's attention so that they can be addressed before it's too late and eventually citizens address it in the only way they know: protests. Check it out: www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/opinion/sunday/friedman-dear-president-of-china.html%3fpagewanted=all.

It's interesting that the Chinese media will try to push the boundaries in many aspects of their reporting, but they won't touch personal relationships to the President. It shows the government is not serious about addressing corruption; it's also not serious about enabling an effective, independent, judiciary; any semblance of a free media; or any sense of allowing the people to hold their government to account (it does not have to be through a full democracy, but through some means). I've been saying for a while that unless those issues are addressed, the country won't be a good place to be living in a decade from now. All the signs are, despite the pressure, there is no movement on any of these areas. In fact in most it is getting worse! The government still refuses to trust its people, and in return the people refuse to trust the government. Not a great situation....

I even joked last week to a friend in Shanghai that the focus on the environment, as bad as it is, might be intended to distract from other issues that are much harder to solve. Not that it will be easy to solve the energy and water and pollution issues, but it's technically possible within the current system, and the government is generally willing. With those other issues, it's not technically possible in the current system, and the system is not likely to change. The other distraction, of course, are things like foreign policy/nationalism (witness all the hyperbole over the East China Sea recently), the moon landings etc.

Anyway, on the plus side the government is responding to the pressure from the public to try to clean up the air - and it's an issue they can't hide! It rears its ugly head all the time, whether the media are bothering to report it or not! Funnily enough those in Shanghai thought they got off better than Beijing until November, since when Beijing has had good air and Shanghai awful air. All of a sudden the Shanghai folk can't think of anything else to talk about and have finally gone out and bought air filters (the Beijing folk bought them a while ago). Now it's still not an easy thing to fix quickly, but it will be fixed, and probably quicker than most people will expect, somehow.

I've been going to and from Shanghai quite a few times recently for weddings, work and the marathon. One day the air was good and as I landed I could see out about 20km to the skyscrapers of Lujiazui. I struggled to spot the 88 story Jinmao Tower, which when I arrived in Shanghai 9 years and 3 months ago was the tallest building around. Now it's dwarfed by two taller buildings next to it, and many other buildings of similar height. Still the pictures of Taipei where Taipei 101 stands out ridiculously or of Dubai where the Burj Khalifa stands out even more ridiculously are more stunning. Whilst in Shanghai I ran past the Expo's corporate buildings, lying abandoned... what a shame, but maybe something will happen to them (large 2-3 story buildings that are the size of museums) eventually.

In other news, it's definitely winter, though it's not too cold yet, and still gets above zero in the daytime; Hannah's going crazy with her little bobby-cart pushing herself all over the place. I tell you what, she could teach quite a few adults something about reversing, steering, stopping and more.... then again, she's also getting good on the trampoline, finally speaking a few more words (mostly Chinese), and keeping us entertained at weekends.

Learning skills from children

It has struck me a few times how much parents must learn to do certain things, which usually would be regarded as professional skills, but are just the minimum required to engage a child. How much can these skills then be transferred back over to work or to other contexts?

The kind of skills I am talking about include:

- Creativity: Playing with a child does not require a lot of toys, it may just require jumping about, using music, a pencil, a bottle or a ball. But there is always a need to play and entertain using whatever is readily available. And kids love the variety of different things - they often love the simplest games too!

- Communication skills: Talking slowly and clearly is a no-brainer, but also so is the art of expressing oneself in simple words, using actions and also visual aids.

- Listening skills: Particularly when a child is not yet able to talk properly, it's necessary to be totally attuned with what the child is thinking or trying to say through pointing or other actions, maybe with just one word coming out here or there. And you can't interrupt a child either, so you learn to listen actively (not just pretending to listen, that never fools kids, and when they are young they don't get the concept that you could be listening whilst in another room, or doing two things at once etc).

- Conflict resolution, sales and negotiation: There are always going to be arguments between adults and kids, or a need to persuade the child to do something (or not do something). It can vary from discussing what to eat or what to wear to who is brushing teeth etc. And then of course, the art of distraction which seem to be a solution to so many problems!

- Providing feedback: Always using positive reinforcements to congratulate children for trying or succeeding with something new, and really making the effort to show you care when the child does something.

And the list could go on. So I wonder if these skills are being transferred to other situations. Are new parents suddenly better performers at work? Or more successful in life having improved their life skills? I'm not sure, but I think it is worth reflecting on!

Conferences

I go to a lot of conferences and events for work, sometimes to learn and other times to network. I also organize a lot too, though usually on the small side with just a handful of participants sharing ideas and solutions to problems common to the other participants.

Beijing has an abuse off conferences. Most hotels only survive from the conference industry. They dominate here because everyone is trying to engage the all important government, and inviting them to conferences is a good way of doing this. Sometimes they are often investment related since the government is always doing its utmost to attract investment and consultants and service providers are always trying to sell their services and explain the latest changes to some relation our other. Or people are trying to train staff and salespersons which are always turning over. The are a million different industry associations all helping their members curry favour with the government and organizing those events.

In my world, the CSR (corporate social responsibility) world, they seem even more common. International organizations like the UN love funding conferences or projects that involve conferences to share projects results. There are all sorts of awards and a lot of trainings since it's a new-ish area. Then there is the philanthropy and charity space, which is  mushrooming and leads to events on charity operations, the future of the sector, and the situation of the issue the charity works on, e.g. disability rights. And with a new and evolving sector everyone is using to get in on it, from think tanks to PR agencies, consultants (of which we are sometimes one) and the media.

However I severely limit my time going to conferences here, often not learning anything new, not meeting anyone new, and not able to contribute, just listen. The events we organize are highly efficient, informal, interactive discussions on the most part, specifically for practitioners most of which are our members. occasionally we organize larger ones which are to raise awareness. Last week we focused one on how to manage environmental and social risk bringing together banks and other companies to discuss why, their approaches, guidelines etc. We also brought in the charities who have an important role to play, particularly in applying pressure to companies and exposing the bad ones (the good ones like this as it justifies their investments in being good and helps level the playing field, important in China where many still don't follow the law). It was fairly successful, I'm pleased to report.

The week before, of course, I had been at the BSR conference, the largest CSR conference in the world, with very high quality attendees and some very interesting speakers. There were also all sorts of events before and during the main conference which are more focused.  Two years ago, the last time the conference was in San Francisco, outside was the Occupy San Francisco protestors and one of the keynote speakers was Al Gore, talking about short-termism in the financial markets and how his investment firm (Generation Investment Management) seeks to prove you can make money by investing long-term, and in particular in companies that have positive environmental impacts. We did not have quite the same level of stature from the speakers this time, but we still had some really good talks on the role of technology in the future, how the media can be used to inspire people for good, how distributed solar will change the world, and how gamification can be used to change behaviors. Some interesting stuff and much more interesting than most events in China; and some fascinating people from all the big companies. The theme "the power of networks" was powerfully woven in throughout.

Aside from spending a lot of time at conferences recently, I've also spent good time with Hannah, who has really taken a liking to jumping (and finally got good at it). We've been to weddings, birthday parties, hikes and all sorts. We've also been to cooking classes (Hannah was pretty good at that, she'll be a better cook than me by next year at this rate). Still not much progress with her talking in any real language, but the listening is excellent. I think she's just realized she does not need to talk since she is so good at communicating with her hands and in her own language. One more positive news though is that we're finally sending a lot less diapers to landfill since she's got much better at using the potty!