China’s Software and Internet Boom

What I love about Beijing

January 17th, 2008

In late 2006, after living in the United States for 7 years I decided to move to Beijing. I arrived in Beijing not really knowing what to expect – which was both nerve wracking and exciting : ) After having lived in Beijing for more than a year, what’s the verdict? Here’s what I’ve come to love about this city:

I love the buzz, the opportunities, the energy

These are exciting times for China. A few years ago she become the third country on the planet to launch a human to Space. Her red hot economy – already huge by any standard – is growing at double digit rates and seems on track to be the world’s biggest economy in the not too distant future. The country is a gigantic construction site.. they are building new stuff everywhere. The number of mobile phone users in China already surpasses the entire population of the United States. It won’t be very long before the number of Internet users in China passes the same threshold. and so on.

Beijing, the capital of China, exemplifies the superlative transformation that the country is undergoing. 3 new subway lines are scheduled to open in the next few months (in time for the Olympics). Tech startups are mushrooming in Zhongguancun, arguably the “Silicon Valley of China”. Crazy looking buildings that look like alien spaceships are shooting up across the city. When the Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway is completed in a few years, travel time between the 2 biggest and most important Chinese cities will be halved, to 5 hours. A sense of hope and excitement about the future is in the air.

I love the food

I never knew fat could taste so good until I ate Dongpo pork ( 东坡肉) in Beijing! While I always sort of knew there were many different types of Chinese cuisines, only in Beijing are they all so accessible in one place. Xinjiang lamb kebabs, Cantonese dim-sum, Spicy Szechuan, Yunnan pineapple rice, Hakka toufu, etc are all a short taxi ride away. Chinese food here is definitely way better than the “Americanized” Chinese food in the US : ) Once in a while I miss fortune cookies though…

I love that Beijing is hosting the Olympics this year

A palpable sense of Olympic frenzy has gripped the city. It’s impossible to walk around the city without encountering at least one Olympic countdown clock. Not a day goes by without some Olympics-related news in the local papers. To reduce dust and pollution apparently most, if not all construction in Beijing is supposed to pause or finish before the Olympics. I think a good number of new buildings will be completed in the next few months – the city will certainly look and feel very different from today.

I love the crazy architecture

From top to bottom, left to right: Linked hybrid, National Theatre, CCTV tower, Water Cube, Bird’s Nest

I love the yellow wine

Believe it or not, yellow wine (HuaDiao 花雕) is served by warming it up in ginger (gives it a spicy flavor) or dried plums (sweetens it)… great stuff. STAY AWAY from the Chinese “white wine” though (BaiJiu) it’s very nasty.

Next time I’ll tell you what I hate about Beijing…

Entry Filed under: Beijing