I like to think of myself as a travelled person. I’ve lived in 4 different countries and moved 6 times.

I’ve hiked up Mt. Vesuvius, skied in the Alps, kayaked down the Ardeche, eaten reindeer stew in Lapland, climbed Aphrodite’s rock, dinned in the oldest restaurant in Russia, walked the museums of Vienna, bought a bit of the Berlin wall (guaranteed not a random bit of masonry lying around… honest gov.), rambled across the lake district, and generally made awesome memories wherever I could (not hard).

But in all that time, I’ve never stepped far outside Europe. So when I received an email this morning saying I’d been accepted to the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing I was very, very happy *dancing*. I’m still waiting for word back from another uni I’ve applied for in Shanghai but as it stands chances are I’ll accept the offer from these guys.

The thought that I’ll be spending four years in the Celestial Kingdom is such a hit. No doubt reality will bring me down soon enough however for the moment I am walking on air.

I often get asked, why China? And to save myself from going through a carefully thought through chain of reasoning which makes my dinner companions eyes glaze over, I usually look them in said eyes, lean in and say “I just feel drawn there” and they smile and nod knowingly.

Truth is I’ve always loved East Asia and East Asian Culture…. (What follows is definitely not a carefully thought through chain of reasoning but my bed is seducing me from the other room and all attempts at rational thought are failing me):

• China:  Upcoming world power house, largest population on earth, amazing culture reaching back 7,000 years, leadership seriously serious about being the best.
• India (not technically east asia but I like anyway): Ditto, nearly ditto, democracy.
• South Korea: Hugely intensive IT scene, concentrated population in a small area.
• Japan: Best popular culture in my world, concentrated population in a small area, stagnant/declining  economy.

After looking at the options I decided on China. I’d love to live in Japan but I’m doing this to develop myself as a better business person not to sink further into otaku tendencies. Similar reasoning goes for South Korea. Flipping between China and India… I feel that learning Mandarin would be more useful then Hindi and I guess I just like Chinese culture more.

I still have a three or four months where I am now which I intend to take full advantage of (I somehow doubt I’m going to have a swimming pool outside my apartment for quite a while).

So there you have it, to the Middle Kingdom!

- James