Reading that book (the subject of the interview) made me think about this question deeply.
For me I think it’s the action and adventure of being in a place that is transforming. We’re witnessing something historic, and this isn’t like Shanghai with hundreds of thousands of foreigners. The foreign community in Chengdu is small and each of us can play a significant role in Chengdu’s growth in our own ways.
Over the years I’ve had my different pursuits, as well.
– I spent my first few years in China traveling around the country DJ’ing in Lhasa, Beijing, and everywhere in between.
– Learning Chinese was a real journey, and figuring it out gave me confidence that I could do many other things. After 3 months in China, I gave myself the goal of becoming fluent in Chinese through self-study, believing that once I achieve that, I can approach any future learning task with greater confidence.
– Creating and curating Chengdu Living, striving to always improve my understanding of Chengdu and Chinese people and culture. Chengdu Places to uncover and explore physical places in the city
– I spent a few years promoting Disco Death and got to know most of the best DJ’s in Mainland China and HK and host them in Chengdu
– Recording and performing hip hop with Chinese rappers, which has been a fulfilling journey in expression. The Chinese psyche in general, with it’s Confucian roots, and now being thrust into the modern world, is fascinating to me
– Helped start and grow a company that has transformed into a juggernaut, which is my current pursuit
I originally came to Chengdu to escape the 9-5 rat race and ironically, I’m back in it now. But what I really hated about it was the routine of every day being the same, and I can’t say that I have that problem here. Every year Chengdu feels like a different place. With that said, it’s still far behind any first world country (obviously), but that’s a sacrifice that I’ve been willing to make.
I follow news and events in China pretty closely and enjoy watching it all unfold. Basically the entire time that I’ve been here I’ve felt that we’re right on the edge of something big, and we more or less have been. I could write a lot more about this but I’ll stop here for now.