I have been to every province in China. Join me for a trip around the Middle Kingdom
I live in Shanghai with my wife Heidi and our daughter Keira
Since coming to China I have had a family.
Shanghai is our home
I first came to China in 1995.
My first trip to mainland China was to Xi’an and Beijing, just after I had left school. I came, I looked around, I nearly vomited on the embalmed body of Chairman Mao
Back then China seemed somewhere otherworldly, literally a world away. Little did I know that one day I would move here. Or that they would let me in.
Having grown up in London, in 2002 I moved to Hong Kong. I was in my late ‘20s, in a decent job, single in Hong Kong. I quite enjoyed it.
Suffice to say this was a transformative moment in my life, as I moved to Asia and have never looked back
In Hong Kong for work I covered China also
When I was in Hong Kong, I started going on business trips to all parts of China. That was when I started having a few stories to tell
In 2008, after a couple of years away from Greater China, I moved back to Shanghai
I found a city growing rapidly, catching up with the rest of the world to take its place on the international stage.
And giving me plenty more opportunities to get into trouble
Now I was travelling all over China both for work and for pleasure
I pretty soon realised that there were a vast number of places to go and things to see within China, and I wanted to explore them. The bigger, the better
Some places were predictable…
The pandas are just as adorable as you think they might be
Some less so…
The only way to experience a new culture is to throw yourself into it fully
I set myself a target
To go to every province in China
And with a bit of effort
I started ticking them all off
It took me a few years, a lot of strange foods, and many pins in the map
But I finally completed the set
I have seen a fair few things
Like kung fu!
And eaten a fair few too
Including things that are served in smoking boxes…
Yunnan is my favourite province
Although some parts of it are in better shape than others
I saw so many things, I wrote a book
Featuring travel stories from my experiences all across China, in 2015 I published From Chicken Feet To Crystal Baths: One Englishman’s Travels Throughout China
Our daughter Keira was born in 2016
Then I became a father
As well as learning how to be a Dad,
I had to learn how to be a Dad in China
As well as learning everything there was to know about
Disney
I experienced so many things, I wrote another book!
Featuring parenting stories from my experiences in China, in 2022 I published From Ginger In Her Socks, One Englishman’s Parenting In China
