I have just finished attending and working at the Third Chinese Enterprises Outbound Investment Conference held at the Beijing International Hotel and Convention Centre from April 22 to 23. I will write about this fabulous event in my next blog but now I wish to talk about the real China.

Like anywhere, this country is so multi-dimensional and you need to view it from many directions to truly begin to understand what makes it tick. Our hotel was on Jiangguomen Dajie, about a 5 minute walk to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City to the west and the Silk Market to the east, right in the heart of the Dong Cheng District next to the Chaoyang District. Both are hangouts for many expats. Around the corner from our CCBC Beijing office also on Jiangguomen Dajie, is a 7-11 store, a Starbucks and a TGI Friday's. This is also the Embassy district, or at least the start of it.

Many Canadian live here and think living in China is great but it is not really living the average life here. I guess it is a soft landing and tends to ease any culture shock. I really like Beijing but I am glad that I lived in a Chinese city like Shenyang, where I got to see daily life at all levels. I think this is why I decided we needed to settle in Guelph when I brought Hua to Canada for the first time in 2005. I wanted my wife to experience a Canadian lifestyle as opposed to living in the various Chinese enclaves of Markham and Richmond Hill. Now she is very Canadian, likes Tim's coffee, can shovel a driveway but not too well at knitting a toque. Can't have everything I guess.

So why do I like Shenyang? Years ago I wanted to learn about China and living in a Chinese neighbourhood gives me a chance to see how people live and allows me to open my mind to new experiences. If I lived the expat lifestyle, I would miss the little things. In the morning a few days a week, Hua sends me down to the little shop around the corner that makes "baozi" which is like a round perogy filled with pork and cabbage. Most foreigners would never go to such a place unless they knew about it as it looks unappealing but the food is great. Last night, we had a local northeast food called "jia ji jia" which is a chicken skeleton with some meat and skin on the bones that they marinate and deep fry and then shake seasoning over after it is out of the cooker. Very delicious. The place we buy it is a sort of "lean to" attached to a building where the owner stands out from with a metal box that is gas fired to heat the oil in which the chicken is cooked. Again, if you did not know it, you would miss a lot so I am lucky to have a Chinese wife who can teach me these things.

More next time...