Haidian district, Beijing
21 August 2015
Lanzhou beef noodles 
Microsoft 
Kingsoft
The first time I was in China was 1984 to 1985. I was studying Chinese at the People’s University (Renda, 人大) in Beijing. It was an exciting era – China was opening up under Deng Xiaoping, and we were able to make Chinese friends.
It’s now 2015, and I am back. I’ve returned a few times before, but, nonetheless, now often I feel like a ghost flying in to see what became of places that existed in my lifetime.
Then again, it still seems possible to talk in the old way. Chinese with a Beijing flavour is somehow reassuring.
I’ve just left Oxford University Press working on the global languages initiative there. So, I’m starting by exploring Chinese publishers and technology companies. Here I am in Haidian, where Chinese tech (Kingsoft, Baidu, etc.) and foreign tech (Microsoft, etc.) have their headquarters. It is also where many of the universities, including Renda, are located.
The first night I had delicious good value Lanzhou beef noodles (兰州牛肉拉面) just round the corner from the hotel.
Then the last couple of days I’ve been walking around the Beijing ‘Silicon Valley’ area, and talking to people. There is so much happening here. So many people in their twenties and thirties, working extremely hard, to enable China to compete, and more than, on the global scene.