So I am on Substack now..

My interest in journalism and writing started when I was in middle school at Harbin, China in the mid 80s. My dad spent a few years as a visiting scholar at Berlin Technical University and he brought back a few copies of Der Spiegel and Time, and a Toshiba radio. I was fascinated by the colorful pages of the news magazines and the voices from across the world on the shortwave frequency. VOA, BBC, Radio Australia.. they became my English tutors.

After studying architecture at Tsinghua University, I joined China’s Foreign Ministry via its graduate programme to work in the Division of Diplomatic Properties. From 1998 to 2001 I was stationed in Sydney as a junior diplomat overseeing construction projects for Chinese diplomatic missions in the Oceania region, also as part time protocol officer for the Consul General.

In 2002 when my wife received a job offer from the Boston Consulting Group’s Sydney office, we decided to move permanently to Australia. Twenty one years later, we have three kids (two in universities now), two dogs, six chooks, a tank of fish…. and running a business…. i.e. a typical Aussie family.

Some people bought Porsches to deal with mid-life crisis, I start a Substack …