Month One - I Am Here

Looking through the gap between two doors at Ditan Park, Beijing.

I got off the armchair.

I took up the Armchair Sinophile handle in 2010 when I was working for a busy family business (read very very busy) in London. In my spare time I was absorbing all I could of books, news, films, conversations, art, talks and exhibitions on China. At the time learning about China was my hobby - I was in coffee shops poring over language textbooks and random library books on Chinese politics or history, and going to free talks at SOAS and glimpsing what it might be like to read about China for a living. So the "Armchair" in my blog and twitter handle was there to flag that I was just someone interested in China from the sides and not some one proper.

Nine years, three city relocations, a bunch of different jobs and a masters in Chinese Studies later, I'm shaking that mindset off.

Today I am exactly one month into my PhD studies looking at gender inequality in social policy in China and I'm no longer just someone who is just interested in China for a hobby - I am a researcher now - I am here!

I do love a good armchair though, so I'm keeping the name. Armchair Sinophile blog 2.0, here we go!

My travelling companion enjoying a luxury armchair at the Capital Hotel, Beijing.