Prologue

As of today I've been back in the UK now just over 3 months and I'm still reeling from reverse culture shock. I'm still coming to grips with how much has and hasn't changed since I was last here during a brief visit back in 2009, and even more so when I last lived here in 2006. The Tories are back in power, the country is in recession and there is a royal wedding on the horizon. If I didn't know any better I'd think I had traveled back in time to Britain in the 80s. If it only were that simple.

Back in September 2010 I was half forced and half made the decision to move back to the UK after living and working in Shanghai, China since 2006. The reasons for which I will get into later. Like many university graduates I was bitten by the 'Gold Rush Fever' of China's economic rise and the increasing number of opportunities in China. However, unlike most other British university graduates China, or more specifically Asia in general, was actually more home to me then the UK was. Being born in Taiwan to a Chinese mother and British father I spent most of my childhood growing up in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and for a brief period almost settled and immigrated to Australia. Before my 14th birthday England to me was the land of School Holidays, but following the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 my family decided to move back to my father's home county of Yorkshire and England become the land of some very awkward high school years and then university.

Culturally I've always identified myself as being British, but with an obvious Chinese cultural connection added into the mix. However, unlike other mixed British children brought up in the UK the majority of their lives, my extended time overseas has always made me feel like an outsider and a little bit of a foreigner in what is the country on my passport since birth. Now that I've made the decision to make the UK my home for the foreseeable future, again reasons for which I will get into later, I am now writing this blog as not just a form of personal therapy, but as a way for me to chronicle my attempt at making a connection with modern Britain in all senses be it news, culture, art or just plain randomness.

Not forgetting China, as I mentioned earlier is an important part of my cultural identity and had been my home for the last four years. With China such a hot topic I am also aiming to turn this blog into a China resource for those fresh graduates in a similar situation as I was in, planning to move to China to take advantage of the opportunities there. Hopefully I can provide some helpful information, insight and maybe even get a good debate going on China.

This blog is a work in progress so please bear with me and if you yourself are planning on heading to China, or curious about something and have question please do not hesitate to ask.