They're coming from far and wide to Beijing

By Jules Quartly (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-23 09:12

Expats are homing in on Beijing as one of the world's top places to live and work, visitors to and exhibitors at Expat Show Beijing said on Friday.

More than 150 companies are showcasing their products, ranging from air purifiers to educational services and organic milk, at the three-day event that closes on Sunday.

Apart from the main action of exhibitors trying to hard-sell their wares, there is also a soccer tournament and bazaar, and kindergarten care on the sidelines.

Beijing has 300,000 expats, second only to Shanghai, the organizers said, and more than 10,000 of them are expected to attend the event.

Hamilton Gregg, who has a kiosk introducing his new educational consulting firm, said the city has seen a total makeover in the past seven years.

"Many international companies have moved in as a result the housing is so much better and there's so much more choice," said Gregg, who works at an international school.

"When I came here seven years ago Chinese couldn't live in housing estates for expats and vice versa. They changed the rules, and now a person can live wherever he wants to. It's so much friendlier."

Many visitors talked about the "Olympic transformation" of Beijing. They said infrastructure and services for the Olympic Games had improved the quality of life in the capital. And more English speakers and signs have made life easier.

Monica Horak, marketing officer and manager of an international school, said locals and foreigners were opening more clubs and holding expat-friendly activities.

Jonnel Latham, came to Beijing four years ago with her husband, a diplomat in the US embassy who resigned his post to start a corporate concierge business.

"We liked the place so much we wanted to stay. Attitudes have changed a lot. You go to stores and the service is much friendlier. There's more to see and there's more to do," Latham said.

Mike Bearden, vice-president of an air purifying gear company, was one of the few with negative comments about Beijing: its air quality. The Seattle native said a WHO report identified China as having 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities.

But bad air is good business for his company, he said. His firm's biggest market is North America, because "people there are most health conscious", but Hong Kong and the mainland are the next big markets.

Not all exhibitors and visitors to the Expat Show were foreigners. Rita Jia, of Starlink Shipping, is a Chinese, though her husband, child and she herself hold Canadian passports.

She was at the show to shop around for an international school for her child. She said she preferred living in Beijing because it was convenient, culturally familiar and a great place to be right now. A good international education is one of the positive aspects of Beijing, she added.

Kory Nelson, from New Jersey, had a lively sales patter and has lived in Beijing for the past five years. He was representing a health supplement company.

"In terms of networking, marketing and sales this is an easy place to do business. Expat Show Beijing is just one example of that. Beijing is the cultural center not just of China, but of Asia, and I think in 20 years it will be the cultural center of the world."