China Daily's METRO reporter Todd Balazovic talks to the UK-educated Li Yan on how to bridge the international and local communities.

Meet everyone and make them happy, that's a tall order for anyone to take on, but if it can be done, then 30-year-old Li Yan is the one to do it.

The Zouping, Shandong province native has spent the last three years in Beijing trying not only meet as many people as possible, but to help reconcile the mix-and-mash of cultural backgrounds converging on Beijing.

"The relationship between foreigners and Chinese in Beijing is similar to pouring sand into a glass of water and stirring it up. They may look like they are mixed for a short time but after a while the sand goes back to sand and the water goes back to water. I want to be the person who stirs it up again," she said.

The former regional director of marketing at the United Kingdom's Newcastle College, she says she developed her interest in people and her skills while spending seven years studying and working in the UK.

When she first arrived in the UK, Li said she only socialized with the other Chinese students studying at her university. But she soon realized that if she wanted to get to know the UK she would have to break away from that group.

"When the other Chinese students got to the UK, they would always stick together, and only hang out with each other. This kind of being together all the time made it difficult to meet other people," she said. "I wanted to be a part of the UK culture."

Working a variety of jobs during her studies, from bartending to housekeeping, Li slowly immersed herself in the local culture.

As the years progressed and her English improved, she began to feel more confident and more outgoing, and combined with her naturally cheerful personality she found she was able to make friends quickly.

"I learned a lot from my stay in the UK. Not just about the culture, not just about the language, but about myself and about how to meet people," she said.

Moving back to Beijing in 2007, Li said she brought her social skills and passion for other cultures with her. Now she spends her days networking and connecting different people from different countries in Beijing.

"I am naturally curious about people and I want to use my curiosity to make others happy," she said

Though she recently stepped out of her position at Newcastle College, where she assisted Chinese students set up education in the UK, she said she is using the opportunity to find a profession that will help her put her networking skills to use.

"When you turn 30 you start thinking, 'What am I here for?', It sounds clich, but you do. What does life mean to me? It's not only about money. I would prefer to not make money and be happy, than be rich and unhappy," she said.

And as a social facilitator for Beijing's international community, Li Yin is happy.

METRO: Most people are either running to Beijing or from something back home, which are you?

Li: My experience is a bit different, because I'm from Shandong. I went to the UK and worked there for six or seven years. So I am not really running to or from Beijing, but just returning back to my home country.

METRO: What do you hope to get out of living in Beijing?

Li: I hope to have many friends around, and my family around me and just enjoy life. I am not a person that has overly high expectations. I just want to live comfortably. I like to enjoy every moment. Beijing is also good because it has loads of cultural things, like music and art, and I like to go and meet new people.

METRO: What do you hope to put back?

Li: There are two things. If I make friends with Chinese people, I want to make them open their heart and embrace the whole world.

Chinese people sometimes aren't very good at that. Most people feel as though they don't know Chinese people, that they are very cold, but if you get to know them they are the warmest people in the world.

The other is to convince foreigners to treat Chinese people as friends. Some foreigners I've seen have been here for three or four years and don't get along well with the locals. They treat them different. I think that if they just treat them like they would their own countrymen then things could be much friendlier.

METRO: Where do you usually hang out in Beijing? How is it different from back home?

Li: In Sanlitun. I live here. Since I moved to Beijing I've lived in Sanlitun, so when I am out I usually don't have to walk very far. I don't like going to clubs though, I like to go to places where I can talk and hear people.

I also like to drink, I lived in the UK and it was part of the culture. Back home, it's all about family. I don't go out. I might go for a foot massage with my family or I might go out to a Chinese bathhouse.

METRO: Taxi or bus?

Li: I have a car, but I also have a bicycle. In the winter I will use the car, but when the weather gets nice I like to use my bicycle.

METRO: What's your favorite Beijing tradition?

Li: Good, question. I think maybe making dumplings. My mother makes the best dumplings. All my friends have told us to open a restaurant in Beijing. My favorite tradition would have to be making dumplings together with my friends.

METRO: What's your favorite element of Beijing?

Li: My favorite element is coming now. I love sitting outside in the spring and the summertime, on a roof terrace or in a park. So, both the weather atmosphere and the social atmosphere.

METRO: What's your least favorite part of Beijing?

Li: The sandstorms. I can hardly breathe, it gets in your eyes, and you have to wash your face all of the time. I think that most people will say the same thing if you ask them. Fortunately, they only come once a year.

METRO: Do you have many foreign friends? How do they differ from your Chinese friends?

Li: Most of my friends are foreigners, but they are not really different from my Chinese friends. They are all there to talk to, to help you when you have a problem. The only difference between my foreign friends and my Chinese friends is that my Chinese friends are more into family. Right now my mother is living with me and I have been asked so many times by my foreign friends "I couldn't live with my mother, it's unbelievable", but all of my Chinese friends understand.

METRO: What's your favorite Beijing slang?

Li: Kao Pu, it means reliable.

METRO: Dating scene in Beijing - Hao Bu Hao?

Li: From my perspective I don't think it's good enough. There are so many different groups it's all about breaking circles. There are too many circles.

By Todd Balazovic

(China Daily 04/02/2010 page38)