I had the chance to move to Asia at the same age, and it gave me the opportunity to learn a new language, gain a lot of cultural insight, and also make me much more attractive to employers because of both the hard and soft skills I acquired.
Anyone who tells you not to go is probably a typical close-minded American for whom an overseas adventure means a week in the Virgin Islands. Go to the wild land that is Asia, and by all means when you're there LEARN THE LANGUAGE. I've known westerners who were pretty close to fluent in Mandarin in just a year, while others didn't take the time to learn since it seemed like too much effort. I studied my ass off and although mine was more of a "niche" language than Chinese it paid huge dividends later (in terms of landing a six-figure job in my 20's).
Just got transfered to Beijing for two years. Should I kiss my running goodbye?
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I have been living in China for a year already. The pollution in my area does not compare to Beijing, but I found it to be significantly less than it was made out to be before I came over. I had some trouble adjusting to the busy streets, but after a month or so I was back to averaging 80 miles per week without any inconvenience.
The pollution in Beijing is terrible at times, but it is not a constant. Much like the weather at home, there will be clear days and there will be unclear days. You may need to stay at home or hop on the treadmill on days when it is overwhelming, but if you are a committed runner I don't suspect that there will be anything to prevent you from getting your miles in.
Additionally, as others have mentioned, sometimes it is worth a compromise here and there in order to take advantage of a worthwhile opportunity. Good luck! -
Why not? Life is an adventure, make it as interesting as possible.
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I travel to China often and run every time I am there. The running in Beijing is terrible. No one does it. It is just not a priority for people who live there. However, to compensate for the pollution - and it is really, really bad most days - I run indoor on a treadmill. It sounds like a painful death to even think about it but it's not all that bad. Plus, the Chinese work many hours so the times you might be running could be very odd times of the day. Like someone else said, mornings are best; like 5 am.
Tianjin is better as are other outlying cities. You can run outside there easily. You might even find trails along rivers there to train on. No matter what, I'd still find a local gym and then find a place to live very close to it. Gyms in China are few and far between. You don't want to try to drive to a gym as traffic is bad as well. -
No Way Mang wrote:
Are you kidding?
WTF job is worth that crap? I make over $250k with my current position and I would leave it in a heartbeat if they tried to move me to Beijing. Do you have a family?
What do you do? Seriously, I'm curious to what a person has to do to make this kind of money. -
Hopefully you understand that if there is any kind of international incident between the U.S. and China you are not going to be able to get out. And if it's bad enough, you will most certainly be arrested for nothing other than being a U.S. citizen. Think about these things before committing to another country. You essentially have no rights.
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I second this guy's opinion. The company I work for is always looking for individuals who have lived in China for an elongated period of time because they tend to know the Chinese people, the culture, and most importantly the language. The individual gives us an "in" when it comes to China. I'm actually surprised more young people don't teach abroad in China for a few years; jobs are very easy to get, the pay isn't bad, and like i said before, it makes you very very marketable.
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Yeah this is possible. Would the OP be more safe staying in the US and simply getting another job? Absolutely. However the OP would also be more safe if he never let his house but what kind of way is that to live?
Spending two years in Beijing and getting the experience + the added marketability that he would gain from spending time in the world's fastest growing superpower outweighs the small chance that in that a war will break out between China and the US in that small two year window. It's all about measuring the positives and negatives, in the long term there are most more positives involved in taking the risk and going to Beijing for a couple of years. -
Internat'l Political Analyst wrote:
Hopefully you understand that if there is any kind of international incident between the U.S. and China you are not going to be able to get out. And if it's bad enough, you will most certainly be arrested for nothing other than being a U.S. citizen. Think about these things before committing to another country. You essentially have no rights.
this is a load of b.s. from someone who obviously hasn't a clue.
ignore.
oh, and definitely go. I moved to Asia at 23 and it has literally opened the world to me. absolutely fantastic. -
I was just in China a couple months ago. If you're 90 minutes from Beijing itself, it probably won't be too bad. There is some pollution, but there are lots of places to run, since there are plenty of dirt roads. Morning is actually a bad time to run, the air gets better in the evening. So no, this is not goodbye to running.
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I was there for the Olympics (that would be 2008) and running in Beijing proper is impossible. I don't know if there are parks to run in or not, but the limited amount I did was on tread mills. The air quality was OK during the Olympics but got real bad real quick at the end when they turned the factories back on. The air quality is dangerous, no other way to look at it, worse in the world, worse than my beloved Pittsburgh in the 1940s when street light were on in the daytime.
The cars are dangerous but crossing the bike lanes as a pedestrian is almost suicide that it was comical. Cross walks, probably set up for the Olympics, were not any safer, I almost got hit by a police car. It reminded me of kids being told to get under their desk for a nuclear bomb threat, just a way to find the bodies...
A great and very funny read is Lost in Planet China, by Martin Troost, I read this while in China and it was a great way to adjust to everything. Buy it used and read it, I must! Far funnier than anything you will read on this site, and we got funny people here.
So I think a gym membership is the way to go, when you get settled and know your way around then maybe see if there are some parks to go to outside of downtown. As a physician, I would warn that the only thing more dangerous than running in Beijing is their trauma services. But the trip would be an amazing opportunity, and I would hit the Rosetta Stone now and learn that language for sure... -
Maybe you can run in the Olympic Stadium since sadly it is not being used hardly at all. Apparently you would have to dodge Chinese tourist who are renting Segways to do a lap around the track yelling in Mandrin, "Look at me, I am Udain Bolt.." Or if the battery dies horrible, "Look at me I am Jeremy Wairner.."
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Do it. FIDLAR.
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Beijing is amazing; the expat scene is solid and it's a hugely interesting place. Definitely go. Then some weekend take a trip to Hangzhou and run around the West lake and that can be your run for the month. The wikipedia photos don't even quite do its beauty justice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lake
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neverbroke2sadly wrote:
Beijing is amazing; the expat scene is solid and it's a hugely interesting place. Definitely go. Then some weekend take a trip to Hangzhou and run around the West lake and that can be your run for the month. The wikipedia photos don't even quite do its beauty justice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lake
This, and a couple of other posts (Milk Drinker, a couple..), know what's what.
You should definitely do this - learn the language (your employer should pay for lessons, they gain, and it's easier than Spanish/French), get the experience, and you will be fast track and in big demand with any company dealing with China.
The running is not that bad - in US/Europe you see get the bad news, and your news is as biased as the news Chinese people receive about US. Hangzhou has a cool marathon, if you can get to Hong Kong there is a great running scene, Beijing is good enough and the air quality is seasonal, you'll probably spend time on a treadmill.
But if you're not a potential pro runner, you gotta think forward. 2 years later you're a young guy who can speak a language that intimidates the crap out of most Americans, you'll make money and get you're running back. Do it (I did). -
This.
On the other hand wrote:
You're 24. You're not world-class runner. You aren't even professional. That makes you a runnng hobbyist.
Get a new hobby.
Whatever.
Go to frigging China.
You may never get another opportunity like this. Going to China will be so much better for you in so many ways than two years of running. -
Go for it, at least you don't risk being murdered while on a run like in a American city. China has a much lower crime rate than the USA.
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USA is dangerous wrote:
Go for it, at least you don't risk being murdered while on a run like in a American city. China has a much lower crime rate than the USA.
Ok, if you believe any statistics out of China you are naive. Are you going to shut down Gitmo and a talk with Iran next?
It is still a communist regime that stifles basic human rights.
They can make all the money they want, that regime will still run over peaceful demonstrators with tanks like they did Tienman Sq.
They committed genocide in the western provinces as recently as 2008 to stifle unrest prior to the olympics.
You don't have to worry about being thrown in jail or run over in the USA by reasonably excerizing your basic human rights.
Hope your new hobby isn't falun gong.
I've been to Japan - it's great. Way better to live democracy then under totalitarianism. -
leg speed wrote:
Wow, I see the classic American sense of adventure is almost completely dead.
because of a couple posts on this message board?
I see the modern sense of sounding like a moron on the internet is not dead. -
Another vote for this (below)...
For what it's worth, I studied abroad in Beijing (proper) for a semester. My two cents:
-Yes, the air quality is tough in the city. You'll notice it.
-It's not a very running-friendly city. No real network of trails or park system to speak of. Majority of your running would be on roads where you'll be fighting crazy traffic.
-I'll echo the recommendations for gym memberships.
-With that said, it would be pathetic to pass on this opportunity because of your hobby-jogging. Even if you're a sub-16:00 guy, you're not going to make a living off your running. Embrace this opportunity as a way to differentiate yourself for life. Certainly continue to run casually if it's something you enjoy, but consider picking up a new hobby.
"You're 24. You're not world-class runner. You aren't even professional. That makes you a runnng hobbyist.
Get a new hobby.
Whatever.
Go to frigging China.
You may never get another opportunity like this. Going to China will be so much better for you in so many ways than two years of running."
