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The Globe interviewed a number of Massachusetts natives who have settled in Beijing. Like actress Kerry Brogan, they also have something riding on the success of the Olympics. They sense that China's traditional wariness of foreigners could be affected by the government's perception of the games. As of now, nearly all say that they plan to stay in Beijing, despite missing New England's fresh air, beaches, and, in the summer, the Red Sox.
Stuart Eunson, 39, who grew up in Princeton, Mass., never drank coffee while studying Chinese at Colby College in Maine. But now, he is a coffee connoisseur after spending the last 15 years running Arabica Roasters, an importer of quality coffee beans that serves primarily high-end Chinese restaurants. As a foreigner looking to expand the taste for coffee in a tea-drinking culture, he sees his life as one of endless "opportunities to come up with creative solutions to unusual problems." For instance, he arrived at his Beijing coffee factory one day to see a bulldozer ready to tear down his site to make way for an Olympics-related project. "I was told I had a week to find a new location. I was pretty upset, but . . . you do what you have to do," said Eunson, who found a location.
Richard Robinson, 40, a Medford native with an MBA, runs ChopSchticks, a comedy club for English speakers, and Kooky Panda, a company that makes games for mobile phones. He reacts to the Olympics like a weary Beijinger, saying it's been "like the Big Dig in terms of disruptions." Mostly, though, he loves life in China, adding "My wife's a Beijinger and we have two little guys 'made in China.' " After a long hitchhiking tour in 1993 that started in the Swiss Alps and ended in Beijing, he found himself beguiled. "Upon arrival in the Middle Kingdom, I immediately had a China epiphany, which took me by surprise. I loved the 'renao' [energy] of the place."
Peter Wayne Lewis, 55, a professor at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, uses his non-teaching time to paint in his Beijing studio and help run a gallery in the 798 Art Zone, known as the Soho of Beijing. He said the "explosive" contemporary art scene here prompted him to establish a studio a few years ago. His work is now on display at an exhibit, "Olympic Fine Arts 2008." He said he has been free to paint as he wishes and knows of only a few isolated instances of government interference with the arts. "Right now, the government is absolutely supportive of the arts," he said. "There's a cultural renaissance going on here. Everything is fast-forward."
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
