Celebrating 20 Years of The Beijinger with Your Stories

October 2021 marks the Beijinger’s 20th Anniversary. That's two decades of us doing our darndest to bring you the best of Beijing initially monthly, but now – quite literally – daily.

Our first issue hit the streets in October 2001 in a very different city: Few people carried mobile phones, and those that did were cutting-edge if their phone could accept text messages. Beijing had not yet played host to an Olympics (let alone two), nor had it survived two plagues. No one knew what Facebook, WeChat, Instagram or Didi was back then, and finding a decent cup of coffee was nothing short of a miracle. There were only 2 subway lines back then, but also 10 million fewer residents.

So on occasion of our birthday I thought: why not pen a long lengthy history of our brand, and all of our trials and tribulations we went through to make it this far? There’s many a tale to tell, but that’s not the spirit of what we do. Rather than talking about ourselves, we prefer to talk about you.

For us to take any claim to this brand’s success would be self-serving, as what has made us successful really has been the city itself – and the amazing people who have called it home. The story of The Beijinger is the story of the people who have done so much to make this an adventurous, splendid, modern and convenient city.

So instead of talking about ourselves, to celebrate we've decided to tell some of your stories. Beginning tomorrow, over the next 20 days, we'll be profiling 20 expatriates that have called the city home for 20 years or more, and through their viewpoints tell the story of Beijing. Why just expats? It's not to say that they are singularly responsible for what makes this city great, but rather our position as an “expat rag” lead us to consider these profiles first. Later, as our anniversary year continues, we'll continue our series, expanding the list to include many of the Chinese people who have made this city great as well as expats who have been here for shorter times.

We hope you enjoy this look at Beijing through the eyes of some of its long-time foreign residents. Known some others you’d like to see interviewed? Let us know by sending an email to our brand new Managing Editor Vincent R Vinci at vincentvinci@thebeijinger.com!

Images: The Beijingers