Best China Blog Awards Winners : A Chinalyst Interview with Beijing Boyce

We continue with a series of interviews with the bloggers behind the blogs that won the Best China Blog Awards 2008 asking them to tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs. Beijing Boyce made it to 1st place in the Best China Personal Blog category.

Background

Blog:  Beijing Boyce

Blog slogan : "A Somewhat Young China Hand on the Local Drinking Scene"

About the blogger (from the blog): "I’ve been in Asia more than a decade and in Beijing since 2004, with past stints in South Korea and Taiwan."

About the blog (from the blog): "This blog evolved from a biweekly e-newsletter started in October 2005 about Beijing’s drinking scene."

Blogging platform : Wordpress.

Originally from: Canada

Years in China : 3-4 years

Years blogging : 2

The interview

Q: What was your main motivating force for starting your own blog?

Because I spent a lot of time, either for business or pleasure, going to bars in Beijing, I started an e-newsletter that friends or acquaintances could subscribe to. After I topped 500 readers, and after many people suggested I put the info online, I started the blog. I knew of plenty of blogs that covered the experiences of foreigners in China - dealing with the language, seeing funny English on signs, and so on - so I though the bar blog would offer something new.

Q: What is your blog mainly about? Please tell us a little bit about the general topics you usually discuss in your blog.

My bar is primarily about the bar scene in Beijing. Bar reviews, where to get the best whiskey selections, write-ups of pub crawls, what spots will soon open, and so on. I try to provide as much useful information as I can, but also to keep things light and entertaining. Sometimes the topics have been serious - such as drug raids of bars or what I thought were inaccurate media reports about the bar scene during the Olympics - but by and large, the blog aims to help readers have fun.

Q: What does blogging mean to you? What importance or contribution does your blog have, if any, to yourself or the community?

Blogging means providing information to the community that it might not otherwise have. There are print publications that also cover the bar scene, but with a blog I have the option to write far longer reviews, provide updates, and draw on the collective wisdom of readers and to do so without worries about advertisers.

Q: Did you experience any special or out of the ordinary events or interactions as a result of writing a blog?

I have had people in the print media, bar, and wine sectors become very upset at what I have written. The reality is that you will always have people who know more about bars - after all, many people patronize them - or who get angry at even the most constructive criticism. A much more positive result is that the blog has helped me to meet many interesting people -- fellow consumers, bar owners, brew masters, bartenders, food and beverage writers, and so on.

Q: How did your blogging help promote you personally? (either professionally, by reputation, additional direct/indirect income or similar)

Obviously, a blog - for better or worse - gets your name out there and thus raises your profile. I would guess more people know me due to my blog than to my job. I have also turned a few blog posts into magazine or newspaper articles, which can also raise a profile. As for income - as I have no advertisers, and I have a lot of expenses, I'm definitely in the red when it comes to the blog.

Q: How much freedom do you feel you have to discuss what you care about in your blog? Are some topics more sensitive than others? Do you include personal details and stories in your blog? Why?

I have plenty of freedom but I try to use it responsibly. I have worked in media relations, so I try to draw on that experience and be careful about how I portray the bar scene and the people who work in it. To me, this is important not only because it improves the accuracy of my posts but it increases trust between me and those in the business. I also use my name, which makes me more accountable - after all, if I criticize a bar, I will probably end up there again one night and have to face the staff or owner.

Q: How would you generally describe the Chinese expat blogosphere? Do you personally know any other China expat bloggers? In your opinion, what contribution or role does the China expat blogosphere have, if any?

The Chinese expat blogosphere is a mish mash of styles, personalities, and topics. Like anywhere else, you get the good with the bad, the interesting with the inane. I know the people behind many China blogs: Imagethief, China Law Blog, Silicon Hutong, and over a dozen more. The contribution blogs make is to give an alternative view of China and to supplement what we get in sources such as the mainstream media.

Q: Do you have any favorite blogs about China you would like to recommend?

There are too many to mention, from Imagethief, with its blend of humor and practical insights in China PR, to China Law Blog, with its wealth of information about doing business in China. I would really need to do a top ten or twenty to do them all justice.

Q: How did you first make the decision to arrive in China?

I was living in Taipei and was offered a job in Beijing. It looked like a challenge - and ended up being so - and I moved here.

Q: What do you think about life in China, the Chinese people and Chinese culture? How would you generally describe your experience in China?

I find it hard to talk about China, since I live in one city, Beijing, which represents just over 1 percent of the country's population. On top of that, I live downtown, so I only truly know a slice of this city. But having said that, I have made some excellent Chinese friends and enjoy the cultural diversity of Beijing, though like many foreigners, I have plenty of frustrations. There's a good reason we have the term "culture shock."

Q: What advice would you give new bloggers?

If you want a readership that extends beyond friends and families, your best bet is to pick a topic and write more about it than about yourself.

Thanks Beijing Boyce.