So this is it. After 4.5 years of bantering about family life in Beijing, it is time for me to collect my things and head to the airport. Okay, that won’t actually happen for 10 more days, but the movers are here and they are starting to close in on my computer. Although I’ve been blogging for Beijing Kids since 2010, we arrived in Beijing 7 years ago, just before some long forgotten sporting event. In the spirit of the games, I pass on the Beijing torch to you, dear readers, with these parting words of wisdom.

Do something new. It doesn’t matter what, but venture out into the city and experience something different. This is especially true after the newness of it all wears off after the first six months or so. Join a group, go down an unfamiliar road, try a new restaurant, visit a TCM doctor, take up dancing – just don’t settle for routine. If you cannot think of something new to try, might I suggest having twins? You’re right; Salsa dancing in the park at night does sound easier.

Drats, one of the movers is knocking on the office door, so I’ll make this quick.

Leave Beijing and explore other parts of China. Sure, Shanghai is an okay start, but China is a vast nation and the farther away you travel, the greater the diversity you will encounter. My favorites region thus far is southwest China, but I regret not getting to the northwest too. Perhaps next time.

Continue to make new friends. Expat buddies are great. Making friends with locals is a no-brainer. But the longer you stay, the more friends you will lose. Don’t pine for those who have moved on to other parts of the globe. Get out and make some new friends. Sure, it can be painful to loose a best friend, but there is always room for a new one. Besides, the longer you live in the ‘Jing, the more you can help others get around.

I’m nearly out of time as my beloved iMac is the last thing to pack up and they are fiddling with the power strip.

The most important piece of advice I can offer to anyone in Beijing is to simply be.

Photo: Christopher Lay

When I was a kid, it was a pretty big deal to have a pen pal. It might be someone from a different town or state, but if a kid was lucky, they could exchange correspondence with someone in a foreign land. For me, that foreign place was San Francisco, California. There I had an irregular exchange of cards and notes with our family friend, Mr. Gary.
 
Mr. Gary was the next best thing to having friends around the globe because Mr. Gary was a global traveler and a world-class lover of posting mail. We received postcards and greetings from Mr. Gary on his travels around Europe when I was a kid, and as time passed, he started exploring Asia and the rest of the planet too. To this day, I credit him for fueling my own globetrotting lifestyle.

For my children, especially my daughter, hand written correspondence is practically a thing of the past. She and her friends exchange instant messages or leave recordings on WeChat. I suppose it is only a matter of time before she will have her own mobile device and accounts so that they stop leaving messages on my phone, but for now I’m happy to control the flow of information.
 
As a teenager, I kept in touch with friends from a few different states that I had met on holidays or who had moved away from my hometown. By the time my daughter was four, she had a friend who had moved to Brazil.
 
The times have changed and the methods of communication too, but friendship is still friendship. No matter where we end up, it will be far easier for my kids to keep in touch with their childhood friends, even the ones half way around the planet, then it was for me. Heck, my daughter is already making plans for a reunion tour next summer. I wonder who will be expected to pay for that?