Great expat-ations

Name: Jenny Niven

Age: 27

Nationality: Scotland, UK

Time spent in China: Five years

Why China?

I came for a six-week holiday, primarily to see my brother, who was working here, and ended up extending my stay by five years. My brother would come home once a year, usually at Christmas, bringing back stories and interesting articles picked up from China and that pulled me here.

Doing what?

I am an events and marketing manager with The Bookworm (a bookstore in Beijing) and also the director of the annual Bookworm International Literary Festival. The job entails arranging all events and discussions taking place at The Bookworm throughout the year, handling publicity, marketing and advertising, developing sustainable relationships with other cultural organizations in the city.

Language:

My Chinese is decent. Other languages spoken include English, Scottish and a bit of French.

Are you in a relationship?

I have a live-in boyfriend, Heath Sheridan. He's from Ohio, working in a recruitment start-up company. We met in Beijing. I guess it's our adventurous spirit and looking forward to new challenges that brought us together, apart from liking the same books and films.

Food:

These days I'm trying to cook a lot more at home as eating out is getting expensive. But I love both Sichuan and Beijing cuisine. There's a small noodle shop on Baijiazhuang Lu which makes the best handmade noodles. Middle 8th is great for Yunnan cuisine. And in the winter months, I am a great fan of hotpot.

Money:

It's important, especially after the global downturn. The Chinese currency being rather strong, I'm paying off debts quicker than I would have been doing at home. But then, living in Beijing is getting dramatically more expensive by the year.

Future:

Five years down the line I don't really see myself continuing to live in China. But again five years ago I came here for just six weeks. It's a bit unpredictable around here.

(China Daily 06/29/2009 page10)