Lu-Hai Liang

01 January

Arrived back in Beijing, after festive break in England with the family, in mid-January.

Continued working on a story about Buddhism for CNN, commissioned in December.

02 February

Celebrated Chinese New Year on the 19th, welcoming in the Year of the Sheep.

Two days later, I left for Myanmar. I spent a total of 18 days in Burma, hunting for stories and traveling. A mishap with flights meant I spent too much money on this trip.

The Telegraph published my article entitled The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Moving to Beijing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/11386649/The-good-bad-and-ugly-of-moving-to-Beijing.html

03 March

Finally ended my association with BON, a TV company I’d worked for since November 2013.

I had no longer an office job and would now be living entirely on freelancing income.

At the end of the month, The Telegraph published another of my pieces, which was to be my final one for the expat section, due to budget cuts.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/11500033/Discrimination-based-on-ethnic-origin-can-be-blunt-in-China.html

04 April

My debut for CNN, a piece from my Burma trip for the Travel section.

edition.cnn.com/2015/04/16/travel/myanmar-monks-lunch/index.html

05 May

Took a writing job for Cornell Enterprise, a Cornell University magazine, about the launch of an MBA partnership with Tsinghua University. This was to prove extremely well paid.

Went to Nepal for the first time — a month after the devastating earthquake — following an invitation from a mysteriously well funded monk.

06 June

CNN.com finally published my story about Buddhism in China. It was commissioned six months earlier.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/29/asia/china-buddhism-millenials/index.html

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07 July

The Independent published my piece about unmarried Chinese parents.

Wrote something for a Chinese magazine.

Went to Qingdao to visit a friend.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/how-one-couple-is-fighting-back-against-chinas-financial-penalties-for-unmarried-parents-10366495.html

08 August

Taught a course on journalism skills and writing for a corporate client. It was my first journalism teaching job. Without the money from this job, I would have not survived the autumn.

Dazed & Confused published my piece about North Korean fashion.

CNN published my story, with my photo gallery, about Chinese tattoo culture. This article will go on to receive over two million page views, with the editor emailing to tell me it had done “phenomenally well”.

Near the end of the month, I received a phone call from the foreign editor of The Independent asking me if I could cover a breaking story. I obliged and the story was printed the next day.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/25566/1/prada-in-pyongyang-north-korea-s-new-look

edition.cnn.com/2015/08/23/asia/china-tattoos/index.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/black-monday-beijing-reels-as-a-nation-of-market-speculators-counts-the-cost-10471760.html

09 September

Went on a holiday around the south of China.

The Guardian published my piece about university grades and careers.

Took a corporate writing gig that had me going to Inner Mongolia for a couple of nights.

Filed two stories and a vignette for The Independent. Was now receiving their attention.

http://www.theguardian.com/careers/2015/sep/01/graduate-jobs-employers-degree-result

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-stokes-tensions-with-japan-ahead-of-military-parade-to-mark-end-of-wwii–but-many-citizens-are-bored-with-rhetoric-10481900.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burmas-forests-under-threat-from-illegal-logging-fuelled-by-chinas-demand-for-precious-wood-10506484.html

10 October

Filed a couple of stories for The Independent.

Wrote up my feature for the corporate writing job, this was extremely well paid.

At the end of the month, I moved out of my apartment, making myself homeless.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-one-child-policy-ends-but-do-people-feel-rich-enough-to-have-larger-families-a6714186.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinas-drinking-culture-takes-a-great-leap-forward-as-microbreweries-open-up-across-the-country-a6716561.html

11 November

Stayed with a friend for some nights at the beginning of this month. Then went to Yunnan.

Stayed with a friend in Yunnan, in the south of China, for an extended break. Traveled around. Still managed to get a couple of small pieces into The Independent.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-taiwan-summit-presidents-xi-jinping-and-ma-ying-jeou-to-meet-amid-fears-over-beijings-a6721556.html

12 December

Returned to Beijing, where I am staying on a friend’s couch until festive break.

The Independent published an analytical piece by me, occasioning my picture in the paper.

A piece I had written about the Chinese VR industry for a magazine months earlier finally surfaced.

Wrote this blog post.

Spend Christmas with the family in England.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/blanketed-in-acrid-smog-beijing-is-waking-up-to-the-crisis-of-climate-change-a6762601.html