The Briton in Beijing who made Mao suits fashionable again, and his 25-year journey from backpacker to TV personality | SCMP

Artwork by Dominic Johnson-Hill

I was looking for something else — the "Moonlight Cult" (月光 族)— when I came across this cute story from 2018. It's about the Beijing-based British fashion entrepreneur Dominic Johnson-Hill who's been living in Beijing since 1993. That makes him kind of from my era there, though I was earlier still, arriving at the Peking Languages Institute, as it was then known, in 1976.

It's a fun little story. Like him, way back, I was also trotted out from time to time, the performing bear, the Mandarin-speaking foreigner, to the media or to give a Chinese speech at a conference. That's my humblebrag. (Though is it a humblebrag if you say it is?)

Today, as Dominic says, they're a dime a dozen Mandarin-speaking foreigners, all of them young. Sigh… I guess I ought be thankful there was less competition in those days.

Also like me. Dominic loves Chinese culture and arts and Chinese people. He's careful — very careful — to steer clear of politics. Even mentioning the "X-factor" can get you in trouble. And Beijing-based mates who ring me here in Hong Kong are very careful, assume they're being listened to. 

I must ask my Beijing-resident mates if they know this laowai.

Snip:

Johnson-Hill adds: "Chinese can be conservative when it comes to family values, education and work ethic. But when it comes to fashion, they are very daring. You see a guy in his forties walking past, wearing a bright shell suit, bright hat and ridiculous sneakers. Something may be too bold for Western audiences, but in China, they love it." Read On…