The Build Up

The start of the idea of living in China was a discussion with Marcelle a few years ago. Storey, our daughter born in China, was asking questions about Kunming, the city where she'd been born, and we started toying with the idea of a family vacation there. Somehow that grew into the idea of living in China, and we started to explore if that was even possible.

During the trip to have Storey join our family we had spent nearly three weeks in China and had loved the experience. We'd taken two very long walks, unaccompanied, in Guangzhou and found a gorgeous old Colonial neighborhood that seemed very livable. The idea surfaced then: What about a year here?

Somewhere in 2007 that idea resurfaced, and this time we tackled it. We looked for how it might work -- what city would we try for, how would we arrange for the girls to go to school, housing for the family, visas, transportation back and forth for my book tours. Questions bred other questions, and answers continued to seem slippery. We would read a book or an article and then a blog would contradict it, or we'd speak to someone over there and they'd caution us about one angle or another.

And then the stars aligned: a St. Louis waiter; a Denver radio journalist, and a New York Times article. Suddenly it was Shanghai, a city we'd never considered.

More to come....