I recently retired as UK senior partner of BDO after 23 years as a partner with the firm. Last year, I took up a position as visiting professor at Xiamen University, China. My wife is Chinese and I decided to spend three months exploring business opportunities in the region and trying to learn some Mandarin.

I’m blogging about my experiences in China for Real Business – catch up on my journey so far.

Jogging in China is not easy. I took my running gear, but have only managed half a dozen runs in three months – partly because I’ve been living out of a suitcase a lot, but mostly due to air quality. 

Paula Radcliffe suffered in Beijing, and so do I when I’m running. The air in most big cities in China is visibly smoggy (Beijing also blames the dust blown south from Mongolia) and although I haven’t had breathing problems while walking, there are some dire warnings being reported (by Western scientists) in the media – and I do notice breathing is harder when running. 

I’ve just heard that I’ve been accepted for my maiden London Marathon next year, so I need to get out there!