James Mayger
@jdmayger
Bloomberg’s only reporter in Canberra. Previously in Beijing and Tokyo, reporting on trade, trade wars, policy and other stuff. 彭博新闻社驻堪培拉的记者。以前驻北京和东京。 ブルームバーグの在キャンベラ記者。以前北京と東京で経済と貿易、貿易摩擦等を見てた。
In the almost six months since I’ve been back in Oz, many things have surprised me. But one thing that isn’t a shock is the collapse of the middle in politics - just like what’s happening elsewhere. See next post for a gift link to the story.
You know you’re in a government town when this is the airport advertising:
Didn’t we fight a war to keep the “Bavarian Power Kraut” out of this country?
Lovely last full day in Beijing. Perfect day to stop and get my favourite food here - a Jianbing from the caravan outside Fuchengmen station. No idea how many of these I have eaten, but so good.
Come for the grottoes. Stay for the Han-period Great Wall and Silk Road gate houses. Just stunning, even if it was a sand-stormy kind of day.
It really is an amazing place. And that’s before you come to the knowledge preserved in the manuscripts found there (in the tiny cave 17). And also, who doesn’t like ご当地アイス and camel-milk crackers?
In what is my final week in China I finally was able to get to Gansu and see the Mogao Grottoes. Amazing paintings and sculptures - and even better when you remember some of them were being worshipped by people 1,500 years ago.
Good thing the airport had this sign. Otherwise someone might try to hand carry their nuclear warheads.
It’s a cold day in Beijing today as the government announced their plans for 2026, and the next five years. Lovely to walk around in the crisp air. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
If you forgot to get someone a Spring Festival gift, Canberra airport has you covered.
I was disappointed that the Australian parliament doesn’t have a 歴代総理マグ. Instead you have to buy individual mugs for each one:
Not election related, but photos like this make me miss Tokyo so much (source: Nikkei). Still remember walking home through snow above my knees one night in 2015/6. Glorious…
This might be the most Aussie thing I’ve ever done - calling the council to report a large dead roo on the side of the road.
First day in the new shop, and it’s not looking too bad. A beautiful day for a walk up to Parliament House. (And certainly easier to get into the building than the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.)
The new year sees me with a new beat - economy and government reporter in Canberra. I’m keen to meet and chat to anyone as I learn how Australia has changed since I last lived here in 2000. So if you want to talk about Oz and its place in the world, please get in touch.
Wandering around Tokyo is never boring. Always something (or someone) surprising.
Cleaning out my desk I stumbled upon a report from early 2019, forecasting China would drop into a current account deficit that year. It didn’t happen - the surplus this year is at least 3.5% of GDP. (And higher if you use trade data.)
It’s an interesting position to both claim to be safeguarding victory in WW2 and also claim that the treaty that legally ended that war in the Asia-Pacific for most nations is “invalid scrap paper.”
Happiness is going out drinking in Jinbocho with a friend who knows a bar that’s actually a bookstore.
Which also works as an Australian slang term: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_C...