Mark Kitto

Name: Mark Kitto
From: North Norfolk
Living in: Moganshan, China

 “China. Been there. Got screwed. Got the T-shirt to prove it. Still there. Selling T shirts.”

Mark Kitto comes across as living life slightly off piste. Moving from a profitable, if fattening, gambling career at school (confectionary stakes) he became, after a stint in the Welsh Guards, a commodities trader for a London-based metals company that has a presence in Guangzhou. It was here that Mark launched himself on a media career. 

A love of languages, a fascination with the Far East and an opening China prompted Mark to study Chinese at SOAS. First as a student, and then during his career here, he has travelled to most of China’s provinces. His recent discoveries are the mountains of southern Zhejiang. In 1993 he was a member of the first expedition to cross the Taklamakan Desert from west to east.
In 1997 Mark met Joanna, his Chinese wife, through a mutual friend. They married in 2002. The family now includes two children, Isabel and Tristan. 
Mark’s first entrepreneurial venture was the ‘that’s’ series of magazines aimed at English speakers in China’s three main cities. The magazines were hugely successful, hitting the market at the optimum moment. His book ‘China Cuckoo. How I lost a fortune and found a life in China’ chronicles this experience, clues being contained in the title!

Despite setbacks, the opportunities proved a strong enough lure for Mark to continue a life in China. Retreating to Moganshan, he and Joanna opened a café to ‘keep themselves in noodles’ while Mark commenced a writing career, which includes a column for ‘Prospect’ magazine. The success of the cafe has led to the opening of a guesthouse run by Joanna. 

Mark feels part of the community of Moganshan: as with villages anywhere, everyone knows your business, so involvement was inevitable and Mark has found that common experiences create close ties. It has given him a sincere, if irreverent, fondness for China.