Name: Darryl Snow
From: Jersey, Channel Islands
Living in: Beijing

“Living here under the shadow of the looming Olympics and experiencing the city afterwards has really highlighted the rapid changes and development. I arrived in the depths of winter while there were still coal burners on every street corner, construction sites everywhere, and dust lingering in the air. I definitely feel that today’s Beijing is greener, fresher and a lot shinier.”

Darryl Snow came to Beijing for a holiday in 2005, three years later he can be found on China’s international television channel, CCTV9, presenting the weather report to an audience across China and internationally.

Concerned with escaping the miserable British weather, Darryl decided to stay in China to learn Chinese in the knowledge that his degree in Web Design could be applied anywhere. His design career took off and he headed a team through various large projects for clients including Snow Beer, Chery Automobiles and 21st Business Herald.

About a year ago he began working at the China Meteorological Administration’s ‘HuaFeng’ group, which sells weather TV and radio programmes to all of China’s state-run media. He came across the job by chance and leapt at it. It sounded like a unique experience especially given that he was to do live shows throughout the Olympics.

During his time in China, he has met many interesting people, including the adopted daughter of Zhou Enlai who gave a select crowd of people a talk about her life and that of her father. Darryl has been nominated for this year’s ‘Friends of China Award’ which, if he is lucky enough to win, is rumoured to be presented by Wen Jiabao.