Iain Inglis

For love – that was originally why Iain made the great leap forward into China. But it was not initially love for the country itself that made him come here, but love for his soon-to-be wife. Iain and Yanling now live in a tropical paradise Sanya, where the former works in the hotel industry and the latter as a lecturer at a local university.

In the six years that Iain has been here, he has tried his hand at a range of things including management consultancy, English-teaching and hotel management. He decided to move to Sanya in 2007, and as a result of his excellent language abilities - Chinese, Russian and German - soon was selected as the honorary consular warden for the British Consulate General Guangzhou. Since the recent initiation of Hainan’s international tourism policy, Iain has seen, and is pursuing, more business opportunities here in Sanya. Iain has settled into Chinese culture and fallen in love with China over the years, having sojourned in many cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Kunming and Xiamen.

Most recently, he attended a nationwide singing competition of classic Chinese revolutionary songs, and with support from family and friends, he became China’s fifth best singer! This experience not only gave him two-month media exposure on national television, but also enabled him better to understand Chinese history and to express the friendship between British and Chinese people.

“China is my second home. Although I miss my home at times, China is where my heart is!”