The 38-year-old has traveled in more than 20 countries but he says that China is definitely the best he has ever been to

Da Long is Swedish with a difficult European name: Johan Bjorksten. So he wants to be called Da Long, which means "Big Dragon” because he was born in the year of the Dragon.

Da Long is a businessman, whose title is managing partner of Eastwei PR. Every day he sits among piles of files and telephones, surrounded by activity and business visitors.

In his formal suit and tie, Da Long really looks like a successful businessman. But when Da Long was a young student in his high middle school he was actually a cool boy.

At that time Da Long was a pop music fan. He organized his own band and recorded his own CD named Early Bird. His music sounds avant-guard even today.

It is not strange, according to him, because, in his hometown in Sweden, music is the third biggest business. Almost all young people in the country are crazy about music and bands. Da Long was no exception. He began learning piano at the age of 15 and continued for about 10 years.

But Da Long confessed that pop music is still his favorite, especially heavy metal rock’n’roll such as death metal.

"I just like this kind of abstract music, no reason, it is my instinct," he said, "I like the music because it matches my mood at the time."

Popular DJ

Because of his musical background, Da Long became a DJ at Beijing TV and radio stations to introduce European music to Chinese.

At that time, many listeners wrote to him and praised his standard Putonghua. His Putonghua, especially to most Shanghainese, sounds very much like a pure Beijing accent.

His way of learning the language seems a little off-putting at the first. Just recite all the characters and phrases in the dictionary from A to Z.

After reciting, he tried to read books and watch films. Now Da Long can fluently recite Xiao Shi Tan Ji, a famous piece by Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). While most Chinese can't do that because the style in which the ancient Chinese described things, most of the time, is totally different from that of today's people. "You see, Da Long is not overstating his hobby of ancient literature," said his assistant.

Like most Chinese people, Da Long also likes Jin Yong's swordsmen stories. "I think it reflects the Chinese culture in some way,” he said. But he doesn't like those heroes because they are too "perfect" and "don't know how to catch the opportunity? In the stories, most heroes will give up the opportunity to catch the girl he loved or to become a leader.

Da Long said he likes bad people in the stories, most especially a Buddhist monk who doesn't obey any rules.

Da Lung’s other skill is calligraphy. He used to have a professional teacher. He learned very hard, writing every day for half an hour in the early morning. "But it only lasted a week," he added. Honestly speaking, Da Long's writing is rather good even compared with most Chinese. He published a book in Sweden which tells people how to write Chinese.

Favorite Taste

Now Da Long has lived in China for 12 years. He says he fell in love with China at first sight.

The 38-year-old has traveled in more than 20 countries but he says that China is definitely the best he has ever been to.

"Actually, I knew a lot about China since my childhood," he said. His father, with the aim of letting his four children have an understanding of different countries and different cultures, brought him to try different foods as the first step in getting to know a culture.

Every month, the family would go to a Chinese restaurant. Da Long said he liked the dining very much, not only because of the Chinese cuisine, but also because he could show off his skill at using chopsticks in the kindergarten.

"All the other children admired me a lot because I could use chopsticks,” he said. "I was so proud of it at that time."

If you ask Da Long if he had only one choice between Chinese food and Western food for his whole life, he tells you at once, "Chinese food? And the spicier, the better. Sichuan food is his favorite.

Taste alone may have lead him to China. In 1988, he studied chemistry at Beijing University and started his business in China. At that time, he just wanted to learn Chinese as well as his major. "It is Yijian Shuangdiao (one stone kills two birds)," he said, using an idiom.

Guanxi Awareness

Da Long is now a big investor in China. His company is listed among the top 10 PR businesses in China.

His clients include some big names, IKEA, Bayer and Gucci. To meet the demand of his clients, Da Long uses almost all of his talent, including that of performance.

He is the star of a TV show made by IKEA. In the television film series, which is now carried on the fashion channel of the Shanghai Television Station, Da Long acts as an MC to tell people how to make a beautiful home by painting the wall or changing the color of the sofa. Da Long is proud of his leading role.

The program is carried every Saturday afternoon at 17:53, you can see if Da Long's performance is worth an award.

Working in China for a long time, Da Long has learned how to think about problems in a Chinese way. He can now understand and use words such as guanxi, which especially means relationship with high level people. Having guanxi and making good guanxi is key to business success. And he thinks it is not a bad word.

The Chinese-styled Da Long also made a lot of Chinese friends here. The best was a Chinese girl from Harbin called Zeng Lin, who is now his wife.

"Chinese people are very warm-hearted," he said. "If they said they want to send you home, they will take you to your door whereas Swedish people just send you to the metro."

To Da Long, it is much easier to make friends in China. "In Sweden, there are only 5 million people, but in Shanghai, there are 13 million," he said. "Of course, I have a wide choice here."

Though he is totally Chinese, his blue eyes and high nose still make him stick out. He can enjoy a lot of preferential rights here but also some "discrimination? "In some places, such as the court or government, I can't get in. I have to pay more for services in the neighborhood than other Chinese. Some people in the neighborhood still look uneasy when they meet me," he complained. "But that's okay and, anyway, warmhearted Chinese always give me the priority to do things."

Only one thing still makes Da Long uneasy, which is that Chinese people do not speak straightforwardly. "I must guess the meaning behind their words but I always forget to guess," he said.

(Shanghai Star October 28, 2002)