See here for a full list of transcripts

OF: Hello, this is Oscar Fuchs. And welcome to the Mosaic of China podcast.

So first of all, why am I doing this? And why are you here? Well, a lot of what's written and recorded about China focuses on the issues, issues like government and politics, business and economics, technology and the environment, things like that. But what I found was that there's very little focus on the people, the people who live and work here. So what this podcast aims to do is to showcase some of these people who I've personally encountered living here in China these last few years. And just by talking to this selection of people about who they are and what they're doing in China, I hope to offer you a different lens on this place that I've called home.

The biggest limitation, of course, is that this is an English language podcast. So that already eliminates the many tens of millions of non-English speakers here. And in season one of the podcast, actually, the overwhelming majority of people are living here in Shanghai, not just because it's the commercial capital of the country. But because, well, this is where I currently live. But here's the thing, I'm not trying to offer an all-encompassing, exhaustive definition of the people of China. Each tile in this Mosaic just represents one story, and the 30 or so tiles that are laid out in Season 1, aren't meant to represent the 1.43 billion tiles that are not. Now having said all that, what I have tried to do is to curate a season of interviews that will offer as many diverse voices and perspectives as possible. So, as for the Chinese guests, you'll hear from the playwright, the technology innovator, the urban artist, the female comedian, the GM of a luxury private member's club, the programme director of a dance theatre, those are just a few. And then for the International contingent, there's the Kiwi diplomat, there's the Indian banker, the Armenian violinist, the Venezuelan marketer, the American journalist, the French CEO, the Canadian biochemist, and so on.

I've also tried to make the format of the podcast as interesting as possible, so that it can hopefully appeal not just to the China Insider, but also to the China Newbie. So let me just quickly explain how it works. There are three parts to each interview. The first part is a straightforward two-way conversation, which starts with the guest, introducing an object that in some way describes their life in China. In most cases, the guests brought in this object to the recording, so I'll be sharing photos of the guest and their object on social media. And then in the second part, I ask every guest, the same 10 China-related questions, all on the theme of their personal experiences, tastes and opinions. There's a visual element to quite a few of these questions, too. So again, as a listener, you can just stick with the audio recording, but then there's an extra layer of information that you can get from visiting us on @mosaicofchina. This short introduction is actually the most that you'll hopefully be hearing my voice. Usually I'll be the one asking the questions in these podcasts. So, look, I might come back and do a little Q&A at some point during the season. And that'll probably depend on what kind of feedback I hear from you, the listener, on social media. So all I can say is thanks so much for being here and I hope to see you next time.

See here for a full list of transcripts