Another year of Covid silliness – thanks for being part of it!
The team attempts an annual planning meeting despite having literally no idea what the pandemic is going to throw at us next. A recent look back at the notes from said meeting prove to be hilarious for all involved. If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans etc.
February
Beijing saw the bizarre mid-February temperature of 20 degrees centigrade (we had a picnic, no joke) and a swathe of cool new restaurants and bars opened in the capital and Shanghai, reminding us that while the rest of the world was closing venues, China was still opening new ones. Incredible.
We kicked off with a trip to Gansu province. Great pic, Nic!
March
The team works its butt off planning all manner of trips for spring including a yoga retreat in Yunnan, Guizhou village hopping, a Gansu expedition, an epic Inner Mongolia trip and a recreation of the Long March. Sarah goes only slightly mad trying to design the PDF itineraries, but we get there eventually.
April
Sam struggles to get any office work done down in Guizhou (but blames it on a group of local children), while Sarah heads to Gansu with William Lindesay and laps up the praise from happy clients despite having done none of the prep work (shout out to Bespoke’s office manager Sherril). William ends the trip with a story about the legendary dog of explorer Aurel Stein who got hit by a bus. Several people in the group suddenly get a grain of Gobi desert sand in their eye.
May
We run a yoga retreat with Taozi Tree in beautiful Yunnan. The group gets a fit of giggles while trying to capture an exotic Hoopoe bird via the time-lapse function on our phones (full disclosure, wine was involved – it wasn’t that kind of yoga retreat). We fail but our client Gill nails it with her professional camera. Cannon 1; Apple 0. Meanwhile the group that went to Inner Mongolia and Ningxia have the pleasure of eating beef noodles at 3am one morning… don’t ask.
The results speak for themselves, frankly.
June
Participants of our Nanjing Decade tour question their dedication to art deco hunting when they realise they’ve walked into the world’s sweatiest city. Sherril and Sarah get sloshed at the Canaan winery outside of Beijing in the name of ‘research’ and Norah, accompanying a private group of clients to Guilin, learns that making a fan from scratch isn’t as easy as it looks.
Wishing for air conditioning
July
In a bid to look patriotic, we recreate a section of The Long March in Yunnan to mark the Communist party’s big anniversary. It doesn’t quite go as planned, and the group spends quite a lot of time caked in mud. Sam almost has a heart attack when younger members of Bespoke’s battalion jump from their rafts into the Jinsha river to cool off. After careful consideration he decides to join them.
"Wait you'd better not ju.....!" Ah. Too late.
August
Things start getting cancelled again after a virus outbreak in Nanjing. Sam punches a wall and Sarah screams silently into a pillow. Ok not really. But we felt like it.
September
We are nominated for a China Social Impact Award! The UN’s Siddharth Chatterjee and other luminaries are forced to watch a cheesy 2 minute long video about why Bespoke deserves to win. It didn't quite work, however, because we lost. Happily the lovely folks from the Linden Center triumphed, so at least it was a good night for travel companies…
October
Bespoke’s brilliant trip designer Jenny goes on maternity leave at the beginning of the October holiday and we’re wondering how we’ll ever cope without her when it becomes clear that no one is really allowed to travel anyway due to new restrictions. Phew. We launch a new Beijing walking tour with Jeremiah Jenne based on yet another of Paul French's books, and Sam oversees a private trip for a 50th birthday celebration in Gansu.
This doesn't look much like work Sam...
November
While clients from Beijing couldn’t travel, a small group of intrepid explorers from Shanghai make it to Fujian. The group literally get lost in the backstreets of Gulangyu in search of a particularly beautiful old mansion. They also dare each other to eat sandworms (a local delicacy we’re told). Unsurprisingly, no one will be taking any home as a souvenir.
December
An extended team of Bespoke’s very best tour guides and some of our office staff return triumphant from managing the VIP elements of the CNBC East Tech West event down in Guangzhou for the third year running. Sarah throws the team a Christmas party streamed live from WeWorks in Shanghai and Beijing. Andy brings his own body weight in snacks, Lily wins all the prizes, and Sherril’s attempt at a candy snowman remains one of the most disturbing things we’ve seen all year.
And that’s saying something.
Read all the way to the end? Blimey, we thought only our mothers would. Thank you for your support this year. We love you .
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