I am Julen Madariaga, a European happily living in Shanghai.

Uln was my internet identity and I used to blog under that nickname until I decided to use my real name. If you are curious, here are the reasons for this change, and here is the old intro page where I explained the origin of Uln. For sentimental and phonetic reasons I still use the logo when I comment on the internet:

In real life I am an engineer in an international corporation giving technical support for industrial projects in China. The name of my company is not mentioned to avoid any misunderstanding: what I write in this site is strictly my own personal work. An important part of my day job is related to data security and IP protection in some sensitive technology sectors. While this gives me a vantage observation point at the edge of China’s industrial development, it also effectively bars me from commenting on certain things. I do not publish on this blog any information even remotely related to my projects.

Apart from the experience of my day job, I am also a passionate student of Chinese language and culture. I have been doing this intensively since I arrived in China, to the point that I am preparing to beat level 10 on HSK this year. Part of the writing in this blog is dedicated to document this process, with a particular focus on that blurry line where culture and language meet.

One of the things I have observed since I came to the China blogs scene is that it is overwhelmingly dominated by Americans. This is only a reflection of the international political scene, which is increasingly polarized between China and the USA, while my old Europe sinks into oblivion. An objective of my writing is to give a balanced point of view from an outsider to both superpowers. In the process, I will probably be unable to repress some bitter criticism of the EU and its failure to unite in international politics, what  I consider to be our worst act of blindness of the 21st century. More details about political positioning  in Instructions.

Youren is my Chinese name, but it can also mean “there are people”, an assertion that is more true in China than anywhere else. It is meant to remind us that, before all the interesting differences we like to note in this blog,  we are first and foremost people, and as such the things we have in common are incomparably more important than our differences.  If I can contribute to improve the communication between people, this blog will have been a success.

The subtitle of this blog is:  Of China changing the World. China is not only changing the World, it is doing it so fast that by the time we turn round and look back, we won’t even know what happened. This is the place and the time, and I want to be right there to write about it.  As a citizen of the World, you are just as qualified as I am to discuss this, so please give me a nice surprise and leave a comment.