The November issue of That's Beijing is out now – paper-and-ink form citywide, digital pdf form right here or in your browser here. Editor-in-Chief Noelle Mateer introduces the magazine:
I stumbled upon this month’s cover story because I wanted a donut. I was at the newest branch of Dunkin Donuts, you know, “checking it out for the magazine,” when I noticed something strange: I was the only one there. And yet Rich & Jay, the cafe next door, was packed. I’d heard of neither Rich nor Jay, but their faces were everywhere – on the cafe’s walls, to-go cups and merch. It was… creepy.
The more I explored this wing of Sanlitun’s new Pacific Century Plaza, the more I found to be creeped out by. Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel are the founders of Amway, the massive American direct-selling company that’s frequently been accused of being a pyramid scheme. The Rich & Jay cafe is inside Beijing’s first Amway Experience Center, where on-site tour guides lead visitors through museum-like displays about the company with an almost cult-like fervor.
Amway, which stands for American Way, has a rocky history in China – the government banned it, along with other companies it deemed pyramid schemes, in 1998, but allowed it back in 2005 under strict regulations. With the Chinese government threatening a new pyramid scheme crackdown this year, I wondered – how will Amway get around this? Do these massive Experience Centers have anything to do with it? And what is the ‘American Way,’ anyway? Read about all of this in this month’s cover story (p. 42).
Elsewhere in the magazine:
Dominic Ngai details the surprising history behind China’s pretty-boy pop stars (p. 10);
Erica Martin talks to ‘desert blues’ legends Tinariwen (p. 34);
And Dominique Wong takes us both to Singapore (p.24) and a creepy-as-hell teddy bear restaurant (p. 59).
Until next month,
Noelle Mateer
Editor-in-Chief
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