This week’s episode was a special treat, a group roundtable discussion recorded live from XL Bar in Beijing for the kickoff of Maovember 2017. It features Jim Boyce, Mike Wester, and Claudia Masueger of the Maovember Steering Committee as they tell us what that is; more on them in just a moment.

L-R: Claudia Masueger, Mike Wester, Brendan Davis, Jim Boyce

But what is Maovember, you might ask? Well, you’ve heard of MOvember (right?) - it’s a month-long fundraising drive during November done in cities and towns around the world where people undertake various challenges and get their friends to sponsor them, with the proceeds going to local charities. The classic challenge is for men to grow their mustaches out, or not shave in general, for a month, but it’s branched out from there so that everyone can participate. In this down and dirty episode, we learn about the origins of the Beijing version of Movember and meet three of the gang of organizers behind the event...

Our guests are all multi-faceted folks, but the short version of their bios is that Jim Boyce is a food and wine writer and cultural commentator here who posts on his popular Beijing Boyce blog; Mike Wester is the head of True Run Media which publishes the top expat magazine and website The Beijinger; and Claudia Masueger is the CEO of Cheers Wines, making fine wine fun and affordable in China.

Claudia is also a Returning Champion on “Big Fish”, having been my guest for a full interview on lucky Episode #013. I will do full-length interviews with Mike and Jim as well when they let me, and you can check out Claudia’s interview wherever you got your hands on this one right here. Everyone is so generous with their time and resources in contributing to make Maovember a big success, that I want to do a little unpaid plug for everyone involved...

Please visit the guest’s links below, of course, and especially check out Maovember.com to learn more about Bread of Life and the Library Project, the two local charities that Maovember benefits. Bread of Life is a bakery that employs disabled people, and the Library Project, which furnishes reading rooms in needy schools. These folks are doing selfless, amazing things to improve the quality of life of people who need it, and I’m glad to have also been convinced to join the cause this month. No more shaving or beard trimming for me until December 1 - yikes!

There are several surprises in this one, and I’ll spoil it maybe just a little and let you know that the name Maovember is NOT a political reference, actually, but it instead refers to a unit of currency. Check out the episode for more information, and to learn how to participate or for web links to learn more about the event, the charities benefited, or my guests, please visit the links in the show notes below.

Thanks and cheers!

Maovember official site:
http://www.maovember.com

Jim Boyce / Beijing Boyce:
http://beijingboyce.com

Mike Wester / The Beijinger:
https://www.thebeijinger.com

CHEERS Wines:
www.cheers-wines.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheers_Wines

XL Bar:
https://www.thebeijinger.com/directory/xl-bar-and-restaurant

Brendan Davis on WeChat:
BrendanDavis

Brendan Davis on Twitter:
@VeritasInLux

BFMK website:
https://www.crazyinagoodway.com

BFMK Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BigFishMiddleKingdom/

Other links to LISTEN:
https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/podcast-links/

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https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/donate/