Haigui (海龟). It's the Mandarin expression for overseas Chinese who settle back down in the home country. It's actually a play on the Chinese word for "sea turtle" (the correct expression is actually 海归) and is an apt expression for the many who come back to the Mainland to give birth to new ideas and ways of doing things.

When Liu Yang set off to France to study, it was in pursuit of an affordable education that would create the foundations for his future career. Did he have any inkling that a decade later his name in Beijing would be synonymous with cheese?

“I had no idea,” he chuckles between steady phone calls from clients placing orders. Business, he says, is good.

Stories like his used to be less common. Of approximately 1.62 million Chinese who went overseas to study abroad between 1978 and 2009, only about 500,000 returned, according to the Overseas Chinese Study 2011.

Yet of that total, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security reported that over 100,000 returnees came back in 2009 alone, according to the People’s Daily. A stagnant global economy, foreign interest in Chinese businesses and government efforts to fend off brain drain are enticing a rising number of overseas students to return.

Aided by the insight that living in a foreign place can foster, these repatriated Chinese, colloquially referred to as haigui (which is a homonym for “sea turtles”), can often be found taking on the challenge of improving the places where they settle.

Good, Clean Living

Yiyi Jing is a nutritionist and owner of Backyard Café

Yiyi Jing was disappointed to find an absence of natural foods and fresh coffee when Beijing drew her back in 2010, after six years living and working in Canada.

“I think being Chinese, you always want to learn something and eventually come back to your roots,” Jing explains. “Having the opportunity to know China from the beginning and go out and see the world and then look back at China, that opens up a lot of doors for you.”

Not one to sit idle, the nutritionist decided to fix what was missing by opening a café free of the additives ubiquitous to the Chinese restaurants where busy expats and locals tend to find quick meals. However, Jing notes, you can’t just tell busy, stressed people to change their habits.

“People here, if you want to change their lifestyles, it’s quite difficult,” Jing says. “The easiest thing to change is their diets.”

The best way to do that, she determined, was to provide them with a healthy alternative, and the resulting Backyard Café serves natural, additive-free meals, juices, smoothies with imported organic flaxseed and fresh-ground coffee. Finding true organic products within China has proven difficult, so her current focus is on fresh, unadulterated food.

“The challenge here is that some people say, ‘Hey, in China you can’t even find organic food, because the air is polluted and the soil is polluted,’” Jing says. “But if you have that attitude from the beginning, you’ll never be able to get there.”

Environmental economist Qin Ping

Environmental economist Qin Ping was similarly overwhelmed by Beijing when she returned from Sweden in 2010. However, she had gone abroad to get her PhD with the precise purpose of returning with the skills needed to suggest ways to resolve the capital’s congestion.

“I thought that if I went there to do some environmental research, it would be interesting if I could use those skills or instruments and bring them back to China,” she says.

Part of the problem is that Beijing takes a short-term approach to congestion, Qin says.

“If there are too many cars on the street, the tool the government uses is to take the cars off the street,” Qin notes. “From a long-term perspective it’s been proven to not be effective. It cannot reduce congestion and also cannot reduce air pollution.”

Qin’s current project with Sweden-based Environment for Development (EFD) surveyed 4,000 Beijing residents to determine how and why people choose certain transport methods. The data will help determine the individual hourly cost of sitting in traffic, allowing Qin to make a cost-benefit analysis that can be used to formulate policy-guiding suggestions.

The figures for the preliminary survey results are “surprisingly high” findings compared to a similar study by the Beijing Transportation Research Center in 2004, which found the average money lost when an individual sits in traffic for an hour was around ¥36, Qin says. She and her colleagues hope to publish their findings in the future.

Cravings Cured

Lue Zhiqiang opened Yugong Yishan when he returned to China

Recent years have seen a considerable uptick in international-caliber musical performances in the capital, thanks in large part to the man many know as Gouzi.

Seven years ago, Lue Zhiqiang opened Yugong Yishan as a place to party and give young musicians a leg up. When their venue in a lot off Gongti was demolished, Yugong moved to its current location in the old Duan Qirui government building and expanded its range of performances.

Lue, who was a heavy metal guitarist and breakdancer in his early 20s, gained much of the perspective he applied to his club after living in Germany. Arriving in Berlin in 1995 just to look around, he ended up staying until 1999.

Between German classes and poring over newspapers to learn the language, he worked to earn money so he could fulfill his mission of seeing as much as possible.

“I did everything. I even delivered pizzas!” he says. “All the money I earned was so that I could see more. Back then I saw and listened to so much, everything from big, famous bands to really new music, like techno, house, drum and bass, also hip-hop, trip-hop. I listened to all of it. I went to everything, as long as it had something to do with art.”

It’s that eclectic atmosphere that he seeks to apply to Yugong Yishan, which has been known to play host to film screenings, juggling clubs and international headliners in the same week.

“Our standard is that you need to have something to do with the arts,” Gouzi explains, adding, “But the most important issue is quality.”

In the end, it’s not the big names which give him the most joy.

“It makes me happiest to see new groups start here and do better and better. For example, Hanggai started off here, as well as Pet Conspiracy … It wasn’t that we gave [those bands] their big break, but when they were still small we gave them the opportunity to perform every month.”

Liu Yang returned from France to make artisanal cheese in Beijing

While Yugong provides Beijing with direly needed quality performances, Liu Yang is busy resolving the city’s cheese cravings.

After receiving two master’s degrees in France, Liu was pondering his career options when his neighbor in Corsica, a cheese maker, introducing him to the trade. Combined with his observation that dairy products like yogurt and ice cream were increasingly popular in China, Liu determined there should be a market for good cheese, too.

While cheese is frequently cited as unpalatable to Chinese, Liu says he’s seen a definite uptick in local customers.

“Some of my customers have lived or traveled overseas and some of them were introduced to cheese in China,” he says. “I think the great thing about Chinese customers is that they are interested in trying everything.”

Now Liu proudly offers a platter of nine locally made cheeses, which do not even represent everything he produces. To find outlets or place orders, curd lovers can visit www.lefromagerdepekin.com.

Beijing Beautiful

Emma Xu now teaches dance classes at Latino China

If finding healthy or coveted food from home is one Beijing challenge, finding time to keep fit during the hectic workweek is its counterpart. Fortunately, Emma Xu has Beijing residents swiveling their hips toward better health at her Latino China dance studios.

Xu opted to study overseas to broaden her horizons, attending Leeds University in the UK. She received a master’s degree in human resources management, yet it was salsa dancing that really captured her interest while living abroad.

Upon returning to Beijing, she saw a chance to turn her hobby into something more productive.

“Simply speaking, dance is a very good way of exercising. It keeps the body in good shape and definitely makes people feel more relaxed after a full day’s work,” she says.

Two Latino China studios are already open, offering classes in salsa, meringue, belly dancing, hip-hop and more, and Xu hopes to open five more in the coming two years. The studios also offer corporate training for those oft anticipated/dreaded end-of-year parties.

Svelte from salsa sessions, ladies might next head to Chictopia for the right dress to show off those curves.

The brand’s Beijing-born designer Liu Qingyang started taking drawing lessons at age 6, moved to Hong Kong at age 9 and later set off to study textile design in London’s Central St. Martins College of Art & Design.

“London is my dream city because it is a place of mixed culture, and it has got the newest and edgiest designs,” she says. Yet Beijing drew her back.

“It has a really good environment for art and design, and people here have got a great ability to accept new things,” she says. “As a result, there are more chances for young designers.”

She returned in 2008, took a tailoring course and began designing her own clothes. A year later, she launched fashion label Chictopia.

The 26-year-old designer cites nature as one inspiration, evidenced by the insect drawings and cutouts that characterized her 2011 spring/summer collection, as well as the bold orange poppy textiles she designed for the items in her 2011 autumn/winter collection, which are now on the racks in the Chictopia store in Gulou, Sanlitun’s BNC and Arrtco in Guomao.

“For the shapes, I took some elements from baroque costumes and made them simple and modern. I think the way I use color and my cultural background have kept my designs with an Oriental touch,” she says.

Although her works have the potential to change Beijing’s fashion landscape, Liu remains modest.

“I just want to design whatever is interesting and wearable, enjoy my work and earn a living from it,” she says.