Laurence Brahm of the Himalayan Consensus works long but fulfilling days. He has been kind enough to take us through a day in his difficult and rewarding work, maintaining indigenous identity and environmental protection.

6:30 I awake in a courtyard house tucked in a hutong in the historic Dongsi district of Beijing. This hutong has been my residence and work studio since 1997. The courtyard is full of golden leaves scattered by last night’s rain. I begin an hour-long meditation in the courtyard amidst the sweet smell of handmade Tibetan incense.

8:00 I follow a disciplined workout program. Today it involves weight lifting, bike riding and some light karate training. I rush back from the gym through Beijing traffic to begin our morning work review.

9:30 I meet with the program director of the Himalayan Consensus Institute. Himalayan Consensus represents a grass-roots economic model for poverty alleviation and cultural sustainable development. It emerged from my years working on the Tibetan plateau, pioneering geo-tourism, programs for the handicapped and rural medical outreach programs. Kendra and I sit under the crab apple tree in our courtyard garden, responding to emails regarding things ranging from a climate change conference in Hong Kong to a program for sustainable tourism in South Africa.

11:30 I stop into Himalayan Consensus project manager Alex Sahlberg’s office, one of the red-wood grey-brick buildings in our courtyard. He updates me on the number of “consensus communities.” These communities are grass roots programs for cultural sustainable development that uphold Himalayan Consensus principles. The number has jumped to a hundred. Alex is currently busy with a team of interns, networking with organizations and social entrepreneurs across the Himalayan region from Pakistan to Bangladesh. We are naming oustanding projects that best support ethnic diversity and cultural sustainable development as “Himalayan Consensus Certified.”


12:30 A group of Chinese officials arrive for lunch. They discuss the relevance of Himalayan Consensus as an economic model for China’s western regions, and extend an invitation to us to attend a conference on renewable energy. They want us to give a speech on how China has contributed to the Himalayan Consensus approach through its own economic development experience.

14:00 A GQ magazine reporter and photographers arrive at our courtyard. Natasha Khamudisova, who handles most of our media relations, joins in the interview session with them. They are mainly interested in discussing and photographing courtyard architecture and restoration, and emphasizing the importance of architecture in preserving local culture. I explain about the work we undertook in protecting courtyards in the Dongsi neighborhood and the parallel lobbying we did, which eventually helped give the Dongsi area historic preservation status. This historic preservation status prevented bulldozers from taking down the neighborhood. It’s now one of the last cultural-historic hutong districts left in the city.

19:30 My cousin Romulo Martinez meets me at Red Capital Club to discuss making website updates for the club. Earlier this year, he took over as general manager of Red Capital, giving the entire group of clubs and boutique hotels under the Red Capital umbrella a trendier direction and drawing a younger, hipper crowd. We are meeting with a group of ambassadors from countries in South America, to discuss the upcoming Cancun climate change talks. After a dinner that consists of an array of favorite dishes of China’s revolutionary leaders, we all go for a drive around Tian’anmen Square in our vintage 1970s Red Flag limousine. This classic is the last one of its kind on the streets in Beijing. After the drive we head to our courtyard boutique hotel, Red Capital Residence, on another hutong, for a Cuban cigar in the bomb shelter, an underground space that has been converted into a chic bar.

23:30 Returning to my courtyard, I enter the door from the tree-lined hutong. The garden is bathed in moonlight and has been covered with another blanket of late autumn leaves since this morning. Lighting more incense, I begin my late night meditation.

00:00 After I finish meditating, I start writing an article on climate change. It’s now midnight, and though it’s late, it’s the only time of the day when I can find the quiet I need to write.