Victor Villanueva

Singing the anthem in this morning's flagraising at the Embassy felt a little more special after waking up to this headline. I didn't think much of what we did, I was in fact very careful and diplomatic in my tone. At that time it was enough, but I know there's more to come.

Saturday morning walk around the Beijing Olympic Forest Park. Massive park in itself but just a part of the entire sprawling Olympic district north of the city, now bursting in springtime colors.

Perfect afternoon weather for a run, one of those rare ~23°C windows in Beijing where it's neither hot nor cold, with clear skies and light air. Ran along the Tonghui, a canal built during the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan, now winding through eastern Beijing, including my neighborhood near the CBD, with paved paths and gardens along its banks.

Met central bank reps from several countries over lunch some days ago, thanks to a Filipino connection at the World Bank office in Beijing. Noted we're the only ASEAN-5 country without a central bank presence here. (Slight nosebleed from all the petroyuan vs. petrodollar talk). Another reminder that our relationship with China is not a one-issue track, and understanding macroeconomics and monetary policy in this country is essential, as our neighbors clearly recognize.

Going through their workshop, fascinated how complex new tech vehicles are. It was like a being in an educ lab with all these car cadavers, with all sorts of modules explaining how each part works like it was anatomy.

Visited HQ of largest tech vocational educ group in China last week. Scale of EV, hydrogen, hybrid training across multiple brands, even Japanese and American, is substantial. Clear indicator of where industry is heading. Optimism in Philippines speaks a lot about genuine potential in our new energy vehicle market and workforce.

Gentle paved trails and steps all the way, tree blossoms of different colors starting to bloom, steady stream of hikers enjoying the calm. Stopped by temples and imperial villas along the way.

Easy springtime hike this Sunday at Beijing's Xiangshan ('Fragrant Hills'). Families everywhere, from kids to grandparents hiking up and down the roughly 600m 'hill' at the city's north.

Not sure if this is the usual crowd around Hangzhou's West Lake (Xihu) commercial center or it was just a long public holiday that probably drew so many people out with friends and family in malls and shops near the gardens. [Hangzhou 9/x]

Longjing village on the hills of Hangzhou. Fascinating that this beautiful verdant landscape can exist just a short hike (or a 20 minute bus ride), from the center of a city of 12+ million. This village produces a famous green tea Zhejiang province is known for. Sound on to hear the birds ! [Hangzhou 8/x]

Sometimes I'm even glad we're not a "big" embassy here. In many other countries' missions, different diplomats are assigned to cover specific subjects. It's mostly just me on our end, which means being able to take it upon myself to learn, interact, and report across the board. Demanding, but deeply enriching.

Enjoying handling my portfolio since I came here. Most days, it's all about trade, at times about tariffs, market access, numbers between China and the rest of the world. Then some days I'm doing fertilizers, EVs, batteries, semiconductors, rare earths, renewable energy, AI, biotech. At times, I go around on creative industries. Other days it's down to vegetables and agricultural production, then back up to interest rates and macro trends. For a lawyer, it's a fascinating crash course on science, technology, culture, and how the world works. And always a reminder, in the same way the rest of the world deals with China, that we're far from being a one-issue relationship. It's terribly unwise to close our eyes to developments in many fields of human endeavor simply because they're happening in China.

Some weekends ago at a "Beijing young diplomats" party in a hutong bar. Always a nice chance to network and chat beyond the lunch/coffeeshop/park hopping circuit among counterparts. Also, just fun.

In and around Lingyin temple in Hangzhou, including surrounding tea fields. Interesting to see this level of ritualistic practices I don't really see in Beijing, it feels characteristic of people in Jiangnan across the central coast to the south. [Hangzhou 7/x]

Incense smoke fill one of the courtyards of Lingyin Temple on the verdant hills of Hangzhou, a few minutes from the city center. People flocked to one of China’s most significant Buddhist sanctuaries on the eve of Qingming festival last week. [Hangzhou 6/x]

Arrived in Hangzhou under an overcast sky in a chilly spring afternoon. Went for a stroll around beautiful West Lake. Eve of the Qingming festival meant there were thousands of others on holiday who had the same idea. [Hangzhou 5/x]

@88DoubleDragon Yes !

@bikoy Ganda sa Hangzhou (杭州). I fondly remember the green tea fields there

HSR train to Hangzhou from Beijing last week. 4.5 hour train ride 1300km southwards. Took several days from the Holy Week break. [Hangzhou 4/x]

@rayandallon Around 600

@bikoy How much is the cost sir?

Took the train back to Beijing from Hangzhou. Roughly 1,300 km in a little over 4 hours. [Hangzhou 3/x]

Appreciate being able to order Starbucks from my seat. Or any food from a restaurant in any of the upcoming stopover stations--the train personnel will deliver the food to you.