Steven with Chinese media baroness Yang Lan, the Oprah of China [lostlaowai.com]

Steven Weathers

Nationality: US

Age: 36

Profession: TV host and video producer

Q&A

Self-description:Optimistic, ideas-generator, adventurous.

Favorite place: Japanese Teppenyaki place near my home.

Perfect weekend:

En route to a new part of China - each new place I visit reveals a new facet of Chinese culture. I feel sorry for the foreigners who just stay in Shanghai or Beijing because they miss the other thousands of sides to the diamond.

Strangest sight: Live chickens running around on the Metro. The strangest thing was nobody else thought it was strange.

Motto for life:Life without fear.

How to improve Shanghai:

Wake up all the sleeping drivers and remove their parked cars from the bike lanes. This will allow buses and bikes to move much more quickly and efficiently through the city.

Advice to newcomers: Develop friendships with local Chinese - it's not enough to just learn the language. You need these relationships to be really connected to the place otherwise you will always be an outsider looking in.

(Shanghai Daily August 19, 2009)