Beijing's 20 Most Interesting People: Nathaniel Davis

We have a saying here at the Beijinger that even if nothing interesting could be written about 99 percent of Beijing's approximately 20 million people, there would still be 200,000 great stories remaining. To us, what makes a person interesting was not only their long-term presence in Beijing, but that they had done something of note within the last 12 months. Here is one of our picks, and you can always find more in our October issue, now out on the stands.

Nathaniel Davis
Founding Partner and Director of Operations at Split Works
Years in Beijing: 15

Why he’s interesting: Since starting Split Works in 2006 (the forerunner of which was called 3 Brave Men), he’s brought international acts such as Avril Lavigne, Ghostface Killah and Sonic Youth to Beijing. Apparently that wasn’t enough: in 2008, he started JUE | Music + Art, now an annual, multi-day event that celebrates the local creative communities in the capital and that other city called Shanghai. It now draws almost 40,000 visitors to almost 100 events. We can’t wait for the next act.

What he says: “Every morning upon waking you never know what the city has in store for you. The multi-leveled pace and scope of change keeps things interesting and challenging. Beijing also seems to have its own stickiness too - it somehow grabs you and won't let you leave.”

Photo Courtesy of Nathaniel Davis