Qin Xie

Qin Xie is a food, wine and travel journalist who spends much of the year on the road. She has reported on cocoa production in the Dominican Republic, date palms in Tunisia, wines of Georgia and more.

Keen to learn more about her subject, she trained as a chef and staged in numerous Michelin-starred restaurants including Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. She also holds the Advanced Certificate in wine and spirit from the WSET.

Her work has appeared in print and online in publications such as Yahoo, FT, The Times and CNN. She has also recently co-authored a Chinese cookbook.

According to friends, her watch is always set to UTC — ready for the next big adventure. In reality, she is happiest at the dinner table or by the sea.

You can work pretty much where you want to – on the road, do you find it hard to work or do you just have fun and work when you come back home?

I generally go on assignments for up to a week but sometimes only overnight. I always take notes on the road but it's actually quite hard to "write from anywhere" - you'd stop seeing the world. That said, time spent waiting at airports and on flights are great for catching up on reading, writing and sorting out photos.

Do you feel many people are envious of your lifestyle?

Yes and no. People love the idea of writing for a living but find it hard to get away from the security of that monthly paycheck.

In which countries have people recognised you, even when you thought nobody would?

People only "recognise" me in restaurants when I'm dining alone. I guess they think I'm a Michelin inspector of some sort!

Which three items would you never travel without?

Aside from passport - camera, adaptor and notebook. All work related and all very boring!

Are there any specific souvenirs or other things you collect from the places you go to?

As I write about travel as it relates to food and wine, I usually bring back things that you can eat or drink.

Tagged as: United Kingdom

QinXie
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