I first began to notice it two weeks ago when I was at the grocery store. It certainly didn't seem odd, just a little different and I was having trouble putting my finger on it. Then last Friday, I saw the first group of non-Chinese children playing outside since the week school let out in June and that crystallized it for me.

The lǎowài (老外) are returning.

In Mandarin, lǎowài means "foreigner". In general usage, I don't believe it's a derogatory term but I'm sure it could be used that way. I don't know why it happens, but I estimate 70-80% of the foreigners leave Beijing in the summer, only to magically reappear during the first two weeks of August, just in time for the children to start school. In my mind it seems more like the behavior of a species of migratory bird. They fly away to escape the humidity and smog so they can re-charge their batteries in their lush homelands. Or at least something like that. If you ask Jess if she's feeling "re-charged" after 7 weeks of vagabonding and single-parenting, she might just laugh in your face.

I was in Beijing last summer as well, but then I had just moved to China and my senses were on overload at the time. The crowds, the smells, the language, the smog, the food; it certainly didn't strike me that there were fewer foreigners than usual because to me, there were few than normal. However, now with a little over one year of Beijing acclimatization under my belt I can begin to appreciate the (slightly) more subtle changes.