I finally launched my personal website www.liangzhang.com on February 5, 2010, four months after arriving in Morocco with my partner, who is posted to Rabat for the next three years.

It was rather difficult when we moved here in October last year, even though I had visited this country a couple of times before. I realized visiting a country as a tourist is quite different from living there. When vacationing in Morocco, I saw only the beautiful parts, ate in good restaurants, and stayed in beautiful hotels—everything was good. Then I was standing outside, looking in. Now that I am based in the country, it is a completely different feeling. I am no longer standing outside, but rather inside more like other locals.

For a start, I speak neither French nor Arabic. I need someone to help me wherever and whenever I go, even to buy little things. I had never felt so useless, as I need assistance all the time. I soon realized there was no chance to land a job in this market as long as I cannot speak the local languages.

Then, the culture and religion are different. In Asia, Buddhism is the most widely followed religion. Here Islam is the religion of the vast majority, and the culture seems to me quite passive. Processes are very slow, so slow that I am tempted not to pursue opportunities in my own professional area of design. I have a design degree from the USA. I have also worked as a designer in New York, Taipei and Hanoi, and could use my experience for a small business.

Since I don’t want to sit at home doing nothing for the next three years, I am analyzing the situation and looking for new opportunities.

Morocco is a very beautiful country. It has such geographic variety—Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Sahara Desert, Atlas Mountains—and such cultural richness—Berber, Roman, Arab and French.

I have passion about Morocco, its culture, food and people. I would love to show the country to Chinese- or English-speaking visitors in a way that I see the country, taking them to places that tourists normally don’t see, taking them to great restaurants that tourists often have no chance to experience, and taking them to special shops that most tourists have no time to find.

I know Morocco quite well now. Wherever I go, I walk through the little old-town alleys and always find new surprises. I take a little book with me, recording names and interesting things to see.

As part of this plan, I designed my own website. I composed text in both Chinese and English. As a keen photographer, I have been taking pictures wherever I go and was able to use my own pictures for the website. I also registered with Hotmail and Skype to be able to communicate with visitors who show interest in contacting me.

What I offer these visitors is to design a special schedule to fit their particular requests. As soon as they enter the country, I will accompany them on their tour, providing explanations about the history, culture, scenery, people, art, handiwork, and cuisine of Morocco.

It doesn’t matter what enterprise you want to take up, you must love what you are doing. Once you feel this way, there will be a market for it. Before starting out on this path, I really have to analyze the market and then provide the services the market wants.

Now, I will just have to send word out to all my friends and family members, encouraging them to come to visit this beautiful country and letting them know that they will see something really different and special.

Liang Zhang