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Eric Ng

PICTURE THIS: corporate lawyer, Everest base camp and cycling. He is not your legal soap series character, but he did have a moment of adventure and glory cycling on the highest road on earth.

Simon Black, a partner at the Hong Kong office of British-based international law firm Allen & Overy, specialises in infrastructure and project finance work in Asia.

He has been recently promoted to the position of managing partner of the firm's Shanghai office and is expected to head the new office there in a few months.

His recent projects include a multibillion-dollar petrochemicals project in the mainland sponsored by Royal Dutch-Shell and China National Offshore Oil Corp, a port project in Pusan, South Korea, a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal project in Taiwan and a power project in Bangladesh.

The Informer  has learned about his adventurous pastimes.

Q: Why did you cycle in the thin air of the Himalayas?

A: Four years ago I made a 2,400km cycling trip with three other friends across Tibet, stopping at the Everest base camp and climbing five passes above 5,000 metres. We then crossed the Ladakh province of northern India. It was a fund-raiser for Medecins Sans Frontieres, and also for a small British-based charity called Motivation that builds wheelchairs in the Third World for disabled people.

Q: How much money did you raise?

A: We raised US$60,000. We endured a lot of pain doing it - 10 weeks of cycling. We cycled passed some great Buddhist monasteries and into the very high mountains. After reaching the Everest base camp, we crossed the Himalayas down into Nepal. We camped every evening.

Q: Did your trip inspire you to try climbing the Himalayas?

A: In my dreams, but probably not in reality. I love mountains, I think they're very invigorating. But I haven't done any mountain climbing on ice and snow.

Q: What are your best and worst memories from your trip?

A: The worst part was the first pass outside of Lhasa. We were not properly acclimatised. We cycled for four or five hours uphill and were almost passing out because of the lack of oxygen. Later, we cycled over the Khardung-la pass which, at 5,600 metres high, is the highest road in the world. That took us two days to climb. The feeling of achievement when we got to the top was unforgettable.

Q: Did you get some medical advice before the trip?

A: Yes, but no matter how prepared you are, it's never enough to cycle at that altitude. You just have to endure it and it gets better gradually.

Q: Were you afraid of losing your life at that moment?

A: No, but we were quite ill.

Q: Did you get some recognition for the adventure?

A: We made a video which was later shown on TV. It features me with a red beard which still makes me cringe with embarrassment.

Q: What other adventure sports do you do?

A: Adventure races like the Action Asia Challenge and North Face Challenge. They are team events which encompass trail running, mountain biking, abseiling (descending from a rope over a cliff) and other challenges in pretty stunning scenery.

Q: How do you like living in Hong Kong?

A: It's an almost perfect place to live, because you can combine a fulfilling career with a very active and enjoyable life. Particularly given the combination of beauty of the coastline, the islands and the mountains.

For people who are prepared to get out of the city, there are a lot of activities. Every weekend I race on a boat that I own with some friends. I love Lantau Island, where I share a holiday flat. Cheung Sha beach is my refuge from the madness of Hong Kong.

Q: Will your move to Shanghai bring some big changes for you?

A: Yes, because the challenges of living in Shanghai will be so much greater. There will be the business challenge of running an office in a new environment and the challenge of learning a new language. But I've already planned to trek on the Great Wall, sail up the Yangtze River and perhaps take a boat down part of the coast near Shanghai.

Q: You have worked in Japan six years ago, what's the difference between the Japanese psyche and the Chinese psyche?

A: In Japan, people are quite reserved and you spend a lot of time translating what people say into what they mean. That was all part of the fun and frustration of living in Japan. With over a billion people in China, it's more difficult to generalise and the short answer is I'm about to find out.



Outdoor pursuits put legal issues in the shade