David Feng is presently the holder of a Chinese Foreign Permanent Residence ID Card (“Five-Star Card”/Green Card) for the Mainland of China.
The Long Road to Permanent Residency
David was, first and foremost, a Chinese citizen at birth, but having then migrated to Switzerland at a young age, and especially since his desire at age 16 to naturalise as a Swiss, became a citizen of Switzerland in 2000. But Beijing has always been his place of birth — and a city which has transitioned greatly in almost no time.
Returning to Beijing in August 2000, this time with a Chinese visa, his next years were mainly spent at a student, first at the University of International Business and Economics, then at the Communication (Media) University of China. He then dabbed between many different involvements, notably on the airwaves with Radio Beijing, and most importantly, as a senior translator for the city’s planning museum for Beijing 2008.
Although city civics authorities gave David special recognition for his language skills and assistance during the Summer Olympics, this was not enough to qualify him for permanent residency at that time. Following three further years of study, this time back at the Communication University for his media PhD, he entered academia in 2012 as a Lecturer, after he secured his most important China nexus — marrying a local in 2011. However, he would be unable to complete his required 9-month annual residence requirement due to relocating to London in summer 2014.
Finally, after returning in the wake of the Brexit debacle, the clock was reset in September 2016. He was then made Associate Professor at the Communication University, and right before the pandemic, even had his own lecture theatre to use for lessons. It was at this opportune time, when permanent residency was offered to former PRC citizens with PhDs, that he submitted his application in late October 2019.
The cataclysmic Covid-19 pandemic and the unforeseen closing of the borders in late March 2020 made David think his application would have been automatically denied due to these exceptional circumstances. However, on the day domestic quarantine requirements were largely waived for Beijing, his 2017 edition Green Card was issued on the basis of his established academic experience, plus most likely also his visible activity in the rail world.
In February 2025, he applied to switch to the newer 2023 edition Five-Star Card, and on the day he visited his 500th railway station as part of the Next Station: China trek across all rail stations in China, his new Five-Star Card was granted. Today, he never leaves him without his Five-Star Card, and, of course, his Swiss passport.