Thomas O’Malley

Tom started out as an editor at Marvel Comics before getting into food and lifestyle journalism in London and then Beijing. He now works as a freelance writer and author.

He has written guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Fodors and Time Out, a travel memoir for Penguin, and reviews hotels for the Telegraph. He also works as a travel copywriter for clients including Shangri-La Hotels, Rosewood Hotels, Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott.

Passionate about Peking duck and Great Wall trekking, Tom has called Beijing home since 2008.

Leaving London for China in 2008, Tom swapped a financial crisis for nine percent GDP growth, and Typhoo tea bags for tieguanyin oolong. Enchanted by Beijing’s old hutong lanes, Tom moved in to an old courtyard house close to the iconic Drum Tower.

His first job in Beijing was as Dining Editor for a city listings magazine, which involved eating his way through the delicious array of regional Chinese food on offer in the capital. In the years since, he got into travel articles and guidebooks, and took regular forays into the wider East Asia region, building up expertise on Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

To see the Northern Lights, take a camper van trip across Europe, explore the colonial British legacy of India, and road-trip the USA on some kind of classic American motorcycle.