Hi friends and supporters of that’s Beijing magazine:

It's official – our company, the producer of "that's Beijing" magazine since its debut issue in October 2001 right through the June 2008 issue, will now no longer be involved with the brand "that's".

Our publisher, who controls the official publishing license of "that's," has abruptly ended our long-term cooperation mid-negotiation and behind our back hired someone else to produce "that's Beijing" magazine from now on.

Our company, however, will be soldiering on with a magazine you'll find to be quite similar to that's Beijing -- a magazine to be called "the Beijinger" which will make its debut with the July 2008 issue.

It features the same layout, the same content, the same distribution, and most importantly, the same team that has brought you that's Beijing since we created its debut issue in October 2001.

Certainly there will be confusion as a new team of people we don’t know begins producing a magazine called "that's Beijing". Our publisher has not told us who they are or when their first issue will come out.

While it is a shame our publisher will no longer allow us to use the “that’s” brand, we are confident that it's the people -- our editors, salespeople, distribution team, marketing team and all of our support staff -- that has made this brand what it is, and these same people will have no problem making "the Beijinger" every bit as impactful as its former incarnation.

In many ways it is a relief to be unburdened by the that's brand, especially since its trademark has been under dispute for many years now. Currently its trademark status is up in the air, awaiting a final court ruling as to who its rightful owner is. Our sincere hope is that those who rightfully deserve the rights to this brand will prevail.

I hope I can count on your support of our newly rebranded title and help me spread the word that the team that brought you "that's Beijing" for almost seven years now will now be bringing you "the Beijinger".

Additionally, all of our staff contact information -- office phones, emails, etc -- remains the same. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Mike Wester
General Manager
True Run Media

PS: Our other magazines – Agenda, Urbane and tbjkids, as well as our Immersion Guides series of books and maps, are unaffected by this move. We’ll continue to bring you the best of Beijing with each of these products.

Visit us on the web at:
http://www.thebeijinger.com
http://www.immersionguides.com
http://www.urbanechina.com
http://www.agendabeijing.com
http://www.tbjkids.com