Dinner with Monkeyface

On Monday, we met back up with our project partners from the branch offices.

Mr C hosted a banquet after work in celebration of the next phase of the project.



We traveled through a major traffic jam to get to the restaraunt in upscale office building. The show started at 7:15 so we left our banquet room for the main dining hall.

There we found "Monkeyface" who performed a Chinese dance with changing masks.

The Mistress of Ceremonies not only sang...


.... but also oversaw the Beer Drinking contest.....



I was the big winner, taking home a case of Harbin beer. A banner day.

Jostling for Harmony

Sunday we visited the Forbidden City located at the center of Beijing. The Forbidden City served as the home for 24 emporers of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Construction started in 1406 and it was occupied until the last emporer left in 1911. During this time, the average citizen would have been forbidden from entering.


There are almost 200 acres within the walls of the city. Inside you have your Palaces of Earthly Tranquility, Heavenly Purity, Middle Harmony, Preserving Harmony and Supreme Harmony (among others).

Reaching any of those states is unlikely today given the average crowd visiting.

It starts just outside of the city in Tiannamen Square...

By the time we got to the main gate we had been swept up into the pack. Forget pursuits of Harmony and Tranquility, here you need to focus on not having your eye poked out by an umbrella.

There is little shade throughtout most of the city and it was hot so we were glad to get to the Imperial Garden towards the end of the tour. Here you will find the great Hill of Accumulated Elegance:

It was an interesting tour and impressive place but we were glad to head back to the tranquility and harmony (and AC) of the hotel guest lounge!

Market Day

We headed out shortly after breakfast on Saturday to the Panjiayuan Antiques Market (a/k/a the Dirt Market) to see what they had to offer.


There were a lot of paintings and other 'hand-made' artifacts - some wood furniture as well that all looked new.

Anybody need a giant stone statue for their front yard?


Lunch was at Beijing Noodle across from the Pearl Market. They keep a live snake in a glass container by the front door (not reassuring). We made a bit of a spectacle of oursleves trying to get a table by the air conditioner. A Chinese family stepped in on our behalf to negotiate the relocation (they had to sit with us to make it happen).

After lunch we focused on jewelry, particularly pearls and ended up with several purchases from Sharon's store (below).

By mid afternoon we were ready to escape the heat and headed back to the hotel. Room service brought a surprise snack of rice milk and fried meat pie pastries. The pastry filling was kind of sweet and somewhat of a miss in my book.

For dinner, we met up with some co-workers fresh from the States and hit the Sanlitun area:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanlitun

I tried to stay out with the late night contingency but started to fall asleep again and had to use my "Take me back to the XYZ hotel" card for a cab. Luckily I made it home without having to provide any further direction. By the way cabs are cheap here ---- $4 to go probably 8 miles across town.

Good Morning Beijing

Saturday morning and I am still not adjusted to the time. I keep waking up at 3 AM. I can usually fall back asleep for some time but usually done by 5.

We're off to the Dirt Market this morning. Reports later.

Walking around Houhai

No leash? No problem. Grab that dog by the hand and hit the streets!

We spent most of Friday preparing for upcoming work sessions with our branch office partners.

These guys appeared on the ledge of the building across the way during our morning meeting and proceeded to get to work.

After another fine lunch in the company cafeteria, we took a walk to get some air. We stopped into the Volvo dealership to check on prices. The XC90 is going for about $95K USD in Beijing --- probably twice the asking price in the US. Makes all of the new cars on the streets of Beijing that much more impressive.

In the evening we headed to the Houhai (Ho Hi!) district in search of dumplings. Dinner plus drinks was $15 for three of us. The dumplings and noodle soup was very tasty but we were lacking variety (the waitress was trying to tell us as much but we didn't understand until later).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houhai

Houhai is an interesting neighborhood with shops, bars and a small lake in the center.

Almost every bar and restaurant had large TV's showing the World Cup.

After dinner, it was back to Hotel lounge for some live music by Mandy and Dawn. Lots of Barbra Streisand and Minnie Riperton!

Back to Work

We spent most of Thursday updating the Chinese executives on the status of our work.

Lunch was in the company cafeteria in the basement which I had been warned about. One of our US based associates, working on another project, texted beforehand to start warming up the taste buds. There were, in fact, some rather gruesome offerings, but the beef and rice worked out okay.

The room next door held the ping pong tables. Many of the employees meet there on their lunch break or after work for some serious ping pong action. They even change clothes to play.

I had not slept well the night before and ended up getting out of bed at 2:30 AM China time. May have been that sushi platter.

As a result I had a major sinking spell in the afternoon, so we set off in search of coffee.

Of course, Starbucks has made it here, however, it is never very crowded. The Chinese don't drink a lot of coffee and they think its overpriced (can't imagine!)

Dinner was hosted by Mr S at a newer restaurant down the street. There were only 6 of us so the toasting was kept at bay and we were only drinking red wine (from China).

In the first round of offerings, we had a majestic sahimi tray

My chopstick skills were rusty and I dropped the first piece in the dipping sauce with way too much wasabi. I thought I might have to be resucitated after that. There was also a dish that I am convinced was snake but I did not ask (and did not want to know for sure).

Later in the meal, we had some prickly fried puffs. Mr S was telling us that the filling was made from a fruit banned in Singapore due to its pungent odor. I have to say I understand why.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/world/asia/08durian.html?ex=1333684800&en=bc818fd0f3339f36&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

It's Friday morning now and I was able to sleep until almost 5 AM so looking forward to the day!

China Round 2

I'm headed back to China to begin work on the next phase of my project. This time it's American from DFW to Tokyo and then connecting on to Beijing.




The miles seemed to click by slowly, but there were a lot of diversions and they feed you everytime you turn around (no eel though!).




I expected Tokyo to be the model of efficiency, but instead found the whole connection process through Narita to be a real chore. At one point there was a huge bottleneck transferring from one terminal to another because they wanted to see everyone's baggage claim ticket. Then there were long delays for the shuttle and check in for the next leg of the trip --- also a lot posted rules and regulations.



On the shuttle, I got to talking to another American and came to find out he was the brother of a college friend. He has been living in Beijing for several years now and is working to develop middle class housing projects.

While waiting on the next flight, I was reminded that it was time to get on my game-face regarding the upcoming dining fare:



Sure enough, once in Beijing, I was greeted by a sushi platter in my room. How long do you think that can sit out? Oh well, here we go!



Reading materials for this trip:

Lost on Planet China
http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Planet-China-Understand-Mystifying/dp/0767922018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276729772&sr=1-1

and
China in the 21st Century
http://www.amazon.com/China-21st-Century-Everyone-Needs/dp/0195394127/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276729952&sr=1-1