Dumpling Class

On Friday evening, the hotel held a Dumpling Class in the guest lounge.


We each took our turns making pork filled dumplings. I decided that I was not cut out for this work.

Afterwards, we had the finished product for dinner. Then the hotel let us tour the Presidential Suite (sorry no pictures as my batteries ran out).

Later, we hit the foot massage place.

On the TV: the very Chinese "Journey to the West"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrzTxGZrV0Q

Enjoy!

Duck Outing

Thursday night we headed out to the Silk Market to let the newbies try out their haggling skills. Traffic was a nightmare and it took us over 90 minutes to go about 6 or 7 miles (cab fare - $7.50).

After the Silk Market, we headed to a restaurant that specilized in Peking Duck (Dadong).

The duck and accompanying dishes were all excellent.

Downstairs - another empty, high-end shopping mall and the Rolls, Lambroghini and Aston Martin dealerships.

Back at the hotel, a package was waiting. I was happy to find my underwear, back from the laundry.

Wednesday Walkabout

Wednesday I took a walk around the hotel and adjacent shopping mall.

Still no shoppers, but a lot of families enjoying the green space.

You see this dog everywhere in China --- usually with no leash but with an ederly Grandma hovering nearby.

Later it was time to watch the Soccer match. They are crazy about the Football in China...

Day of Toil

No time for outings on Tuesday.

Accordingly the focus turned to snacks. On the Chinese table we had the sweet buns, pistachios, cookies, chocolate wafer bars, sour balls, meat flavored chews and of course the tofu strips...

In the American cupboard, more traditional offerings supplied by the Home Office (somebody has a girl scout at home)..

Back at the hotel, it was time to sample the other door prize from the Monkeyface Dinner.

No need to fit the Great Wall winery on your itinerary.

By the way, the pull tab lives on..

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.