Aaah, Christmas!

Christmas is coming! And how exciting to be back in the UK, where Christmas is celebrated with more than a token flashing light and strip of tinsel!

I landed at about 3.30pm on Sunday and made it to the Albion, secret Santa present wrapped and in hand, to hit the Jesus Christmas dinner 2009. Well done Caro for organising! It was great to see so many of us together again - from places as far away as California, Brazil, China and Clapham - enjoying a good catch up as if no time had passed at all. This is exactly what I love about Christmas! Nice one, friends.

PLUS there is SNOW! It's slushy, and it's causing havoc - but hey, that's Britain and we wouldn't have it any other way.....

CUTE!

In Tiananmen Square, of all the iconic places in China, we stumbled across this very happy family from the Chinese countryside on holiday to see the sights that Beijing has to offer. We had some (slightly confused and confusing chat), the outcome of which was that they were just about as interested in us as we were in them - cue lots of photos.... The only one who doesn't seem to be so happy is the kid (in the best outfit I've ever seen) and I'm going to out that down to her discomfort in all those layers:


Check out how rigid she is! And note the slit in the jumpsuit..... poor thing - at least she was blessed with a nappy than is more than can be said for the rest of the toddlers we saw that day!

Another cutie!

OCCB Christmas Ball

Dave and I had organised tickets to the OCCB Christmas charity ball, in aid of Smile Train (which, incidentally, I think is fab and urge you to donate to) - and it was a chance to get dressed up nicely in a city that is usually so casual!

We had a Christmas dinner, which was all very nicely presented but the turkey was too dry, which was a shame eeing as this is practically my only festive event pre-Christmas! There was an auction, and a speech by the British ambassador about his time in China, spanning c. 30 years, which was fascinating - so much so that I was prompted to introduce myself and tell him exactly that!Then, OBV, it all went a bit downhill... or uphill, depending on how you view it!

Karaoke (cont.)

What is life without a warble? Lisa, Sophie, Dave and I have been joined by various others at Cashbox Partyworld, our KTV joint of choice, at several recent outings, lasting 4-5 hours a time. If you estimate about 45 minutes per person, everyone should leave satisfied!

Classic tunes turned out to be My Way, Macarena, My Humps, Mambo Number 5 (the machine is a little difficult to use, so it seems we worked our way largely through the Ms...). And while we attempted some Cui Jian, it has to be said that, on my part, it was only my stance that resembled him.

I'd like to pay tribute to the efforts and stamina of all involved, as evidenced below - take your bows please!

And my personal favourite.....

The X Factor

Of course, I am a big fan of the X factor. I love the feel-good factor and I love that Ben likes it too. It means we can, for once, indulge in some trashy television together, rather than me ferreting for the remote under his scornful eye.... So, OBV, I was dismayed to discover that you can't get UK TV online due to being in the wrong "region" - EVEN the X Factor! Outrageous.*

But I digress... the point of this post is to point you all in the direction of the Chinese embassy website, where Ambassador Fu Ying has posted her thoughts and commentary on this year's X Factor final! If I, as a Brit in the PRC, have to miss out on this national institution, I am pleased to see it being taken seriously by my counterpart (erm, OK - not quite - maybe one day?) in the UK. Nice one, ambassador!

* I kept up with the Jedward fiasco, and the Dannii v. Cheryl fashion debate online, natch - but it's just not the same.

Round up....

Well, since the decision to shut down my blog for a few weeks was made for me, I have been doing so many blogworthy things (after all, it's not worth doing, if it's not worth blogging about, right Rich?) that I don't know where to start! Here are a few snippets...

Lisa and Sophie came to visit! - and what a good time was had by all! Here we are celebrating the safe arrival of them, their luggage AND some funds (take note - Tonks!), and BGD is also seen getting into the spirit of it all and living up to his nickname..... We rounded off the evening with a mere 5 hours of KTV (post to follow).

Brunch - SO good. Champagne, seafood, live jazz, magicians, calligraphy, the best smoked salmon you can imagine and an enormous dessert station with delectable chocolate pots - the Hilton Wangfujing is our new Sunday brunch venue of choice. Here I am enjoying my first Cosmo of the day (and people wonder why I love it here):
Tini taxi - these have a proper name, but I've forgotten it. They seem to be designed for c. 1-2 Chinese-sized people, yet Lisa, Soph and I took a 20 minute journey in uncomfortable-yet-hilarious conditions, at a pace just above walking.On the topic of transport, we also happened upon this little bike, which struck me as a little Inspector-Gadget-like and worthy of a mention. I especially like the patriotic touch:

Food - as winter has fallen upon Beijing, we seized the opportunity to indulge in the messy food fest that is hot pot, and took a trip to the Maizidian'r Jiaoziguan'r, which serves up amazing multi-coloured jiaozi, some of which have crunchy rice particles in them. Delicious! I was dismayed to learn that my guests had been forewarned about the 'terrible food in China', 'not like the Chinese food you're used to' etc - it's a common misconception, fuelled largely, I imagine, by tourists who speak no Chinese, who end up at a point-and-hope restaurant eating chicken lung and the like. Chinese food in China (and particularly in Beijing - though I could be jiaozi-biased) is delicious! Anything plied with MSG can't be that bad, right? ;-) Seriously though, it's great and hugely varied - after all, China is unimaginably massive! You should come and try it... just not while I'm here though, I'm afraid - I'm booked up until March!

BA strike action - a blessing in disguise!*

BA strike action for 22 December - 2 January has been all over the press, and I have a couple of things to say....

Firstly, what a HORRIBLE workforce that would vote 80% in favour of cancelling 1 million people's Christmas holidays. Mean, horrible, selfish people.

Secondly, thanks to BA for their flexi-ticket policy, which enabled me to bag a coveted spot on the flight back the Blighty on Sunday as opposed to risking my festive season and waiting until my scheduled flight on Wednesday. Good times ahead!

UPDATE: nice one, legal system - see this link for why!

* I realise it is not a blessing in disguise for the other 999,999 who face the threat of not making it home for Christmas.

Sunshine City

We English love to talk about the weather, and so in the spirit of this, I'll take a moment to say that although it's absolutely freezing over her (c. -10 at the moment), it's bright and sunny and this lifts my spirits every day! (Well, every day that there is no government cloud-seeding or pollution fog....)

In fact "official" figures state that 86% of Beijing days are "blue sky days" and who am I to argue with that?

Just another day in the office....

Post lunch nap time...
Masks...

Black Sesame Kitchen

Here we all are, looking a little superimposed, at the entrance to Black Sesame, a private kitchen in a hutong where you can attend the Friday evening dinner or arrange a private dinner any night of the week - no wonder you need to call to get in!
The idea is that you get a set menu of 10 dishes per evening (you can see these listed on the board behind us) and they are brought out one after another, freshly cooked in front of you by a jolly Chinese chef (see pics below....). The food was really tasty, and there was a lot of it. Another benefit was the wine, and apparently Chilean wine is best value over here due to some no-tax arrangement between the PRC and Chile. Good to know, as the Dragon Seal and Great Wall wine from the local vineyards have been pretty disappointing.... unsurprisingly!
Now what a clever idea we have here! I completely failed to take pictures of the other dishes, but here is the chef deep frying and candying the yams for our dessert. Note the mirror on the ceiling so you can observe his skills from while sat at the table! Action shot!

The owner of this place must be absolutely raking it in, which grates a little if I'm honest. It's RMB250pp for the group dinner, and RMB300pp if you organise a private dinner (which we did because the Friday night was full). Now, bearing in mind you can pig out at Xiao Wang Fu (yes, I bang on about it because I love it) for easily less than RMB80pp including beers, duck and a variety of delicious dishes, it seems a bit steep. Hmm. I understand the novelty value, that it's tapping in to a gap in the market in Beijing and that it's targeting the expats, but I still felt a bit peeved by the price. Plus you wonder how much the chef is getting, and how much is going to the owner, a food critic in Boston....

Overall though, an enjoyable experience, tasty food and good entertainment from the chef, and I'll definitely consider taking visitors again.

Apologies, friends...

...the government cut me off!

Back now with a vengeance and accompanied by Lisa and Sophie, my current partners in crime in Beijing!

Updates to follow....

798 District - Beijing

The 798 district of Beijing seems like miles away from the centre, but once you're in a cab it's only about 20 minutes, and it has a completely different feel to the rest of the city. I first visited in 2007 with Christina:

It hasn't changed much, although it is growing quite fast! There are hundreds of small galleries, with exhibitions by international artists such as Antony Gormley and Martin Parr (of whom, incidentally, I have become a big fan, since seeing his video "Think of England" which was possibly more funny because I watched it c. 15 years on and from so far away... but still!) and modern Chinese artists, many of whom make political statements in their art.

Ai Wei Wei had an interesting exhibition on, in which he explores China's relationship with the world in terms of trade (this world is made out of stacks of sheets of cotton), for example, and the notion of the individual vs. the collective, which has obvious connotations in a Communist society.
The buildings in and around 798 are a little reminiscent of Shoreditch, and the whole area has an East London vibe. I particularly like this huge and interesting old warehouse, complete with Communist slogans, in which exhibitions are put on:

There is generally a nice mix of sculpture, photography and paintings, and the surrounding streets come complete with their own unusual items...:

It even encouraged Ben's artistic flair:Canon photography exhibition - fabulous pics of China, here are just a few of my faves. Thanks Canon!

Capital Mmmm

Back in September, you may remember that Dave and I attended the "soft opening" of Capital M, a new restaurant in Beijing that "overlooks" Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Well, since then I have been back twice - once for dinner with Ben, and once for Sunday brunch with my parents and their friends, Matt, Laura and baby Annabelle.

Here I am with mum on Qianmen Dajie which runs South from where Capital M is located and which has been revamped in the style of a "traditional, grandiose" Chinese street:

Dinner

Ben and I had just eaten at LAN (see previous post) a few days earlier, and were just about ready to eat our fill again when we arrived at Capital M. We had delicious cocktails, and I had a raspberry cosmopolitan which was delicious! Ben had the dubious Hurricane that he always orders, always forgets he's had before, and always enjoys, which is a strange mix of rum and fruit juices. But he liked it. As always!

I didn't have a starter, but I managed to make significant inroads into Ben's parsnip soup to compensate. It was really tasty, which was a bit surprising seeing as I have yet to see a parsnip in China! I had the lamb as a main, and it was tender and juicy, and a huge portion. Ben had the duck, which he enjoyed. It was served as a breast and a leg (v. fashionable, don't you know...).

And on to the desserts! I had tried miniature versions of these at the opening, and was impressed (Lemon meringue pie! Crumble! in CHINA!! Amazing.) Ben had the Tarte Tatin, and it was delicious.

We were particularly pleased by the option to order wine by the caraffe, which meant that we were able to indulge in our individual preferences for red and white, without having to order an entire bottle of each, and then feel obliged to drink them both... (Yes, I know....). It was about GBP including our wine and 2 cocktails each, so better value than LAN, better food and a more enjoyable experience overall!

Brunch

Due to political crackdown (/other miscellaneous technical incompetencies, perhaps on my part....) I have now been to Capital M twice for brunch since I started drafting this post. The second time was less of a success due to a mammoth 5 hour karaoke session with Lisa and Soph (more on this later...), and I only managed to eat half an egg, and I had to give away my cocktail... So - we'll concentrate on the first time!

The Capital M brunch menu is a choice of 2 or 3 courses (c Y218 and Y268 respectively) and includes a cocktail - the Sunday Pimms was refreshing, and perfect for an early Sunday afternoon! The starter of poached egg and asparagus was delicious, although I am not quite sure where they found asparagus over here at this time of year!

There was a good variety of starters and mains on offer, and a nice choice of lunch and breakfast foods. my choice of Chicken Saltimbocca did not disappoint, and I finished up with a delectable Tarte Tatin!

I will be returning, just not with a hangover. That made it a very expensive (half) egg!

I am running a bit out of steam on this already long post, so am going to call it a day for now!

Jimmy Schnooze

Here I am checking out the Jimmy Choo for H&M range, and don't I look excited about it?! One good thing about China is that there is no stampede to snap up all these goodies (not least because queueing overnight in subzero temperatures would be asking a lot....).

In any event, the collection was overpriced, dull and tacky. Come on, Jimmy! Step it up.

Scary hand sanitiser found all over the city...

Spotted by mum and dad: an absolute legend!

GIANT SPACE VEG!

This is amazing. I read about it on the kids' page of the Times 2 that mum and dad brought with them last week (thanks!), and them immediately had to look it up....

It's not news per se, seeing as it happened in May 2008, but the genius Chinese decided to send some vegetable seeds into space to see what would happen (as you do!), and BAM! Giant vegetables were grown. Like pumpkins ten times their normal size, weighing the same as a man! For pics of this, see here.

Read more on the science on this website and this one.

I am troubled that the world food crisis hasn't yet been solved by these gigantic veg, so I will endeavour to find out what's happened since May 2008, and keep you posted....

On the same track, I'm wondering why we haven't taken cloud-seeding to Africa. Maybe we need to learn how to artificially create clouds first - anyone?

Obama in Beijing!

Obama is in Beijing!! This is providing a lot of excitement for the Beijingers and myself, and in some cases, a little confusion.....

Here is the real deal disembarking in Beijing. I'm impressed that he's managed to outwardly suppress any disorientation and bewilderment!

As would be expected, the sun is shining in clear blue skies, so we are enjoying Beijing at its best. The weather forecast even suggests temperatures might rise above freezing, which would be a treat!

In terms of the visit, Obama is visiting as part of his tour of Asia, and is attending a summit with Hu Jintao to discuss trade, climate change and economic issues, among other issues.

China Daily reports that it's all going well (natch!), and that an agreement has been reached between the two leaders on many issues already, as per this newspaper article. Further, it has been cited that Obama fully supports at one-China policy, in respect of Taiwan, and that he believes that uncensored internet access for all is a "source of strength" to all nations. Whether his comments will have any effect on the availability of certain internet sites, including Blogger and Facebook, in China remains to be seen....

A lot of these issues were raised on Monday during the "town hall meeting" (a traditional Chinese-style meeting) that Obama held with top university students in Shanghai, where he fielded questions from the floor. In this meeting, Obama stated that the purpose of his visit is largely to help him better understand China and the Chinese people. Commentary suggests that Obama is trying to win over the Chinese youth in a similar way to that which won him the US elections, using his skills as an orator and "natural performer". I hope his visit achieves both of these objectives! In the meantime, I'm staking out the Forbidden City in case he pays it a visit...

LAN Club and Restaurant

Ben and I booked a table in the restaurant at LAN, after hearing about its renowned Philippe Starck design and having read some interesting and mixed reviews.

We went on a Thursday evening at about 7.45pm, and on arrival the first thing that struck us was the decor - it's completely unlike anywhere else I have seen in Beijing: over sized thrones, a ceiling littered with huge, horizontally-hung portraits, an array of velvet-covered furniture and a selection of gigantic, ornate mirrors. You can get an idea from the pictures on the website, but decor and the lighting create a decadent and plush atmosphere in this enormous venue. Sweeping curtains create several smaller rooms within the club, which is fortunate seeing as when we arrived there were about 10 people there in total. Even with these divisions, the dimensions only served to highlight the lack of clientele, and this is probably LAN's most trouble. It is near Yonganli subway station, which is nowhere near any other evening venues (erm, i.e.: nowhere near Sanlitun), so that's a pretty big hurdle to start with....

First, we had a cocktail in the bar. I have developed a penchant for apple martinis, and this one did not disappoint (but at Y70+ I would have hoped for nothing less...). When we moved through to the dining area, we were pleased (and relieved!) to see that the restaurant was about two thirds full. The decor in here was much the same, the only thing that wasn't over sized, was the table, which meant that there was not much room to wield the cumbersome menu. Not only was it unwieldy, it was also very confusing. I had to worry about whether I was going to knock over my wine glass, while trying to decipher how much it would be appropriate to order.

Ben and I chose an appetiser each, and decided to share a prawn dish (Y100), a lamb dish (Y100), some vegetables and rice. This seemed a sensible choice, so I was quite surprised when we were advised to order two of each of the lamb and prawn dishes - especially given the price.*

In the end our starters and desserts (chocolate fondants) were delicious, but the mains were average and, disturbingly, served one after the other in quick succession, on plates so enormous that you had to finish the first before the second could be placed on the table. This was irritating, but not quite as irritating as the lack of free water served (I firmly believe this should be available in all restaurants and bars) and the small bottles of water priced at Y60+ a go. *grr* The total bill was Y1,400 for two, on top of our cocktails. However, the toilets were pretty cool - each one is an individual, mirrored room, complete wing back chair and free-standing dressing table housing a sink, whose taps cleverly turn on when you step in front of it.

The bar livened up after dinner with a jazz band playing in one section and a band playing covers in the main bar area, and this was by far the most enjoyable part of my evening. Overall, I can see the appeal for entertaining guests or for a fancy night out (drinks only), but I imagine it does not get many repeat visitors - especially to the restaurant. Apparently, it cost RMB300 million to set up and open LAN in 2006, and I wonder how long it will last given the prime real estate it occupies and lack of customers to fund ongoing expenses....!

*In China, this is very expensive!

Ben's visit!

I have out up a couple of posts about Ben's visit, but also wanted to write a little about the rest of our week in Beijing...

Luckily for me, Ben is a sucker for teen drama, and wholeheartedly embraced my new found Gossip Girl addiction - to the extent that we finished off season one and ploughed through all of season two during his time in Beijing. We might have felt a bit guilty, were it not so cold outside!

Ben also became the third member (yes, Dave's the other....) of my "I love Xiao Wang" fan club, and we ate there, or ordered in from there, regularly.

On these two counts, it seems that Ben will be very well suited for life in Beijing, so it bodes well for his 11 week sabbatical starting in February next year! :-) Very exciting.

I took Ben to Yaxiu market, which I regularly frequent for extra layers to fight the freezing temperatures. Ben splashed the cash on a variety of items, including a jacket, a coat, 4 tshirts, loads of DVDs, a hat, 4 belts and more, all for less than GBP 140, aided by my haggling. Now - a word of warning for any future visitors to Beijing - if someone else (ie: ME) is haggling on your behalf and secures a (if I may say so myself) fantastically low price, please do NOT add an extra Y10 to it after negotiations have closed - if you want to pay a higher price, you can haggle yourself!! I'm not sure what it is that compels Ben to pay over the odds for something, but it seems to be in his genes.....

We also treated ourselves to a few fancy dinners (more on these later), manicures and massages, and visited several other markets and the 798 art district (more on this later, too). A great week, all in all. Thanks for coming, Ben, and I'm looking forward to February!

X-O-X-O!

Red Capital Ranch

Ben and I took a trip to Red Capital Ranch near the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall (see here for hotel review). It turns out that this is VERY DEFINITELY a warm weather getaway, and it was simply too cold for us to fully enjoy the hotel (hence we cut our stay to one night....). This is partly due to the cloud seeding and huge snowfall on Sunday 1st November - see my other post about snow.

Despite subzero temperatures, we had beautiful weather and a fantastic time. They say a picture tells a thousand words, so prepare yourselves for a pictoral thesis....: