Drink up, Thirsty Beijing

It rained in Beijing on Thursday, which is not normally a huge deal. But with more than 100 consecutive dry days (tao says longest in 38 years, and i have no reason to doubt), it's certainly worth mentioning.

So rain it did, and it rained hard. Which was annoying for me since i was flying back from Shanghai. The flight was awful and turbulency. Still, nothing compared to flying into Chicago, like, anytime. And I didn't realize before (not that i'd thought about it) but the Chinese are not very good fliers. I can't recall witnessing one of those airsick bags in use. And i certainly haven't seen a dozen cases on one aircraft. Until yesterday. The worst was a guy who ended up wearing it all down his back. Apparently this lady behind him "spilled" her "filled" bag on him.

I don't know why i quoted that. She spilled her filled bag. Horrifying.

Speaking of quenching thirsts (and changing the subject), Friday night was a delightful dinner party. Seven of us gathered on the west side, which is my side, although not the cool side of Beijing. But it is not without merits. There are cheap hole-in-the-wall bars and restaurants with character, but sometimes you have to adventure to find them. This particular place in Xidan has great, cheap food, is quiet and clean, and has great chuar, or kebabs. We played dice and drank beer from 8 until roughly 1 am. And the owners are quite generous. They gave us a few extra dishes for free, and at midnight, we ordered a few more beers, but they brought us 6. We were already drunk but the 4 of us pushed on through.



I've also temporarily rejoined the League of Clean-Shaven Gentlemen, for at least a week. It's a nice place to visit, but i never stay too long.

~Kev

p.s. Therese arrives in 12 days!