Christmas in Beijing

While Christmas in Beijing certainly wasn't quite like home, we had a very festive, little holiday. Christmas Day both Will and I worked and then had our friends, Renny and AJ, over for dinner. We made osso bucco and risotto and green beans - a bit challenging with just two burners, but I'm learning how to be a bit creative with my cooking (and have learned that you can cook more than just rice in a rice cooker.) We also made brownies in our little toaster oven. It was a fun night.










Our apartment complex was also quite festive with many lights, Christmas trees and tinsel. There were actually a lot of Christmas decorations around the city.











Christmas Day we went to church in the morning. There are few churches in Beijing that are condoned by the government - the mass we attended was packed. The mass was in English and in French. It was really neat to be able to sing Christmas carols and witness the familiar rituals of a mass - halfway across the world.











After mass we headed out to the burbs for Christmas brunch. Friends had recommended a spot named The Orchard - and it was definitely worth the trek. The restaurant is located in a bizarre neighborhood just outside Beijing, which is filled with western style villas among empty fields of land and construction. Nonetheless - the restaurant was perfect - just what we were looking for. Great food, comforting ambiance.











All in all we had a lovely Christmas, but are looking forward to celebrating with friends and family soon!

Exploring Our Neighborhood

This past weekend we headed out on our bikes to explore our neighborhood. We live right near several temples, including the Lama Temple. We biked around a local hutong and stopped in at a Confucian temple. It was a nice, early winter day - just starting to get cold, but when bundled up still so nice to be outside...

Weekend in Shanghai

We went to Shanghai last weekend to hang out with my Dad who was there on business and to explore the city!

We decided to fly to Shanghai rather than taking the overnight train so that we could spend more time in the city. Of course our plan was a little delayed as the first plane we boarded had mechanical issues, but we were transported to a new plane pretty quickly. We were however a little nervous about how we were going to get on plane #2....










but luckily they found a spare gangway for us to use!

We arrived in Shanghai Saturday afternoon. We stayed in Pudong, an area filled with many businesses and international hotels. All in all we had a great time exploring the city and catching up with my Dad. Shanghai is a very cool, cosmopolitan city - we enjoyed good shopping, great food and just walking around the city, soaking in the sights...

We toured around the Yuyuan Gardens, which were built during the Ming Dynasty. Even amidst all the crowds it was still very peaceful and beautiful.










We had some very yummy food including hairy crab, which is a Shanghai specialty in the Autumn. It was a little messy and a lot of work to eat - but yummy. Will especially liked it!










We went to a great fabric market where we you can have clothes made-to-order, I definitely could have spent a lot of time there!

We really enjoyed strolling the Bund, a river-walk along the bank of the Huangpu River.











It was a quick trip to Shanghai but a lot of fun to check out another city!

Anniversary Weekend!

We celebrated our 3rd anniversary this weekend - we met 3 years ago at a Halloween party - a toast to Elena for throwing the party!

Friday night we discovered a little, very authentic Italian restaurant right near our apartment, who knew!? We enjoyed some good red wine (which can be a hard find here!) and some yummy pasta.

Saturday was a beautiful, cool fall day so we decided to take advantage of it and do some exploring outside. We went to a street known for its art supplies and scrolls. We wandered along and after lots of harassing by anxious vendors we stumbled into a serene teahouse and befriended Li Jhai, proud Manchurian and formal Chinese tea aficionado. He shared his insight regarding Chinese tea etiquette. He also gave Will and I some marital advice, helped me on my Chinese pronunciations, and offered to go into business with me to start a Chinese tea house and etiquette business in Boston - we'll see what happens there!

After our shopping/tea extravaganza - we went to what has become one of our favorite pubs here - the Rickshaw. We recently watched the Sox in Game 3 at the Rickshaw and have developed a liking for their Tsing Dao happy hour beer special. Rather than going out to our swanky "anniversary dinner" reservation, we decided to stay and enjoy happy hour at the Rickshaw - it was a fun night!

We're off to Shanghai next weekend - stay tuned for an update on the blog!

The Wild Wall

This past weekend we went to the Great Wall at Simatai, which is about a 2.5 hour bus ride from Beijing. Simatai is known as the "wild wall" since it's a bit more rugged than some other sections of the wall.













It was beautiful day and the Great Wall was just magnificent! We took a cable car to the top and then walked around the wall for a couple hours. We are excited to go back and do some more hiking! We're told there are some good day hikes where you can start farther out on the wall and end at Simatai, you can even camp out overnight which could be exciting!

All in all it was a great day, beautiful fall weather, coupled with wandering around the Great Wall - it doesn't get much better than that!

Adventures in Xi'an

We went to Xi'an last weekend with Will's program. It was a weekend full of adventurous travel and amazing sights. We took an overnight train from Beijing and arrived in Xi'an around 7a.m. in the morning. The train ride was an interesting experience! We stayed in "hard sleepers," each compartment was four bunks high, with a total of 8 bunks each. We befriended some of our bunk mates, including an older Chinese couple, as well as a young woman we played cards with - we taught her how to play gin rummy!












In Xi'an we went to see the terracotta warriors, which were pretty amazing. To think that these sculptures were discovered in the mid 70s... These treasures are 2,200 years old!













We then went to check out the old city walls, and then that night explored a really neat Muslim neighborhood - really good food! It was the end of Ramadan (their holy month of fasting) so everyone was out in the streets enjoying food and blessings from the local Imam. The next day we went to a museum, as well as a famous Buddhist temple, home to the original translations of Buddhist scriptures that were brought from India.












We took the train back that night and then I went straight to work - phew! It was well worth it though for a weekend full of amazing sights, religions and food!

End of Golden Week!

We've been taking it easy for the past couple days, since Will unfortunately was hit with some food poisoning. Luckily it's run its course and he's feeling much better! Tomorrow we head back to work and school, but all in all we had a really fun and relaxing week off!

Yesterday we went to this really cool flower market near our apartment where you can get great deals on flowers and plants. We picked out a gardenia plant, an orchid, and this really cool plant which we don't know the name of (see pic below.) We're trying to come up with a name, I like "The Edge," but I don't think Will is sold yet - we are still deliberating.

We also went out last night to celebrate Will's bday, which was Friday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL! We went out for Thai food and then to the swanky St. Regis for a cocktail! I had a yummy mango bellini and Will had a "St. Regis martini." The bar was pretty quiet but there was a good guitar player so we just hung out and relaxed for a bit. The St. Regis is VERY nice.....I can't wait to go back there soon!

We also got our gas to work in the kitchen and picked up some pots and pans, so we can cook finally! On Friday night for Will's bday we made pasta - it was soo good to have a home cooked meal! Here's a pic of our kitchen...

On Sunday we took another bikeride and explored our neighborhood. We live right near our own little "metro parks" area...

We also live near the embassy district, as we were biking around the guards were changing shifts...

We went to a produce market near our apartment and bought a lot of fresh veggies. We stayed away from the fish and meat, although it looked really good!

As we were biking home there was a beautiful sunset...

Next weekend we are heading to Xian with Will's program to see the Terracotta warriors - we'll be sure to take lots of pics!

Yesterday we went to the Summer Palace, which is in the Haidian District, near Will's university. The Summer Palace served as a royal summer home and is like a massive park, filled with beautiful temples and gardens. We took a boat across the lake and then wandered around the grounds and courtyards.

It was very crowded as you can see in the picture below, but we escaped some of the crowds and found a quiet spot to relax.

Here is a picture of me in front of the marble boat, which the Empress Cixi ordered refurbished as a tribute to the Chinese navy. According to history, the navy would have benefited more from real ships, as their fleet was destroyed in 1894 by the Japanese.

After touring the Palace, we took our bikes to a music festival in Haidian Park that Will's teacher recommended. It was fun to check out the music scene and wander around the park. Quite a different scene from the Summer Palace!

After that we took our bikes and headed back home...we had enough of the crowds for one day!