On Sunday Emily drove Shanshan, Nicole and me to Mu Tian Yu, about an hour away from Beijing and supposedly not as crowded as the popular Ba Da Ling. At noon we had a delicious lunch in one of the restaurants of the www.jade388.com Group. As a lawyer Emily really knows all the best places to eat, as business in China is discussed around the dinner table. After the Summer Palace - with Kunming lake on which I remember skating in the Winter of 1992 - we again went eating ***** at the Firstar French restaurant.
Next was a calm off-duty family Monday at Tiantan. In the evening we went to visit the Harbin branch of Shanshan's relatives, who also had welcomes us many years ago during Chinese New Year in the provincial capital of Heilongjiang. Bao Bao Li now turned from 3 into 19 years, so suddenly I could not help but feeling extremely old. Anyway she wants to be my Beijing guide next week when the Games are over, so she can work on her English (and I on my Chinese). Borrowed Emily's girl's bike, so this promises to be fun.
With Shanshan back to S'hai - staying at her parent's place - I went out with a mix of Belgian & English volunteers, following Dennis from Hong Kong. The contrast between all the top food and the overly spicy, salty and grilled meat couldn't have been greater. Paul from the UK couldn't resist trying the "donkey's private parts" and Fred was in for some grilled silkworms. Personally I gave the organs a miss, but the worms were just like tasteless shrimps. Funnily enough only the weird stuff on the menu seemed to be translated into English. Definitely barbaric, but we sure had a laugh.
Atop Mu Tian Yu 
Piece of wall running wild. 
Shanshan coming down. 
Visitop rules ... No igmtable exploding erooing or stinking materials ... Somking, frohcking or swaying are prohib ted ... Take care of pubic sanitation ... 
New gate of Emily and Shanshan's old university. 
In 92 I also took a picture of Emily at the entrance of the Summer Palace. 
Longevity Hill 
The Long Corridor 
Marble boat 
Nicole's experiment with fast shutter time of the camera. Imperial yellow constrasts nicely with Long Corridor as background. 
Dinner at the Firstar French restaurant. 
Beijing ads featuring Atos Origin as top sponsor. 
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests 
The middle of the Circular Mound symbolising Heaven. That's me on top of the Universe. 
Erhu practice in the Hallway. 
Mt. Hannashan Korean Style Roast Chain Enterprise. 