Anna's Visit to Beijing

In 4 short days, Anna and Nate got a taste of life as expats in Beijing...

Wednesday: Anna and I grabbed lunch at Middle 8 with my colleagues on Wednesday before we tackled Yashow to buy silk scarves for her mom. Anna was blown away by the fact the sales lady spoke pretty good Russian, and the sales lady was impressed by Anna's tough, no-nonsense negotiating skills. That night, while I had hot pot with friends to celebrate our successful International Women's Day fundraiser, Anna & Nate had a romantic dinner at Green T. House, which they were quite impressed by and convinced would do well in L.A.

Thursday: I braved the Beijing Subway to see Anna (and eat a Western breakfast!). We shopped at the Silk Market before I went back to work and Anna went to visit the Forbidden City. That night, Anna visited my apartment and I took her to Houhai to walk around before we hit Pure Lotus for dinner. As always, the food was fabulous and the surroundings serene and beautiful. I finally met Nate that night (as Anna described, a tired-looking white guy), who met us at the restaurant. Like almost everything in Beijing, Pure Lotus is located in an alley and Nate had a hard time finding the restaurant, but he found it! Afterwards, we hit up Rickshaw for a drink and Anna saw Randy for the first time since college.

Friday: A typical Chinese banquet complete with Beijing duck at Dadong. We amassed a group of 15, and the size of our table was as impressive as the food. We had three ducks, all carved table-side by the many chefs at the restaurant, and about 15 other dishes. Anna poised next to one of knife-wielding chefs for a picture. After dinner, we hit up Alfa for Friday 80's night. Nate paid for our frozen mojitos, and promptly fell asleep (the poor guy worked the whole week while Anna was, as she said, "pleasuring"). While none of us had enough stamina that night to actually hit the dance floor, we walked by just in time to hear "Welcome to the Jungle." It reminded us of senior year, when Anna, the diva, did a soaring rendition of the song on stage, under hypnosis. As much as we like the original, Anna's version is better. Anyone want to party like it's 2099?

Saturday: While Beijing's expats all hit the baseball field at Wukesong for, ironically, an exhibition game between the L.A. Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, we did what the tourists do in Beijing - hit the Great Wall! We went to the Mutianyu section. I was tour guide, translator and photographer for my favorite couple of the moment. Anna did acrobatics on wall (check out the pictures!) and we hiked a few towers before sledding down to the bottom on a tobbagan. That night, we had dinner at LAN, my favorite bar in Beijing that also happens to be a restaurant. The food is best described as creative fusion (definitely not Sichuan as advertised) - portions were tiny but everything was beautifully presented. Absolutely love the quirky, Alice-in-Wonderland decor. Rumors are one is in the works for New York City. Can't wait. We ended the evening at China Doll. You can't get more expat than the bars in Sanlitun.

And thus completes Anna & Nate's visit to Beijing. Miss them already!