Beijing visit last week.

Last weekend we went to Beijing with Serina and Thomas. It is Jim's first time, and so was Serina and Thomas's first. We had a great time touring the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. We also had Peking ducks at Dadong and Duck de Chine. We had feasts every meal. Serina is dangerous with the menu. I don't think she should ever meet my dad at a dining table. But we had a GREAT time. I put on 3 pounds from the weekend.
Lunch after the Great Wall involved Jim picking out the fish from the pond. That was some fun seeing him do that. :-)
Some pictures to share.

Rainy June in Shanghai.

Today marked the 10th anniversary with Jim. Who knew when we met 10 years ago we would be on the other side of the world in Shanghai. How progressive!
June is the rainy season in Shanghai. But this year is not that bad. We had a beautiful gorgeous summer day yesterday. Definitely feeling the heat.
Last night we had dinner with my interior design friend Stephanie and a couple of her friends at Da Marco, a veteran Italian restaurant in Shanghai. Stephanie is an Interior Designer working on a couple of my projects we connected instantly when we met. She is a fun, bigger-than-life, Texas woman. Who doesn't like a Dallas girl?!? Her 2 friends at dinner were both from the hotel industry. One of them even has connection with my work, so we have common topics instantly. The other one is a veteran General Manager of gaming hotels. He is having the luxury of taking 3 months off to be in Shanghai to learn Chinese. How novel of an idea! My dream is to one day having 3 months off in Buenos Aires learning Spanish and Tango. It is nice to know people can actually do just that.
We had such a great time. It is funny how foreigners connect when we are in foreign land. I found it fascinating with people from the hotel world. They have all lived in 10+ cities and countries, and connect immediately. It makes my 4 cities life looks juvenile.

利群Peking Duck in a Hutong

But not worth waiting in line. I just don't do lines.

Greetings from Shenzhen

Arrived at Shenzhen tonight. The trip came up last minute. My fabulous assistant changed my flight, I popped into a shop for a clean shirt and socks (happened to have brought along an extra pair of undies,) and here I am eating nuts at the lobby lounge.
My parents were visiting Shanghai and Beijing last couple of weeks. It was nice to see them and we had a nice time catching up. Last weekend we went to Beijing to surprise my uncle's family. It was fun. Dad's mission of eating didn't pan out as well as he wished. But they enjoyed the hotels. I believe they likes the room of Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao, surprised by the suite upgrade at Hilton Wangfujing, and enjoyed the Chinese Restaurant at Doubletree Beijing. They enjoyed the restaurant so much that they ate there 5 times in 4 days.
We had a nice Peking duck at Made in China in the Grand Hyatt. It is not news that Made In China has been making the best ducks. The famous local places has not been keeping up. Quanjuda is a bit disappointing when the duck arrives the moment we finished ordering. It is faster than any McDonalds. We originally booked at 利群, which is supposedly most authentic. Here is a picture of it. It is located in a Hutong. But when we got there, with a reservation, they made us wait in queue of 20 tables ahead of us! We are too non-tourist to deal with that! We left!
Beijing traffic has gone from bad to worst. It is impossible to get taxi, even at the hotel!!! WTF with that?!?!
So, I left my parents in BJ on Sunday, and went on with my work life. I definitely has deserted Jim a bit on his own past 2 weeks. I started traveling again only after 2 nights in Shanghai. Last night, I took the train from Shijiazhuang to Beijing after my meeting to spend the last night with them. We left Beijing at the same time just different flights. :-) I am quite sure they enjoyed the part that I paid for all the hotels and meals. :-) ... Oh well... Not always that you get to pay for your parents' trip.
Can't wait to be home and have a nice weekend to catch up.

Beijing

Snap shot while the taxi is stuck in the traffic.

Mom and Dad with my Uncle's great grand son.

Great little baby. He laughs all the time!

Observations

It hits me as a surprise how we take things for granted. 3 weeks in a row I have to show people how to use the room card to active the elevator in the hotel. During my last visit to Shijiazhuang, I walked around the Intercontinental Hotel checking out the spaces. Coming out from the ballroom floor, the elevator door opened with a cab full of people. They looked drunk and stunted. I let the door close and waited for the next cab to come. I got into the next one, and the door opened on me on the next floor. This time I was surprised to see the same group waiting to get into my cab. This group of drunk Chinese came into my can and tried every buttons on the panel. It was then I realized they had been riding the other elevator up and down for a little while. I piped up and instructed them to use the card key by sticking it in and pulling it out quickly. That took a few tries since they were also under the influence of alcohol.
Subsequently, I encountered similar situation in a Hilton last week, and a Westin tonight. Ah ah! It is a pattern.
Come to think about it, it is not the most intuitive idea. Who knows what to do with a card to begin with? You insert it, and swiftly pull it out. Or in other occasion you swipe it, or tab it, or rub it, or lick it... I mean who knows?!?
And the elevator call button panel is always in that polished shiny metal and the slot disappear into the lowest section. Who can see it anyway?!??
A couple of weeks ago when i visited Conrad Macao, I was told that the card reader was de-actived. The reason is that it is frankly inconvenient if you are traveling with you wife and your mistress(es). Or your regular local paid companion cannot just appear at your door. This totally makes sense!
Anyhow, just a thought...