At the Book Festival, Ridley had been assigned to participate in the Literary Death Match, something that "Opium" literary magazine founder Todd Zuniga, chatting below, does across America. It was a crazy American Idol sort of format. Todd is whacky and fun, and humiliated the four writers involved! Behind Todd here were the three judges: content, presentation and intangibles. Interesting judging points. It was all very funny and lively with lots of audience participation.
Ridley and the other 2nd round contestant, Zachary Mexico.
Ridley was voted off, which was fortunate! The runners up had to down three shots of tea and find Beijing on a map with a chopstick, blindfolded. The Scottish poet who no one could understand, won - by a chop stick!
Sunday was beautiful and warm, and we surprised our friends from France, Christophe and France, at their hotel just after their arrival from Paris. We took them to the Bell and Drum Tower and hutong area to Shichahai, a small lake with restaurants and small shops all around. We had a great lunch and walked around a bit.
Storey eating rice cooked in bamboo, which we had first tasted in PingAn at the rice paddies. 
France and Christophe still in jet lag mode, trying Chinese food for the first time. They were great troopers. They stayed in Beijing and will head to Xi'An before meeting us in Kunming on Saturday. My dad and step-mom arrive tomorrow to have spring break with us. Yippee!!!
Ridley and Storey flew up to Beijing on Friday for the BookWorm Literary Book Festival that Ridley was participating in. Paige and I arrived Saturday morning. We were picked up by our lovely guide, Juan, who had toured the Walters around when they were here in December. We checked in at the oh so very hip "G" Hotel and picked up Ridley and Storey, then headed for a "traditional" Chinese lunch. We ended up at the same restaurant our guide in October had taken us to! Hmmmm, any one getting any kick backs here? It was yummy, at any rate, and prepared us for our Summer Palace tour. Lots of walking and rolling (the wheel chair), lots of courtyards and ghost doors. And lots of Chinese tourists.
The Summer Palace is built around a man made lake of quite a nice size. The hill that you see is the result of the hand dredging that took place to form the lake. That is the temple that the Dowager Empress (the famed Dragon Lady) would be carried to every morning. It holds the largest - so we were told - wooden female Buddha. Fun Dragon Lady facts: she was fat and ugly and made sure that all the concubines were fatter and uglier!; she would use over 150 silk "towels" every day to dry her off after her bath - they were thrown away, never to be reused (they were wash cloth sized, and silk is really not very absorbant, hence the number required for the rotund figure); she required a banquet table of food, sometimes over 100 dishes,
for breakfast every morning. If she liked what was offered, she might share, if she didn't like it the food was all thrown away. Not a nice woman. Was a killer of men and concubine babies, so that she had the only children that might ascend the "throne." Long story on that one.
We found that most tourists thought Storey more interesting than the Palace! They would stop and stare at her being rolled about. She was writing down what the guide was telling us, and people would literally come and look over her shoulder to see what she was doing. It merited a photo!
More steps, more courtyards, more beautiful roof tiles. The girls did think that this was something they had seen before - every where we go! Courtyards, steps, ghost doors, rockery, painting -- I love it all!
Looking back across the water at a temple built on an island for fishing luck. The bridge connecting it has 17 arches so that no matter which side you start on, the middle arch is #9 - the highest, most propitious number belonging to all things emperor.
An incredibly beautifully painted covered walkway a half a mile long from the Dragon Lady's courtyard quarters toward the female wooden Buddha temple. 
Each beam painted with a unique scene.
Looking up at the temple.
A marble ship where the Dowager would go to have tea and enjoy the lake.
Leaving the Summer Palace out the back way. The splendor of these buildings, the work involved in every aspect, I find overwhelming and awing.
I am going to load you up with a bunch of photos, which I have been neglecting over the past couple of weeks.
First, Storey and Ridley with the Dr. Seuss hat she made in Kindergarten ( teacher switch day on Dr. Seuss day - how convenient!) Pretty cute.
I went on a walk in our neighborhood to find a shop that makes all kinds of products covered in silk. I was on a particular search for DVD cases. The address led me to believe it was around Jing'An Temple, about a 15 minute walk from our house. After reaching the Temple, I walked another 15 minutes and finally called the shop. I was going in the right direction - keep going. Another 20 minutes later I found this alley. It was somewhere down here.....
Aahhh. The right number on this building.....
Looking a little industrial to me at the moment. You never know what you find around a corner, up some stairs.......
I was actually directed to this elevator by the guard at the front door.
Now here's a job. She gets lots of reading done. At least she knew where to take me. The moment she saw me, she said fifth floor - not quite like that though. In Chinese. That gave me confidence to continue. I was in the right place.
Bad picture, but I arrived to this room filled to overflowing with all kinds of albums, picture frames, journals, DVD boxes, glasses cases, etc. I found my needs and more, of course, and found that my whole afternoon was gone. It just takes longer to do things around here! One activity a day.
Wednesday is mahjong day at Julie's. She has moved from Puxi and the Xintiandi area to across the river and the Lujiazhui financial center. We decided to meet for lunch in the Shanghai World Financial Center. I grabbed a photo as I was walking up. The JinMao Tower is in the foreground, the SWFC in the back. You have seen this building before when Julie and I went up to the observation deck (highest in the world)which sits right above the can opener hole. That is its nickname around here: the Can Opener.
A little closer shot of where I am heading - into the clouds.
After many security guards and much routing around, I finally was able to enter the Marriot lobby that has the elevator to the restaurant on the 100th floor. Hmmm, pay 150 kuai to go to the observation deck or go to the restaurant for a lovely lunch for about the same price?
With these lovely mahjong ladies waiting, no contest: Aunt Kay (Julie's husband's aunt who was visiting), Julie, Mary and a beautiful view out the windows. I am hooked on mahjong. Hoping to bring that back with me!
Thanks to my friend Julie, I got to be queen for a day - or at least an afternoon! 
These lovely ladies (in waiting?) took me to a perfect Italian lunch in Taikong Lu, the maze of boutiques and restaurants that I love to meander. 
Julie in front next to me, and Kathleen and Mary. Julie is from Minnesota and knows my friend Nancy. Mary is from Twin Falls, Idaho, lived in St. Louis for many years, and I meet them in Shanghai! It is a small world. Kathleen is from New Mexico but has roamed the States, last in Dallas. 
After a delightful lunch on another rainy day, we headed to a luxurious facial at Diva Life - a garden house done up in purple. Everything purple. What a treat. 
Sweet Julie.
Saturday night we headed out to eat with Julie and Phillip, Phillip's Aunt Kay and Kathleen and her husband Mike (taking the photo). We started out at the Glamour Bar, definitely worthy of its name, on the Bund overlooking the Huangpu and Pudong lights, and then progressed across the street to Jean Georges, a beautiful French restaurant, also overlooking the lights. We had our own room with two semi-circle tables we had them put together to try and assimilate a round table. It was so Chinese!
My darling husband who arranged all these lunches and dinners for me. We had the tasting menu at Jean Georges which was French and oh so Chinese at the same time. (Meaning lots of fish and no meat. Very different from a mid-western French tasting menu!) You see us at the end of the meal, so happlily replete with our final dessert course. We started with:
1. a small compote of almond puree with a shaving of truffle on top
2. a poached egg, in the shell, with vodka cream and caviar on top (oh my!)
3. succulent scallops with a raisin caper emulsified reduction (can that be correct?)
4. delicious soup with frogs legs - BIG frogs legs! could only have been a toad!
5. turbo with a tomato zucchini salsa on top
6. lobster on toast, and more lobster
7. squab with fois gras to the side - oh my, again!
8. dessert, as shown above - a collection of 4 varieties of pear - frozen, pastry encrusted, ice cream, flanish. The other choice was chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. A warm chocolate cake was brought out to me, so I had pears and chocolate!
And AFTER all that, a plate of chocolates and homemade marshmallows that were salted. I just looked at those!
Mmmmm. Being queen is good!
Ridley and the other 2nd round contestant, Zachary Mexico.
Ridley was voted off, which was fortunate! The runners up had to down three shots of tea and find Beijing on a map with a chopstick, blindfolded. The Scottish poet who no one could understand, won - by a chop stick!
Sunday was beautiful and warm, and we surprised our friends from France, Christophe and France, at their hotel just after their arrival from Paris. We took them to the Bell and Drum Tower and hutong area to Shichahai, a small lake with restaurants and small shops all around. We had a great lunch and walked around a bit.
Storey eating rice cooked in bamboo, which we had first tasted in PingAn at the rice paddies. 
France and Christophe still in jet lag mode, trying Chinese food for the first time. They were great troopers. They stayed in Beijing and will head to Xi'An before meeting us in Kunming on Saturday. My dad and step-mom arrive tomorrow to have spring break with us. Yippee!!!
