Family reunions are always sweet. It had been more than nine years since I last saw some of my relatives. One of them (my cousin's son) wasn't even born when I left Beijing.

Beijing had changed much in nine years. The city was crowded with newly constructed big ugly cubes. Traffic in Beijing was terrible. The word "chaotic" does not begin to describe the situation. We marvel at how cars and bikers alike achieve left turns long after the signal turned red. To my amazement, Matthew became an expert at crossing the street (which involves stepping off the pavement and keep going to the other side ignoring whatever vehicles might be on the road).