Beijing Birthday  

We've been in Beijing for about a week now. So far our main activity has been eating (although we did go to Xiang-shan last weekend). Tonight (Thankgiving, which strangely enough doesn't seem to be a big holiday here) we went to a Pizza restaurant to celebrate Mom's birthday.

We've enrolled Emily in a local preschool. The children at the school seem very disiplined, but I'm sure Emily will adopt. She seems to be having a lot of fun. I expect her Chinese will be much improved during the next few weeks.




Mom's birthday cake. (Emily knitted the scarf.)




At Xiang-shan.



Emily made a friend at the playground outside the apartment.



Emily and her new Laoshi.

posted by rz 3:45 上午

留言/Comments:

I am very impressed with the scarf that Emily knitted. Her Grandmother must be very happy and pround.

Xiao Rong | 11.26.04 - 9:24 am

I am very impressed with the scarf as well. I know that my girls would not be able to do that. Of course, considering what Emily's mom knits and what I can knit, I know that's all naturing.

I am also impressed with the post of these pictures. I hope we can see more of your China trip...

Jia | 11.29.04 - 12:01 pm

Yes, I must agree with Jia. Where did the knitting gene come from though? How come I didn't get any?

gui | Homepage | 12.01.04 - 2:10 pm

Happy Birthday Mom!  

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday Dear Mom Sheep,
Happy birthday to you!

I'm sure there'll be a fabulous eat-out in Beijing to celebrate this occasion.... Well, I baked some cookies myself. Here's my recipe (slightly modified from my cookie book -- see * for differences from original):

Gui's Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar + 1/3 cup regular sugar*
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Finely grated zest of 1 orange**
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Nutella (Chocolate Hazelnut spread)***

* the original recipe uses only regular sugar (1 cup)
** the original calls for a lemon instead of orange
*** the original calls for 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate, melted, cooled

Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat in egg, vanilla, and zest, then flour, baking powder, and salt just until thoroughly combined. Divide dough in half and roll each piece to a 1/8 thick rectangle, spread Nutella on top (if following original recipe, mix melted chocolate in one half of the dough instead, and put it on top of the other dough). Startling with the long side, roll dough(s) tightly together. Wrap the roll(s) in plastic wrap (or wax paper). Chill until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Cut dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or just until set.

posted by cat 2:50 下午

Hiking Again  

Last Saturday was such a beautiful day that we just had to go out hiking, even though it meant braving heavy traffic in the city. We were rewarded with splendid views on the Marin headlands, which was miraculously windless on that day.


see all hiking pictures

posted by cat 2:09 下午

留言/Comments:

Beautiful pictures. Looks like the new camera works very well. Where is the beach? North of S.F? Have a good to Colorado. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!

nairong | 11.23.04 - 2:59 pm

Thanks! Rodeo beach is just north of S.F., take the first exit after Golden Gate bridge and follow the road along the shore -- it's a really nice drive.

gui | 11.23.04 - 4:10 pm

Colorado Trip  

We went to Colorado the last week of October. We mainly stayed in Denver, but made some trips to Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Colorado Springs. Rong didn't lake Denver very much, but thought Colorado Springs was nice.


Hiking at Rocky Mountain NP.






At a Indian Cliff dwelling.



Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs.

posted by rz 8:52 下午

留言/Comments:

Cool! We're going to Denver for Thanksgiving. Maybe we'll visit some of those same places as well.

gui |11.18.04 - 10:50 am

John, Thanks for putting the pictures on. Hopefully we will see more from your China trip.

Jia | 11.18.04 - 11:13 am

Nice photos. Hope the weather is as good as that when we visit 2 weekends from now.

matthew |11.18.04 - 12:39 pm

I am impressed by the God Park. It looks sort of like the Stone Forests in KunMing. Emily is so cute with her Mom. Niangniang

RuJing | 11.18.04 - 1:25 pm

Canada Trip  

Canada Trip

The Zong family partial reunion in Toronto started from Oct. 7th when RuShi, YanLi arrived from Boston, and I flied from LA to Bafullo. Naizong picked me up, and we arrived at XiaoRong's actually about 3A on Oct. 8th. Naizong drove us to Dr. Bethune's home town Saturday the 10th. The visitors on line there were with no single exception from China. YuChen came home from Waterloo on Sunday. We had a family reunion photo on Monday (Canadian Thanksgiving Day long weekend) before he went back to Waterloo. He is a very hard working good student.PeiJun and the three of us took a bus tour starting with Kingston, Thousand Island,; then Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa. We enjoyed very much the >400 years old Rue Petit Champlain (Little Champain Road)---the oldest street in Northern American, and also the huge old castle (currently a big hotel) in Quebec City. Ottawa was gorgeous with the most colorful fall leaves all over the city, and the parliamentary buildings. Montreal certainly impressed us with the 1976 Olympics ruin(Now the Biodome De Montreal), especially after we learned that residents of Montreal are still paying excessive tax for the city losing money because of the 1976 Olympics. The three days bus tour was very satisfactory. I shouldn't forget to mention the unforgettably delicious lobster French dinner at Quebec City. We tried also the famous French snail for the first time in our entire lives!!Naizong played a big roll for all rest of the days of our visit. He took Peijun and I (Rushi and Yanli were visiting her brother in Toronto and left earlier on the 16th) viewing all possible color change spots around Toronto (with helps of YangWen, HuHe and her brother Huxing and his wife). In the menatime, he was focused on fishing. While I was looking for and taking slides of the Canadian beautiful fall color, Naizong finally catched a 24 pounds carp---(See photo evidence!). He has been reported to me for his whole life since he was a little kid in Zhongqing: "Mom, I ALMOST catched one that big!". Finally he did catch one that big in Canada!!! That was certainly one of the highlights of our Canada Trip.XiaoRong and Riza have a very nice house. The house is continuously getting nicer with Riza's genius and talent. Riza and I got even, since we both were not able to call each other's name right. Up to the last day of our visit, I finally figured out that I should think of "Ready to go", and added with a -Za; and Riza also eventually figured out that I am not NaiNai, But NiangNiang. Riza and I became good freinds!!(Please don't be surprised if you are not able to see the pictures for a while. I have difficulty to post the pictures. I emailed them to XiaoPan, and she might hopefully post them in the nearest furture for me. Thanks, my crown princess!!)

posted by RuJing 10:13 下午

留言/Comments:

Niang Niang, a very interesting trip report. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures later on. Funny you should mention Bethune. I learned how to say his name in China and quickly found out that he's the most famous Canadian by far in China. Probably the only one that most people have heard of. In Canadian there is passing mention if you take world history that talks about China. There was even a CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) special with Donald Sutherland playing Bethune. Even so, ask most Canadians and they will have no idea who he is!

matthew |11.15.04 - 10:46 pm

good job Niang Niang. We are looking forward to seeing the pictures

I am also impressed with the post of these pictures. I hope we can see more of your China trip...

Xiao Rong | 11.16.04 - 3:16 pm

Niang Niang was very handy? Sounds like another interesting story for someone to tell...

gui | Homepage | 11.16.04 - 6:57 pm

Nice stories and pictures, Niangniang! I am impressed with the BIG fish that naizong caught. I had only caught one tiny fish, comparing with this gigantic one!

Jia | 11.17.04 - 9:57 am

云南之行  

照片早已整理好了，游记拖拖写写，总算也写完了, Matthew又来兴致勃勃的加以补充了一番。挺长的，大家请慢慢儿看吧！

云南之行

posted by cat 11:19 下午

留言/Comments:

That is quite a long travel journal. It looks like you two had a really remarkable trip over there. It reminded me how we had wondered in Europe two years ago.

Jia | 11.09.04 - 10:12 am

I like the new look of the web. The pictures look very good. Still can't find the easy way to look through the photo album. I have to click on each photo to see them. It's a long journal, haven't finish read it. Thanks for put it on. Please check out Karen's new web site. There are some my photos www.karenfrenchphotography.com

nairong | 11.11.04 - 1:48 pm

Thanks. I see your point and I made some changes to one of the photo albums -- check out http://guimatthew.com/album/China/China2004/Yunnan/Shuhe/FrameSet.htm, see if you like it better. Karen's website is very nice. I really like the Portfolio section. Which ones are your pictures?

gui | 11.12.04 - 1:01 pm

More on the shrub... and toilets in Beijing  

Ha, the Daily Mirror asked the right question -- the question all of us want to ask. But who can answer it?

This morning there was a program on the radio -- a phone-in show talking about how to deal with post-election depression, and many people called in to express their frustration. To snap out of the depression, some said they would go volunteering, others suggested going on vacation, etc. Someone mentioned the idea of moving to Canada, which had never been so popular before Tuesday. According to this article, the number of U.S. citizens visiting Canada's main immigration Web site has shot up six-fold as Americans flirt with the idea of abandoning their homeland after President George W. Bush's election win this week. Hmmm, maybe Kerry's loss could be Canada's gain...

The map of United States of Canada actually looks pretty impressive! Although they should have included Hawaii, which also voted for Kerry. To find out if Canada is the right place for you, check out this article: Moving to Canada, Eh?

Anyway, I'm going to forget about this stupid election for now. Here's an interesting piece of news: Beijing will be playing host to the fourth annual World Toilet Summit!

Beijing is known for its imperial parks and ancient temples, but along with sites like the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace the city's toilets have gained notoriety in their own right, known more for stink than sanitation.
......
Officials aim to use the summit to help change that, with workshops on such topics as "Toilet Management and Hygiene," "Energy-Saving Measures" and "The Humanized Toilet."
But the delegates -- from more than 15 countries -- will also be invited to leave the conference room and do a little fieldwork of their own, with a full afternoon's tour of the city's toilets and related facilities.

... read more ...

Ha, "The Humanized Toilet", I wonder what that could be like?

posted by cat 4:41 下午

留言/Comments:

I wanted to comment on your post earlier but had not have anytime. I liked the map. I have heard the new terms from the radio show on Sunday ( CBC-Cross Country Checkup with Rex Murphy). The result of the US election was a hot topic in Canada. The hot issue now probably would be changed to Arafat's death and its impact.

Xiao Rong | 11.11.04 - 7:39 am

check out www.sorryeveryone.com

nairong | 11.12.04 - 11:38 am

sorry it's www.sorryeverybody.com

nairong | 11.12.04 - 11:40 am

This is a good one too: http://www.fuckthesouth.com/

gui |11.12.04 - 12:58 pm

4 more years?! sigh...  

It has been more than a day, but I am still stunned, as many people living in California are. How could the majority of Americans elect 4 more years with Bush is just beyond me. I find it especially hard to believe, that for a large number of voters, the state of the economy, the war against terror and any numbers of domestic policy issues all take a back seat. All that matters is to prevent gays from getting married! It is not just shocking, but scary. Maybe it is time to move back to Canada.

Anyways. I better finish up my Yunnan trip report. I have been slacking...

posted by cat 1:54 下午

留言/Comments:

It was a sad day yesterday. I found it hard to believe that American couldn't find a better man than Bush to lead the country. We have no where to go ...

Jia | 11.04.04 - 3:27 pm

I had announced many time that it was a very sad day. The result is unbelievable, and it made me to think what was in those voter's mind. It is not only scary but...

Xiao Rong | 11.05.04 - 6:33 am

Gui, you are so right. When you saw the map was almost all red, you start to wonder where I am. The majority of Americans are very close mind, just not like what we thought of them.

nairong | 11.05.04 - 11:05 am