From Alyssa

Blog Post #10

Well, it has been sort of an eventful couple of days. First, I’m giving a shout out to Peter Wang/Yao of somewhere in the Northeast USA (I believe he said Connecticut). What up Peter. He told me to mention him in the blog- Ashley and I met fellow Americans at Propaganda Social Establishment on Friday evening. I hope they made it back to the USA safely.

Next, yesterday at work I attended an investors meeting/lunch. It was super fancy. I don’t even know how to convey on this blog how fancy it actually was. The chairs had crystals in the plush backings. There were gold plated chop sticks. There was a massive chandelier made of a million crystals. I believe the price tag was somewhere around $1000 USD per person. It was definitely THE fanciest place I have ever been to in my life. It kind of reminded me of that one scene in Pretty Woman where she accidentally flings the oyster across the room. I was completely out of my pay-grade (not that I get paid, but you know what I mean).

I was so enthralled by this whole lunch ordeal that I started taking notes because I knew I would want to blog about it later. I noticed a great deal of things during the lunch that were different than what would have happened in the US. First, everyone was served a small amount of red wine in the beginning of the meal. You were only allowed to drink said wine if the head of the table announced a “cheers.” Then, the waitresses (there were 8 that I counted for our table alone) would all give you a little bit more wine as soon as you had finished. Like many Chinese restaurants, the table was family style and had an enormous lazy susan in the middle. Each time the wait staff would bring out a new dish, they would first bring it to the head of the table (it was a round table, but basically the oldest man is deemed the head) and let him try the food first. Kind of like how a sommelier brings the wine out and lets the man try it first. Then, instead of serving ladies first as in the US, the oldest men are served first, an on down to the youngest women. I was also struck by the casual attire of the businessmen. They all were wearing polo shirts and khakis.

In many Chinese restaurants, there are separate private rooms for each table that include a private bathroom. As with most Chinese food, my stomach didn’t particularly appreciate the food yesterday afternoon, though it was allegedly top quality. Let’s just say I needed to use the private bathroom. Since the setting was so intimate, my absence did not go unnoticed. I was surprised I got so sick, seeing as how the restaurant was supposed to be “the best in Beijing.” I included a few pictures of the restaurant, but they really don’t do it justice.