Christmas Eve Dinner

It just does not feel like Christmas in Beijing to me. Maybe because I do not go to the malls, nor the Western shops or restaurants, nor cafes. Inside the former Beijing city walls it seems like any other day to me. Of course I was in the shop working and and my employee Samantha contacted many companies and factories for buying their bike products. They were all working too. The weather was very overcast and hazy until in the early evening a huge wind started. Such wind is always good to blow the clouds and pollution away but it did not make it so easy cycling with the raclette machine in a box. We were going to Fede’s new place – an old Beijing hutong that he just re-arranged. And how nice it turned out!

Fede’s new living and dining room

After a starter of delicious madoufu (fermeted tofu) and mushrooms we had a huge pile of cheese that was melted with the raclette machine and ate together with potatoes.

Ines and Julien on Christmas Eve

Suddenly, after a lot of cheese I felt how full I was! Then I could only lie down and rest. I was so full that I could not move.

Completely full Ines

I could not even move to get some of the desert. Not even a cookie.I cannot remember when I had last felt this full.

After a nice Christmas Eve Dinner

After a while I managed to get up for going home. Cycling home we past by a fire next to a garbage bin. We stopped and had a look what was burning. It was an old blanket that probably caught fire from a cigarette stub and the very strong wind that was still blowing. Julien tried to stomp out the fire with a Chinese elderly couple watching us. The wind was so strog it would always relight any glimming parts we decided to through the blanket in the empty garbage bin and close the lid. There was still wind getting inside the bin and therefore there was still smoke coming out so we asked the couple that was still watching us very closely to go and bring us some water. They came back with water when we had just convinced a different neighbor to bring us water too. The fire stopped and all were happy.

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