Not a one line bulletin.

I've been light on the updates this week, slacking off with one liners and not much input. So here's a text heavy entry.

Christmas is coming! Huzzah! I don't know if you've ever tried to celebrate Christmas abroad and yet do so in an fashion akin to your home country, but it's not always easy to find somehting suitable. Having talked to a friend who is teaching English in Japan and found that she will be reduced to a chicken based ready meal - that being the nearest thing to turkey - I don't feel too bad about being in Beijing. So what shall we do to pass the festive season?

I could follow what I did last time, I thought, and spend the weekend at the Ice festival in Harbin, and have Christmas dinner - including turkey - at the Holiday Inn there. However, something came along and put paid to that in the form of a petrochemical plant explosion. Ok, let's think again...

There's goose on offer at the chain of German restaurants here, for a price of course. And what about going to a hotel here for a Chirstmas dinner? Well, there are two small issues here. Number one is that each dinner costs in the region of £70, or 900 odd Yuan au moins, soaring up to over 1500 Yuan for all-you-can-drink-champagne (they really know how to target expat markets). Secondly, all these festivities seem to be planned for December the 24th. Now, I don't know if the hotels all bought the same calendars (made in China...) this year, upon which might have been the mistake that December the 24th was in fact Christmas Day , or if they cannot be bothered to work at the weekend and so made Christmas a day early, but I think someone ought to tell them.

So far our plans for an alternative christmas include ice-skating, Japanese delicacies courtesy of Beard Papa, Italian food and an afternoon of chocolate.

Sounds good so far.