Food possibilities are endless in Beijing. Chinese, German, American, French, Spanish, Mexican, Pakistani, Japanese, Russian, etc. But for Christmas I wanted something simple, much like my Thanksgiving dinner at the Great Wall. Instead of just finding a Mom-and-Pop style restaurant with turkey and mashed potatoes, I gave in to suggestions from my other foreign friends and went to the Beijing Kempinski -- one of the major hotels in Beijing.
The dinner was buffet style, but had more than just the typical Christmas necessities. At my fingertips was duck, goose, various sea creatures, vegetables of all sorts, desserts-a-plenty, wine, wine and more wine, venison (sorry Rudolph) and -- an unexpected treat -- prime rib. I haven't had prime rib since coming to China and I probably wouldn't have the opportunity to eat it again until I go home, so I piled my plate.
I joined my former China Daily boss, Mike Peters (who also went to the Great Wall Thanksgiving dinner), for the late afternoon Christmas brunch. I got there around 1 p.m. and made several journeys up and down the buffet line until it closed around 3 p.m.
Although a bit expensive, the live music, ice sculptures, Christmas trees and overall atmosphere was worth the price. I mean, where else (even at home) would I get to have goose, duck and prime rib on Christmas?
Food, food, food.
I made Mike wear the Santa hat. The night before, he was "volunteered" to be Santa at the China Daily Christmas party.
A Barbie doll sized ginger bread house.
There were a lot more people there than are in this photo. They must have all gotten up to get more food.
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