Eric's Beijing Diary

When we had dinner last week with Leander on Jinli Street, I had told him that I wanted to meet the young lady who had been so kind to me four years ago when I came through here.

Leander had put me in touch with her...can't remember...I think she was a classmate of his, or something. Anyway, Leander, of course, was a student in the IC Design program at the Software College in Beijing when I first came to China, so I have known him for almost five years. When he graduated, he returned to Chengdu, which is sorta his home stomping ground, and started a business with an American partner. I found out that he has also changed his English name since I saw him last. He now goes by Joel.

Anita and her husband met us near the gate of the Wuhouci Temple, and we all went to a small, traditional Chinese restaurant. Anita was laughing about the time she took me to a Chongqing hotpot four years ago, and I had told her that she couldn't find anything too spicy for me. She took me up on the deal and led me to what is perhaps the hottest meal I have ever had in my life. We even had to have a special sauce to sorta neutralize the spice a bit. That meal had taken me a couple hours to eat, and by the time I was finished, I had smoke coming out of my ears.

Well, I wasn't in the mood for anything quite so spicy this time. They gave me the menu (as Chinese people often do) and told me to order what I wanted. I had Anita do the honors, and she followed Chairman Mao's prescription (four dishes, one soup).