The preparations for my early morning Saturday seminar seemed to go awry about one in the morning when I found myself at one of Beijing's top clubs. It wasn't quite supposed to be like that but somehow I appear to have got away with it. Chronologically back to front but I'll start off after last night's fantastic meal (more later). I got back to the office about 8.30 last night to finish a few bits of work before heading home for an early night before giving my second presentation today (Saturday) to the group. Talk was almost prepared (just the last couple of slides to go) but I could finish it in the morning. As I'm leaving the office, I get a text from some friends inviting me round for brownies followed by a trip to a bar. Well, I've got a presentation early the next morning but I know my friends won't be leaving to go clubbing for a while, an after dinner brownie sounds perfect...and then to bed. A two minute cab ride gets me there and everyone's in a festive spirit. Brownies are cooking and it seems like the perfect relaxed end to the evening. As the first snow of Winter descended on Beijing at 11.00 last night I should have been safely tucked up in bed thinking about all the great things I was going to fascinate the class with today. Somehow, and I'm not sure of the intervening events apart from the fact that there was some serious arm-twisting and kahlua involved, my first view of snow in China was from the queue at Cargo, one of Beijing's top clubs waiting to see Deep Dish, voted the second best DJ in the world.

Beijing are currently having the top ten DJs come and play once a month. Last month was Sasha, this month is Deep Dish. Cargo is awesome, very stylish, beautiful people, horrendously expensive and lavishly decorated. You get a massage as you're washing your hands in the bathroom! Anyway, an
excellent night dancing to some superb music. Arriving back at the flat at two last night, I managed almost five hours sleep before giving what I think was a reasonably coherent lecture and somehow I think I got away with it.

So pre-doing-irresponsible-things, five of us went to one of the best Beijing duck restaurants in the city and had a lavish banquet, some truly superb food. No, lots of truly superb food and some pretty decent Chinese wine. Here's a couple of picture of the evening, the first with me looking remarkably smarmy and the second one some of the food. Click here if you want to know what it is.