Ah....Beijing

What a great town. I never would have guessed. The best parts of
Changchun and Xi'an are all here including the tree-lined streets and
bustling urban vibe. But Beijing is so much more chill.

And of course, Beijing has the wacky post-modern architecture we have
seen at each of our city stops. Where details of U.S. buildings seem
designed to address the question, "why?," Chinese buildings are all
about "why not?"

More on Beijing tomorrow. I wanted to say a little about yesterday
and the cryptic post from last night.

I gave my sixth and final talk yesterday at XISU. The talk was for
faculty primarily. I presented my RAND paper again. For the first
time this trip, I had an excellent interpreter. So that certainly
improved the experience.

After my talk, I joined Caroline at her final stop in her speaking
tour. She did three talks a day at three different medical
universities around Xi'an. For paying her own way to China, she sure
did a hell of a lot of work.

And boy do they love her. Especially the gaggle of budding female
doctors she seemed to attract at each school.

Reunited and in the company of faculty from our two respective
schools, we headed out for the last our "feasts" for this trip. These
have really been a highlight. The food changes but the setting is
similar each time. We go to a fancy hotel and are escorted into a
plush private room with a large round table. The room often has a
private bathroom for the diners. At times, the room features a glass
booth where multiple servers watch over the group to be sure all their
needs are met.