A completely nothing morning, getting up late, + then killing the rest of the time till lunch chatting with D + L + their new room-mate Peter, an old acquaintance from Dali, Turfan, etc. – about nothing of consequence. None the less enjoyable for that. Hunger got the best of me eventually, + I ate a meal, larger than I’d intended, at a local café at the bus stn. Good tho’.
Met D, L + P later at (of course) the Beijing Hotel, + from there went to a vegetarian restaurant. A little expensive, but well worth it, as they served us up an enormous banquet, all superb. It was embarrassing when we were ordering our meal when we were assisted in reading the menu by an attractive + pleasant young lady who spoke excellent English. We questioned her fairly severely as to the price of things etc, + it was only when our order was complete that we discovered she was not, as we had thought, an employee, but a fellow-guest. There was a slight problem when the meal was over, + they were quite persistent, more so than many places, who only make a token effort, in demanding FECs. We were equally obdurate, however – or a little more so – + they relented ultimately.
We watched Coe coast home with the Olympic 1500 – I was disappointed that my own favourite, Steve Ovett, dropped out, exhausted, when apparently going well.
Little to report or comment upon. We do seem to be killing time rather; I think we have had our fill of China, so would be happy to be on our way again. A pretty common complaint with us, it does have to be said.
