Red Lantern

Yes we are home, safe and sound, 48 hours later after we landed at the Beijing International airport, we’ve successful got over with the jet leg.

Steve has got his thermos and upgraded his drinking game from Rye and Coke to hot Dragon Well green tea.

What made us the most excited so far is to take the bus everywhere we go. It’s way easier than driving in town. It’s nerve wracking to see how the local drivers (like my sister) drive. They don’t stop for nothing and they don’t let you in easily either. When they are behind their wheels, they mean it. They move forward and onward. There is hardly any room between one car and the other, but amazingly I haven’t see any accidents on the road, not even road rage. They are aggressive drivers, but yet accommodating and civilized.

No snow in Beijing, but the wind blowing in from Inner Mongolia is pretty wicked. At one point I thought I would be sent right back to Toronto by the wind, which can hopefully save me from the 14 hour flight.

The interesting thing is our life in Beijing has become less digital in the past couple of days. Most of the social media channels that we use in North America are all banned here in mainland China including Instagram, FB, Twitter and YouTube. Less time on mobile phone and iPad means more quality time with the family, Bingo!

We are five days away from the Chinese New Year day. The weather forecast looks very optimistic with the sunshine and 5C temperature.

Red lanterns are hang up everywhere. When the lanterns are up, the festive is here. When the festive is here, the families are gathered together. When the families are gathered together, life is fulfilled in many ways.

Life is great.