Yesterday, six of us shook the dust from our little Chinese village off our feet and went into Beijing for dinner and a ballet.  We started the evening at a casual Hong Kong style restaurant and then stepped it up a notch to see “Swan Lake” at the brand new (and completely unbelievable)  National Centre for the Performing Arts 

The food was tremendous.  The ballet was magnificent.  And my favorite summer dress thoroughly enjoyed its first excursion into the city…especially since it was accompanied by my red patent leather shoes (not pictured).

Here is a short photo tour of our experience…

Apparently jammies are appropriate attire at this particular dining establishment – just so long as you remember your wristwatch.

We tried to just be all casual-like and get a photo of me.  But now looking at it, you can totally tell this was a not-so-subtle attempt at actually snapping another shot of the guy in his PJ’s

The wallpaper behind us is actually the menu

I love this shot of Jacob and Carrie

Outside the National Center for the Performing Arts – right in the heart of Beijing, not far from the Forbidden City

With Carrie and Kim