Disappearance and Reappearance

So I had had a bunch of interesting posts lined up and planned regarding a work dinner/client development event last week at the China Club, a launch event I went to at the Mandarin Oriental, and the annual Hong Kong Artwalk for which I had purchased a ticket.

But all came to naught when I received a last minute assignment on Thursday evening that required me to go to Beijing on Sunday, to give a presentation in/translate a presentation into Mandarin.  On insurance related structuring and tax issues in China outbound M&A... So basically, the last week kind of got consumed by all that.  The presentation was on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday night, we went to dinner with some local lawyers at a restaurant located inside of a beautiful Yuan temple.  Above are some of the snaps from our second level dining area.  I really liked the floating courtyard, where some patrons could have tea as the sun set.  The temple was built 600 years ago, and retains its original wood beams!

 Beijing's poor air quality is no joke.  We also went to a bar on Tuesday night where nearly every patron was smoking a cigarette.  I woke up on Wednesday morning and it hurt to breathe (only being slightly melodramatic here).  Needless to say, I returned to Hong Kong on Wednesday night, really relieved and happy to be back.