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August 30, 2006
Dining at the Great Hall of the People
First day of a trade fair is ridiculously intense, and in Beijing that's magnified. I'm rushing off to another dinner but want to post a couple photographs.
First, of the banquet last night in the Great Hall of the People, built in 1959 by Mao, on Tiananmen Square. It's generally used for state dinners, I was told. The Book Fair is something of an affair of state. In fact, we all had to leave early this afternoon so the conference center could be made ready for Chinese and Russian delegations to view it this evening.
I was at a table last night with a bunch of New Zealand publishers and our new China rep. GUO Yiqun. It was fun and the food was terrific --amazing to see the quality of the catering for well over 1,000. But maybe that's small crowd for that kitchen. (Double-click the photo to see details. Note the two kinds of bread, maybe one for the Russians, and the New Zealand butter. And the knives and forks!)
Posted by Karen Christensen at August 30, 2006 5:01 AM
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