Beijing with Mad's cousins

The Forbidden City, of course!

(complete with Mao's portrait, hand-painted every year)

Mad's relatives with their sweet friend actually named after Mad's cousin

I still immediately think of Mulan.... even after living in China.

Still one of my favorite photos.  Mad turned to me and said "Turn around and make a face," which is exactly what I did.  This guy was trying taking a stealth picture of us (from quite far away actually), but then noticed that we obviously knew what he was up to and started laughing.  He then came over to show us the picture (which I obviously took a picture of).  And yes, we gave them a nice smiling picture after that for having the guts to come up to us :)

Crazy ornate.  Everywhere.

Not sure if I could ever handle having ceilings as ornate as this.

Love the matching pink puffy jackets.

Ok this might look intimidating with the fish head posed with its mouth gaping open (a very normal and typical thing to include and eat in a Chinese dish), BUT this dish is quite delicious... totally worth the presence of the aggressive fish head.

Having guests in Beijing... best excuse to eat Beijing duck ever.

Houhai Lake, completely frozen over.

Chair skating.

Yes, that is what they are doing.  No, they are not going fast.

Making dumplings with friends!

The dumplings they made were... perfect.  

I, for one, still do not have it down yet.  Lessons were a must.

Mad's perfect little dumpster.