they're really coming!

Mon, Mar 30, 2009 Chicago, IL (ORD) to Beijing, China (PEK)
United 0851	Depart: ORD 12:41 PM Arrive: PEK 3:15 PM Arrives next day Mar 31	Non-stop 13h 34m 777 6,579 miles traveled	Fare basis code: KXCN01 Booking class: K Economy 6,579 Award miles Lunch, Lunch	Seats:37D, 37C

Mon, Apr 13, 2009 Beijing, China (PEK) to Chicago, IL (ORD)
United 0850	Depart: PEK 4:10 PM Arrive: ORD 4:30 PM	Non-stop 13h 20m 777 6,579 miles traveled	Fare basis code: KXCN01 Booking class: K Economy 6,579 Award miles Dinner, Lunch	Seats:38J, 38H

We got this email the other day from Liz and Eric Weddle - friends from Chicago - who will be visiting us during our spring break. Hooray!! Our first international visitors! And they landed good tickets - nonstop from Chicago to Beijing will be pretty sweet.

[We had a brief non-international visit earlier this week, when Christina Liao - a college friend currently teaching in western China - came through Chengdu. She spent an afternoon with us, and got to eat Papa John's pizza with us. A little slice of NU here in Chengdu!]

So to get the process going on accepting visitors, I ventured out in the cold on Saturday to go back to the "bulk market" in Chengdu. I may have blogged about this previously, but to remind you, the market is huge - multiple warehouse-sized buildings over a few blocks - sells everything imaginable, and is very busy. My purchase was some new fabric to make sheets for our futon. I had many choices, but the stacks of silky Chinese prints particularly caught my eye...who wouldn't want to sleep on red dragons? Or white flowers? Or black bamboo?

Walking through endless corridors stacked with bulk wares, it often feels like everything is a blur and I just try to focus on not getting run over by the Chinese men carrying enormous bolts of fabric to and fro.
The nice part of the trip was the chance to get my scooter back on the big roads of Chengdu in a serious way. Winter put a serious crimp in my scooter riding, and I was worried that its battery life was not what it once was. Thankfully, my scooter did fine - unlike my travel companions, one of which had to be towed by me most of the way home due to battery failure.

You're welcome, Zack...

-alan