Livin' Like a Rock Star...

...complete with a spa-inspired hotel suite, red-carpet welcome, and media entourage. (I'm not kidding. China has pulled out all stops for this conference.) Friday night there was an elaborate welcome banquet for the 300+ conference participants (who, BTW, paid close to the equivalent of a typical monthly salary just to register). It was held in a venue usually reserved for weddings. The room was full of large, round tables, each with a lazy susan. Servers covered the revolving platform with platters of food and then began stacking when there was no more room. I can't begin to list, or even identify, everything on our table: grilled fish, rice and noodle dishes, steamed greens, shrimp, fungus, bamboo shoots, a tureen of chicken soup... China has a toasting tradition so the participants at each table took turns making the rounds, stopping at every table for a toast. Imagine a great deal of clinking along with shouts of "Campai!" and "Bottoms up!" Our table, made up of the international speakers, was the last to circulate. I made it only to the third table where I was nabbed by four Beijing art museum education students who were using my book! If that wasn't excitement enough, I have a Chinese admirer, through no fault of my own. What he lacks in English skills he makes up for in sheer guts: "You tired? I have car. I drive you to hotel. You rest. I rest,too. What your room number?" (No worries, Tom, even though he's in room 1111!)