thank goodness they're gone!

...is what they wanted me to say when they left Beijing last week two weeks ago (OK, so I'm still a bit behind). But, the truth is, I'm still a bit sad to have seen them go. I will always remember our first guests in Beijing -- Z's Uncles.

They were here for almost two weeks, and we were their last stop on their semi-world tour. They started out in Paris, then trained their way to Berlin, then Warsaw, Moscow, Ute, Mongolia and then finally they were greeted by our shining faces in Beijing. What's that? Oh, yes, you do know the Uncles I am talking about. The Traveling Uncles. The Floating Boating Uncles. The New York Uncles by way of Miami Uncles. And now add to those titles, The Hutong Uncles and The Best Bargain Shopping Uncles in all of Beijing's Shopping Halls.

We had a fabulous time. It all started with a Friday evening of dirty martinis, but of course, and it ended with...well who cares how it all ended when there were several happy hours of dirty martinis? At one point there was a declaration by the Uncles that, "this would be great for the cockpit!" To which they were referring to the shining, spinning, musical orb that danced its way across the concrete floors of the underground walkway below Tiananmen Square. They just had to have it -- a toy that Z and I have often ignored, but which, in any case was a perfect addition to the Uncles' boat. I can't quite remember now if that was in the midst of the shopping sprees across this city, or if it was just the beginning. Either way, please do pay a visit to their boat in New York so you can see the musical, spinning, top-hat of a toy dance it's way into your hearts, too.

Like that spinning toy winding its way across the concrete floors with tenacity, we ventured just about everywhere. But it wasn't all whirlwind all the time, because in between sites and shopping, Z and I were taught the fine art of the afternoon coffee break. From the Temple of Heaven to the dumpling and hand pulled noodle cooking lesson, from the Lama Temple to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, from Tiananmen Square to the Night Market, and from the Forbidden City to the Great Wall to shopping for electronics, we sipped and chatted, and chatted and sipped our way through Beijing. We shared stories and desserts. We had a movie night (with our new DVD player, thank you Uncles!) to marvel over Bertolucci's The Last Emperor because we had walked in the steps of that historic landmark just hours before. We tested my Mandarin skills with each taxi ride, or bargaining technique, or meal that we ordered. We had fun spelled with a capital 娱乐。

There is a sense of pride and ownership and joy that comes with playing host in a new home city. This joy comes easily when your guests are the traveling, eating, enjoying life kind of people. Just the kind of people whom we were lucky to have visited us. The pride and ownership comes with learning to share your love of a new place with others, despite its blemishes. There was that one incident on a major shopping street with the "lady of the night" accosting Uncle M for declining her advances (it's caught on tape), but we still wanted to showcase all the city had to offer. So, we did. We explored lots of Beijing's nooks and crannies and learned to love it even more because we could share it with Z's Uncles.

Thank goodness they visited!