while most of america was just waking up to thanksgiving, i was already having mine. actually my second thanksgiving dinner in less than 24 hours, once again substituting peking duck for turkey. oh, but what would a china story be with some drama? that came courtesy of a blackout, which we could see as we approached town, large blocks completely dark, including our peking duck restaurant. but you don't need electricity when most people cook either via gas stove or charcoal. it was actually sort of nice to eat by candlelight, most restaurants are lit up in a harsh fluorescent.

however, thanksgiving was more of a wake, in light of the layoffs that happened at work earlier today. it didn't affect me because i'm a contract worker, but some full-time employees were asked to return to shanghai, which is a euphemism meaning you're probably going to get laid off. amongst our dinner party members, liu and xiaolong were both getting cut. most of our dinner conversation was spent griping about work, complaining about the company, and consoling our soon-to-be-ex-coworkers.

peking duck is one of the more expensive meals you can have in china. for a party of 8 people, i ended up paying RMB$600 (i snuck away during a lull to pay the bill), which is about US$100, still cheap compared to a typical american dinner. the peking duck was okay, but it was mostly crispy skin, with the meat going into a mushroom broth.