In 2011, my first Christmas dinner in China was a hastily gobbled pre-Christmas concert affair of rice and three stir fried veg, consumed in a vast grey university canteen furnished with row upon row of plastic poster-plastered tables and chairs, on metal mess tent trays and using plastic chopsticks and water bottles.
For Christmas 2013 I have graduated to grownup chairs and tables, glassware, and western crockery (oh blessed plates!) and cutlery, and a roasted turkey too big for its own dish. The turkey (pictured) represents a mere fraction of the magnificent Christmas banquet I enjoyed with good friends and new acquaintances within the cozy walls of Barbara Duff's well known Kunming kiwi eatery, Slice of Heaven. In fact many slices, chunks, scoops, and mouthfuls of festive fare heaven. Hats off to the three women central to the Slice of Heaven operation - Lu Fan, A Li, and, of course, Barbara - who worked all day Christmas day just so that this small band of fellow travellers, Barbara included, could enjoy a happy, luxurious, warm and delicious Christmas. 感谢你们!