Ministry of National Defense Foreign Affairs Office New Year Party

On Friday we attended the MNDFAO Chinese New Year party. Seating is by seniority in the attache corps, so we were seated in the back of the room. This painting, of Chinese Marines was behind us. While we were banished to the back of the room, we were fortunate to actually sit with friends AND friendly PLA (People's Liberation Army) soldiers, so the evening was fun. Here I am, holding a very traditional Chinese treat. It can be purchased on the street, everywhere. It's fruit, glazed with sugar, I think. This one was strawberry, but they often make them with crab apples and sometimes even vegetable!

Dinner was buffet and they had fresh noodles. Pictured below is are two men making the noodles the traditional way. Tom said they were good but I was afraid to try them as the soup looked like it had meat in it.