3 April 1999 – In Urumqi, the days are very long – sun up by 8 a.m. and dark around 9:15 p.m. We headed out for a late dinner, and I ate my first roasted duck or Beijing Duck (as the Chinese call it, but Peking Duck to many). I love that I ate this splendid Chinese dish for the first time in China. The chef came to the table and carved the roasted duck for us – she served only the crispy skin of the duck. We rolled the skin in a brown, sweet duck sauce and then placed this in a steamed flour circular shell adding a few green onions and thin white vegetables. We drank Tsingdao beer to wash the duck down. Oh, what a night!