We took a day trip to Jinan from Beijing. The most explicit purpose was to visit my sister, who is attending college in Jinan. An initial Google search revealed that it was 450 km and a 5.5 hour bus ride away. F. But fear not! China has graciously installed a vast network of high speed rail capable of speeds up to 400 km/h. That translates as roughly 255 miles/h. Think about that. And hour and a half and $20 later (think about that, too), we were in Jinan.

My dad was visiting my sister for the holidays and picked us up from the train station with a family friend. My uncle, whom I had not seen for 28 years, diligently drove from his home in Qingdao, roughly 4.5 hours away, to meet us that day. All of us reunited at a restaurant near my sister’s college. That’s my uncle (left) and dad (right) in the picture above. My uncle is 70 and my dad is 66. I have some good genetically predicted years ahead of me.

Lunch

After lunch, my sister returned to class while the rest of us drove to the nearby Baotu Springs. Some temples, parks, and artist colonies had been constructed around the springs, making them a pretty tourist attraction.

A mere two hours later, my sister’s class ended and she joined us for dinner(?). Quote my sister, “What the hell, I just ate with you, went to class, and now we’re eating again?” Shockingly, no one was hungry, so we just sat around, drank some porridge, imbibed alcohol, and smoked. It doesn’t get much more Chinese than that.

My dad dropped us off at the train station with another family friend. That concludes the dad and sister part of our travels. Last time, my dad and I went 22 years without seeing each other. This time, we went 11 months. That’s an improvement.