Saturday 6^th October, 2018 1915

I had rather hoped to have plenty to ramble on about after the expedition to Xining. I don't.

Not because I have nothing to say but I have little I can say without causing offence and/or embarrassment. Suffice to say it was not the most enjoyable and was probably the most regrettable trip I have embarked on in at least a decade.

There is one part I can speak of honestly and that was the visit on Thursday night to Do Brazil, the new restaurant which has opened inside the Sofitel.

It wasn't there last year and anyway that time the focus was on the Brahmaputra Indian place, since temporarily closed and despite the owners' insistence they would return in February/March, remains so.

It is a Brazilian barbecue place. Fixed price per head, eat as much as you like (fat lot of good to me, I eat next to nothing but my companions made up for it), expensive but worth it especially with a 20% hotel resident discount.

Now here's the thing. When we entered I asked a very helpful waiter if the price included drinks. I knew wine would be excluded but as long as I could get a beer I was fine. “Yes, drinks are included but the western restaurant is next door”, he provided helpfully!

As it was 1830 and in China people eat early, go to bed early and get up at cock-crow o'clock and the only other customers in a 120 seat restaurant were a young Chinese couple (who certainly ate their money's worth) I was stunned. The whole point of this visit was to try out the Brazilian restaurant and I informed him of that. I will be charitable and put it down to him thinking we had mistaken our destination although later I did see him do the same to a western family who in contrast then went into the western restaurant.

Once seated and with a Huang He (Yellow River) ice cold pijou in front of me, I rose and helped myself from the curry buffet, one of several buffets. Nice Ruby, really spicy bhajias but given my limited appetite it precluded me from the main event, the barbecued meats.

More than ample squid, lamb, chicken wings, sweet pork and various cuts of beef were trotted out, all being declared delicious by the other two. One beef offering was described as “melt in your mouth”. I was already full after a child's portion of the curry.

The dessert section was lovely with mousse, petit-fours, cheesecakes etc and some of the chocolate offerings actually had real dark chocolate! Chocolate in China is not chocolate as we know it.

The best thing about the trip though is that it is over.

I am almost looking forward to starting work again on Thursday.