The train to the countryside

We left for the countryside on Friday afternoon. Gaetan and Katia sent their papers (that is their 50-page graduating paper about foreign investment in China; they're doing a Masters in Economics) by email at 2:30 PM and we left the university by around 3 PM... We took a 3-hour long train to a small village where we then took a mini-bus to our destination - a hotel in the middle of nowhere that Diana and Branko had already been to on a previous trip.
It was John's birthday. John's an American studying Chinese here, that I never really got to meet or know. Oh well. In another lifetime maybe... Here he is with Diana. I didn't eat any of that cake - not very appetizing! But I did get a piece smashed in my face...Chinese style.
John, Diana and Katia - happy birthday!
Mariana and Leslie - an Australian studying Chinese who arrived in February. She's staying in Beijing another term, until end of December.
Gaetan and Eva, Loic's Chinese friend. Well...she's become all of us's friend...

We arrived at our destination around 8 PM I think. We ate dinner around 11 PM. We went for a "night hike," which in hindsight was pretty dangerous since we couldn't see anything.