A Chinese hot pot banquet

BACKBLIP: I was unable to blip while I was away in China for over two weeks (blipfoto is not accessible there). I'm attempting to catch up!

We took our Chinese friends in Beijing out for dinner to the place of their choice, which was a 'hot pot' restaurant. We arrived to find this table laid out for us. The two pots on the table have a heater underneath. One has a mushroom soup, the other a spicy thin tomato soup. We ordered ham, beef, fish, vegetable and noodles, all of which were dropped into the boiling soup to cook. Our friend Charles fulfilled what would have been, in Britain, the traditional male role at a barbecue, and did all the cooking! I could eat like this every day -delicious and healthy! Oh, and we ordered everything through an iPad. And a filling dinner for five plus a baby cost the equivalent of £25.