#Person1#: Good evening, Pete. I trust you had a nice siesta. 
#Person2#: Yes. It was just what the doctor ordered. 
#Person1#: I'd like you to meet Henry Johnson. Mr. Johnson has been working at our Beijing office for over a year now. I think you two are from the same city. 
#Person2#: Hey there, Henry. Call me Pete. A New Yorker, eh? 
#Person3#: Born and raised in Brooklyn. Good to meet you, Pete. 
#Person2#: Brooklyn. . . that's a great neighborhood. I'm originally from Queens but moved down to Manhattan a while back. So. . . you're an expat in China. . . how's life over here working out for you? 
#Person3#: You know - I really love it. There are frustrations of course, such as traffic, pollution and the language barrier, but all in all, I give China a big thumbs up. 
#Person1#: Before you two get carried away in conversation, let's finalize our plans for the evening. I was thinking of dining at a well-known dumpling restaurant and then hitting a Karaoke bar for some fun! 
#Person2#: Everything sounded good until I heard the word 'Karaoke'. If there's one thing you don't want to hear, it's me singing. 
#Person3#: I sound like a frog that's suffering from a bad cold! But Karaoke is so popular in Asia that I've been dragged to at least two dozen of them so far. I've even learned a Chinese song or two. 
#Person1#: Hey. . . no Karaoke. . . no problem! We're here to have fun and if singing isn't fun. . . then forget it! I assume you like beer. 
#Person2#: Beer is quite possibly my very favorite liquid. 
#Person3#: Chinese beer is actually pretty good. I've sampled all of them so I should know! 
#Person1#: Great! So we'll have dinner and then we'll go down to the bar district. In Beijing there are literally thousands of bars. 
#Person2#: Sounds like a plan. 
gathering