The Suzhou Bookworm, which always seems quick to respond with an altruistic heart, is hosting the event. The details from the event page on Facebook:

Dear friends and patrons,

On Sunday July 6th, The Bookworm will be hosting a BBQ dinner to raise funds for our dear friend Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua was the victim of a hit and run on Moye Lu on Sunday. She sustained severe head injuries that left her in a coma. Friends and family have managed to cover the initial costs of surgery and treatment, but at this critical stage of her recovery we must turn to the community for additional support. The proceeds of the barbecue will go towards the estimated 100,000 RMB in medical expenses.

Your 200 RMB donation will entitle you to a fantastic barbecue platter, a selection of fresh salads and sides, 2 draft pints (or soft drinks) and our sincere gratitude for the part you’ll be playing in saving Xiao Hua’s life.

Thank you for you support

Time & Place

Date: Sunday, July 6, 2008
Time: 5:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: The Suzhou Bookworm (off Shi Quan Jie) – map
Street: Gun Xiu Fang # 77, Shi Quan Street
City/Town: Suzhou, China

A tragic reminder that as much as we can joke about the crazy drivers in China – they do represent a real danger that we should all be mindful of.

This year’s Canada Day marked the fourth I’ve been in China for, but the first I’ve celebrated – and what’s better, we did it properly with a BBQ and beer!

I had tossed around the idea of doing a Canada Day BBQ a few weeks back, but some other Canadians here in town mentioned they may put something together and I didn’t want to conflict. Besides, with a recent move and an impending 31st birthday just a couple weeks away, I’ve plenty of excuses to celebrate.

However, the alt.Canada plans fell through, and so on somewhat of a whim Maggie and I decided to put our new apartment and adjoining backyard to use and host a little party.

Initially I was just going to use the crappy little BBQ I’ve had for a couple years now, but realizing I have a whole summer of outdoor cookery ahead of me, we headed over to B&Q (like Home Depot for the N. American readers) and found a decently sized grill for about 150RMB (about $20).

Alright, I admit, I wanted the big 550 RMB one, and was set to settle on the 350 RMB one – but my wife used her Jedi mind tricks economic common sense in illustrating that the 150 RMB one was the same size as the 350 RMB one, and only lacked a little bun warmer rack.

All that to say – we got to eat charred flesh for Canada Day. I did marinated chicken breasts, seafood pasta salad, and burgers. The burgers were the most amusing to make. Not really certain how many people would be coming, I bought a massive wad of ground beef, and after mixing in some seasoning, I had what looked like the world’s largest meat ball.

After fantasizing what it might be like to actually cook a meatball that large, I tore it apart and smacked the bits into patties. Good times.

In my rush to get everything bought and prepared, I forgot a few things – fortunately my neighbour, the handy and well-informed guy that he is – swung by the import shop and grabbed cheese slices, relish, mayo, lettuce and tomatoes to assure the guests would have all the fixings.

The grill took a bit of effort to get going, and once lit required my company pretty much the entire night, which meant I didn’t get as much a chance to hang out and chat with everyone as I would have liked, but all in all the day was a success.

As I had no real desire to trek into town searching for fireworks, I figured we’d have to go without, but my Canadian friends Mark and Sarah showed up with a big box of them (bought at a rather well-fought discount I hear).

It was nearly 10 pm by the time we got out and started lighting them off in our community’s courtyard, and after a couple window-shaking bangs we realized we weren’t making any friends (despite that we were operating under the guise of it being a celebration for the founding of the Communist Party of China) and so moved it to an unpopulated area a block or so away.

Being a work-night, things slowly wound down after the fireworks, and thus my first Canada Day celebration in China came to a close. It was great to be able to hang out with a bunch of Canucks and celebrate the way we do best – with beer and beef! Hell, we even sang the national anthem!

Earlier that day my neighbour Glenn came by with his golden retriever Huáng Huang and I took the opportunity to grab a few new photos with Addie.

As summer approaches, there’s nothing better than a few good pengyous, a couple of cheap pijius and a load of skewered random rou. Formica tables, dirty grills, and every part of an animal you can think of – what dining experience can top that?