Hershelian, I lived in London for several years and saw prttey much what you described.  I worked with folks from the U.K., Spain, Denmark, France and Italy and, for the most part, they had the same problem preparing to get away from the office...but what great vacations they took!  Always going someplace nice or exotic, even if they were visiting each other's countries.  That's the great thing about Europe...so easy to get to a whole new culture.Beijing must be a great experience.  Do you guys get a month off, or is it even more?  My ex-pat experience was always a one-month home leave plus whatever else I could manage to work in on my own time.