Met by a resounding chorus of Waltzing Matilda as I cut through the cold and burst into a Beijing-style pub to celebrate Australia Day, a beer was thrust into my hand, an approving nod given to my Aussie get-up and I was swept up in revelry. Celebrating your national day always takes on a unique flavor when you are doing so far away from your native land. Beijing, is no exception.

Australia Day, for Australians, is a pretty simple affair – a public holiday, BBQ in the backyard, classic Aussie tracks playing on the radio and plenty of beer.

It is also essential that you wear some form of clothing that leaves no doubt in anyone's mind of your Australianess – i.e. Aussie hat, bandana, singlet, t-shirt, pair of shorts, face-paint, belt and/or socks, with or without thongs (flip flops). Your Aussie garb can either proudly display the Australian flag, or you can don more sports-oriented attire in classic green and gold.

Dressed in my Australia Day paraphernalia – Aussie singlet, belt and socks and carrying a make-shift stubbie cooler cleverly constructed out of an Australian-fl ag bandana, my local watering hole was buzzing with excitement as like-minded and similarly-adorned people from across the globe joined in marking my home country's national day with me and my Aussie mates.

Most Australians don't ask for much and are relatively easily satisfied. The Australian flag was waving outside the pub, tracks from Midnight Oil, John Farnham, Eric Bogle, AC/DC, John Williamson and the Easybeats were playing on repeat, a bucket of Aussie beers was available for 100 yuan ($14.40) and Aussie meat pies had been made for the occasion. What more can you ask for? There is something about being overseas for a national day that spurs a fervor of patriotism and friendship.

Everyone entering the pub was met with "G'day! Happy Australia Day mate!" and if an Australian accent was detected, it was shoulder slaps all round and instant acceptance into the swing of events.

University students had traveled across the city, business people left work early and some had taken the day off altogether – which is understandable seeing that the annual Australia Day Test (an international day-night cricket match) had been playing on the telly all afternoon, with the Australian Open broadcast simultaneously on different screens.

Noticeably absent this year was the much-anticipated annual appearance of a scrappy looking but always exceedingly well-received kangaroo.

My venue of choice is known for its human-size fl ea-bitten furry kangaroo costume that is dug out of an old box each year so some poor employee can make the rounds of the pub much to the delight of slightly inebriated Aussie fans.

Despite being bouncing kangaroo-less, the revelries in Beijing continued well into the evening as I was reminded what it means to be from Australia – a melting pot of ethnicities, race and religion, with people proud to call themselves Australians regardless of birthplace or skin color and who can join in an escalating chorus of song and laughter together, wherever life may take them.