I have heard that the church on Taiping Nan Lu takes clothes.

There is a cable car which arrives pretty much AT the hotel but it's impossible to get to the foot of it by public transport so does not carry many passengers. The cable car I used is the main one (sorry I cannot remember the name but there were hoards of people there).

Once you get to the top of the cable car you follow the signs (buy a map first as the signs are not brilliant and take a compass if possible). Unfortunately for me there were no contour lines on the map otherwise I would have been better prepared for the journey and not worn flip flops. Just because it's hot as hell at the bottom doesn't mean you don't need plenty of layers and a waterproof when you get to the top. I was arrogant and thought that, after the Scottish mountains it was going to be a walk in the park whereas in fact it was a proper mountain (as the name should have suggested to me) and I got a nasty shock! It rains a lot - take a coat.

There is a very good viewing platform next to the hotel so it has a very high rating for "location" so if you stay at that hotel having a good vantage point is nothing you should worry about. I got up at 5am to see the sunrise but soon discovered I was on the wrong side of the mountain - it's better for sunsets. There's a lot to be said for preparation!

Sian

The hairdressers opposite me on Shi Gu Lu charges 10 yuan for cut, blow dry neck, head and back massage. Bargain! I bet you don't get that in Finland.

It comes into effect June 1st which is in a few days time. You can get tickets from the "Office for train tickets" all around the city and of course from the usual agents who you ring up and they bring to your office. To these guys you tell the passport number and they do the rest. It will mean longer queues at railway stations to buy the tickets if you choose to go there.

Apparently they are going to check passports against tickets as you board. However, I don't think it's practical for them to do this for everyone and so I think the boarding of the train will not be such a nightmare as the purchase of the ticket.

Yes, I've been to the amity bible printing factory - they print 12 million a year in all different languages. It's very interesting.

I don't really think the ads on the pavement are ugly but the graffiti on the wall outside Exit 1 of XinJieKou is very bad indeed and the authorities don't seem to have done anything about it. This is real graffiti - mindless - not even advertising their services.