Well it's been getting pretty cosy in the apartment with chromi around ... unfotunately we've had to 'boot' him for the time being. Laopo's mum is experiencing some acute pains... and is being driven into beijing right now as i type this blog entry ... you see earlier this year she was diagnosed with cancer. I've never been close to someone whose has been through such a terrible ordeal. She had come out of the treatment quite well but just a few short months later is now experiencing chronic and ongoing pain ... with her eldest son's looming marriage she has a lot on her mind. We hope the doctors here in beijing can find the reason.

In other news China is passing laws to ban the Milli Vinnili's! It was reported that artists will have to notify the public if they will be 'miming' at ... "live" performances!!! well that should be an eye opener! i've heard that over 80% of artists mime their live shows .... not that there's anything wrong with that ;) but if your just a karaoke pop star we want to know. Thats the law ... sometime soon apparently. Also in further news about artists performances any artists performing "charity" concerts will be not allowed to recevive any fees for their work. Ie it will really have to be a charity operation. There will be hefty fines for those promoting charity gigs where performers are paid. If it's for charity it's all for charity. ... fair enuf i say!

We'll I took chromi in to see the ol' scorpions live in action and there was a new tasty treat on the menu. It's todays headliner topic. You want those in lavae form or ready to hop ;)

hands off..... thats my bike! Thats my skates! and thats my laopo! Chromi says ... see i can balance it with my special powers ...right. We went exploring the local area ... that would of been an interesting site for the locals ... 2 foriegners an electric bike ... who's watching who? .....and then we came across some interesting dancers ...

it was kind of a drum meets tai chi meets line dancing kindof thing. very common occurrence on a sunday arvo in china ... but how about those ribbons girls! get em movin!

but laopo was looking rather angelic ... ai bao bei ... ni zai gan ma!

or this one ... pick and stand 10 coins ... in a row ... one falls down ... all fall down. It was some pretty hilarious viewing ... even if it was all in chinese!

Here's laopo ... but this photo aint' about her ... check out the 'specialist' recycler behind her. In BJ you can get paid for recycling virtually any type of rubbish. Back in ol' 6 Mile Bridge a guy used to come past yelling something riding his bike ... he was calling for his particular rubbish specialty. like 'bring out your plastic' or something to that effect. The interesting thing is they will pay you for it if your keen. So it's kind of like giving you a cut of your recycling cash. So you see all sorts of guys with packs of cardboard, metals, plastics etc strapped to the back of bikes headig to the depot to cash in!

You should see the styrophoam dudes ... they load their bikes up likes there's no tommorow! but they have to watch out for windy days!

Hao de ... todays 'something' is a mobile blood donation unit! They move around and park them in busy shopping districts. You see BJ doesn't have a free health care system perse like australia ... you medical care is provided via your employer. The level of care available tends to be limitied and you can only use it in the hospitals assigned by them. If you need a blood transfusion it's free ... but you should have donated at least 2 or three times. If you haven't donated well then it's gonna cost you ... quite a lot!