Want to go on a trip? The most convenient way seems to be joining a packaged tour. You scan the advertisements, find a good bargain, sign a contract with a travel agent, and all the while not knowing you might be falling into a trap.

For most people, this seems rather like a joke: Xing Pu, a member of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee, proposed last month that the government, fresh from a hefty increase in financial revenue, hand out 1,000 yuan ($142) to each citizen as a subsidy against soaring inflation.

My parents were fascinated by the Water Cube when they watched an international swimming gala, a test event for the Beijing Games.

Publishing negative news can have a positive social effect. China has learned plenty of lessons about that in the last few years. Reports on the outbreak of SARS (severely acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003, and at the moment, on the spread of the hand-foot-mouth disease, caused by the virus EV71, are cases in point.

Chinese youths who live, study and work in Western and other foreign countries surprised the world last month when they staged rallies to roar their anger at the Western media's biased reports about the situation in Tibet and the Beijing Olympic Games.

Earlier this month, I was in Guangzhou for a forum on modern literature. The participants hailed mostly from academic institutions and media organizations, but you wouldn't know that if you had only heard their self-introductions. They sounded like freelancers.

As an ardent supporter of the smoking ban in public places, I was a little disappointed when the municipal government announced last week that restaurants, Internet cafes, parks, and waiting halls at airports, railway stations and coach stations are only required to set up smoking areas under its amended regulation to expand smoke-free public places.

I eat rice once a day. Cracked wheat or millet - whose prices have not risen much - make up the other meals as part of an attempt at a healthier lifestyle.

Beware of negative real interest rates.

Last week I went to Razor Hill, Sai Kung in the New Territories to visit a home for mentally challenged adults. Run by the social welfare department of the Hong Kong government, the home nestles on a hill amid sylvan surroundings and lush woodlands.

Olympic volunteers are now brushing up on their etiquette and so am I. In a Beijing university classroom last week I joined 200 students who were studying the dos and don'ts of dealing with foreigners.

For Australians and New Zealanders April 25th is ANZAC day.

Public toilets are the very places for tourists to get their first and lasting impressions of a city. Of the many elements that combine to qualify a city as being modern and civilized, well-managed public lavatories ought to be one essential yardstick. In this respect, Hong Kong definitely qualifies.