(typing before reading the entry):

So looking forward to this chapter. :)

I'll find you a picture of me in the dress, okay...

I wish you took a selfie once in a while, especially in sparkly purple dress!

The one I've got now will do me at least til' the end of the trip. It's not great but it's acceptable.

Soaking in a non-smelly hot spring makes for a wonderful night’s sleep I found in Japan. Hope you can find a comfortable seat soon. Sounds like torture to have to keep going on this one.

Salt fish can be pretty terrible and historical rumor has it that longpig tastes rather like pork...

What a great story!!

Less tasty, that's how.

I feel like a lot of "unnecessarily complicated" stuff in China, perhaps even most of it, is less a case of it actually being complicated and more a case of incompetent people doing a bad job at trying to make their error into your problem.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it. That entry was very insightful and explains a lot. It seems to agree with a lot of other aspects of living in China how things are made unnecessarily complicated

I'm tempted to make an entire entry just on this topic.

In fact, I think I will.

Hi Marian, great journal and riveting reading! As someone as familiar with the nuances of Chinese culture as you are, what do you figure are the actual reasons why they don't want foreigners in so many of the hotels? All I can ascertain so far from the journals is they claim not to have a "license for foreigners" or the system doesn't allow them to register foreigners, but we know it's not true based on the laws and how you can successfully register. So what's the deal? I've never really understood this one

Multitool?

I wonder, are the harnesses more dangerous or are they more likely to cause injury because people use them wrong?

Interestingly enough, Montgomery County has banned the harness trampolines.