I really should know better

In Beijing again - it's 07:00 and I'm not exactly feeling 100%.

Went out to a local restaurant last night -- I decided against trying the 'Fish Lip Soup' (honest) but did try the deep-fried pigs' intestines.

The waiter kept asking my chinese host if, indeed, I as a Westerner actually ate 'innards'. That should have been a signal.

They tasted EXACTLY the same as a pig farm smells. I ate the very essence of pig last night. And I can still taste it now (3 coffees and 1/2 a tube of toothpaste later).

Up most of the night with tummy cramps.

But a bonus: Amazing view out of the window ... to get all of the building work finished by the time the Olympics starts ... actually all building work has to stop several months before then ... they work 24 hours 7 days a week. So the nightsky is ablaze with arc welder flashes.

Took a death ride taxi here last night ... driving in Beijing is very random. No signalling. No seat belts. 100kph weaving in and out of the traffic (as are other people). Horn blaring all the way. And having to dodge the 100's of bikes; small motorbikes and pedestrians none of whom have any road sense.

Shanghai's worse I hear. Hope to get there soon. Not.

M