So how is that RMB in dollars, er, pounds, no Euro?

While life in Beijing has turned out to be better than I dared hope before I got here six months ago, one little issue that has been with me since day one still niggles - my incomprehensible inability to get to grips with the money.

Just how much did I earn last month? And how much does stuff cost? Does my income go further here? Is the guy who is trying to sell me something from the back of a bicycle outside the subway station attempting to rip me off or is he an honest trader offering great value for money and a few seconds of warm friendship?

These are questions I can only answer satisfactorily - given a brain the size of an Olympic high-diver's swimming trunks - by converting RMB into money I am familiar with.