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.

All developing countries need foreign investment to develop. That is the plain truth.

Peng Fei, an 11-year-old boy of Jiangjin, Chongqing municipality in Southeast China, saw a man stealing money from an old man on a bus. "Stop, you pickpocket," he shouted. The thief grabbed the boy by the throat and slapped him hard. All the other people on the bus, including the driver and the conductor, watched silently; nobody tried to protect the boy, who burst into tearful cries.

YINCHUAN, Ningxia: I was placing my recorder on the desk of deputy mayor Li Weidong when I heard the woman behind me murmuring "I feel dizzy". Another one joined her: "Me too." Then they both said: "It's an earthquake!"

Three sleepless nights have passed since the earth jolted and shook the whole country Monday afternoon.

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.

Hi, boys and girls, it's no longer that cool to talk about dieting and staying thin.

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.

Nineteen years ago a 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook Newcastle, Australia killing 13 people. Back then the country grieved. People were stunned as they previously thought such natural calamities were not possible in the "lucky country".

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.