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The Patriotic Peony

The Park of the Altar of the Sun – or Ritan Park –  is one of the loveliest in Beijing. My prejudices are showing here because my office happens to be within its gates. Nevertheless, it’s a little gem.

And my morning delight at strolling among its trees en route to The Times office multiplied today at the sight of one of my favourite flowers. The peonies are in bloom.

A Great Hall For the People

Is there a bulkier monument to the might of Chinese communism than the Great Hall of the People in Beijing? I think not.

I cannot deny that the edifice is huge. Whether it is beautiful is another matter. I often have the chance to marvel at its exterior -- from a distance. Rarely these days do I have the occasion to pass through its imposing doors, but this morning I found myself seeking entrance to the North Door.

Keeping Abreast of Changing Diets

Britain may associate Chinese underwear with the last year’s bra wars, when headlines like “Storm in a D-Cup” filled newspaper pages. Many a slim Chinese woman would in fact die for such an embonpoint.

Now, it seems, more of them are seeing their dream come true: Chinese cup sizes are expanding.

Dishing up Dinner

When in China it’s very hard not to spend a quite inordinate amount of time thinking about food. This is not only because the cuisine is delicious. It is because life revolves around eating.

I don’t suppose Hu Jintao said “Have you eaten yet?” – the Chinese equivalent of “Hello, how do you do?” - when he met Bill Gates last week. But he must have been pretty curious about what dishes the world’s richest man would serve for dinner.

The Old Men and Spring

Spring appears finally to have arrived in Beijing. I can tell this not only because the arctic wind from the Gobi desert has at last blown itself out and the sky is blue, but also because the roast chestnut seller has, sadly, packed up for the season.

A Tale of Two "Soul Boys"

Tibet’s mystique is enduring. The mere mention of the Himalayan region conjures up images of a lost Shangri-la, soaring mountains, the Dalai Lama and a people left behind by time.

A recent visit to a monastery in southwestern China offered a glimpse into the mystery of Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation with a 21st century twist. Two red-robed monks were outside the temple. One took a step forward, stretched his hands over his head, knelt on the ground and then prostrated himself full length, his palms protected by pads of wood. The second monk followed. And so on at every step, making their pilgrimage a painstaking expression of faith.

Inside the temples, young monks reciting Buddhist sutras turned to greet passing visitors, delighted to interrupt their prayers at the chance to practice their English. On the altars stood photographs of past and present abbots, of living Buddhas and of the Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second-holiest monk. No sign of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s god-king, because his image has long been banned by China’s communist authorities.

"Foreign" dust follows Hu

China’s president, Hu Jintao, flies to the west coast of the United States late on Tuesday and, if the winds are strong enough, a pall of yellow dust from the sands of the Gobi desert may not be far behind him.

He leaves a capital caked in a layer of fine sand the colour of cardboard. Yellowish dust swirls in the air like a blizzard of snowflakes. Bold cyclists, or perhaps they are foolhardy, pedal through the thick air, their heads wrapped in gauzy scarfs that allow them to see while protecting them from the worst of the storm. Most of the citiy's taller buildings have disappeared in the acrid haze and the sky is almost brown.

Beijing Dragon poised to enter ahead of Time

IN THE heart of China’s capital a dragon is flexing its muscles. This is no mythical beast, but the very embodiment of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

It is still hard to make out the shape of the dragon that in just over two years will transform a city that has stood for a thousand years. Dozens of cranes puncture the skyline and on the ground gangs of yellow-hatted workmen swarm over dozens of building sites. With 844 days to go before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, construction of the sites is at full throttle.

When Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and Lord Coe made a tour of inspection last week a worker did not pause from soldering one of the hundreds of huge hollow steel girders that will cradle the national stadium. The 91,000-seat stadium promises to be one of the most dramatic sports buildings on Earth.

The new orient spending express picks up steam

CHINA has 1.3 billion people and $1,750 billion (£1,000 billion) in savings deposits — or about $1,300 for each person.

Most Chinese do not have a pension nor medical insurance and have nothing to fall back on if they lose their jobs. As a result most put away as much as they can under the mattress — if you are a peasant — or into a bank account for city dwellers.

The Chinese save about 40 per cent of their earnings, making them among the biggest savers in the world. This means that they have access to plenty of cash should they go shopping. And now they can do even more shopping abroad.

New changes to capital control regulations, unveiled yesterday, allow residents to buy foreign exchange more freely and up to a limit of $20,000 a year. Previously, the limit was determined by the amount of time a person spent abroad.

In reality, only a small percentage of the population has access to such a sum and most are urban residents. Official figures show that 20 per cent of the population holds 80 per cent of all bank deposits.

In the cities, incomes have been rising steadily, creating a new middle-class eager to spend cash, be it at Wal-Mart, Carrefour or Ikea. In Beijing, for example, the average family has about $25,000 of savings.

Most shop with cash because credit is almost unknown, cheques are used by businesses and banks rarely give loans, except to companies or government bureaucrats.

Even though most Chinese have no access to a mortgage, millions buy their own homes using their savings. Those who have already bought a home and a car are now looking to travel abroad on holiday.

The most popular destinations are South-East Asia, in part because the region was the first to open up to Chinese tour groups. However, the United States and Europe are already gearing up for a flood of Chinese holidaymakers.

Last year Britain was given "approved destination status" by Beijing and can now be marketed in China as a holiday destination.

Chinese travellers are eager to spend and with more freedom to buy dollars, they may soon be crowding into Harrods and queuing for the latest Burberry accessory.

Rolling Stones kowtow after censors cut greatest hits from concert

THE Rolling Stones’ have been cut back to 36 by Chinese censors, who have asked the band not to perform four songs from their greatest hits album that have been banned in the country. Authorities have reiterated their blacklisting for Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Woman, Beast of Burden and Let’s Spend the Night Together from the 2002 album, apparently owing to suggestive lyrics. A fifth song, which Sir Mick Jagger did not identify, has also been designated as unwelcome when the band plays for the first time in China tonight.