-I’m pretty happy with how my Chinese is coming along. I definitely feel more fluent speaking and, particularly, find it easier to pick up what people are saying, than when I first arrived. On the other hand, I don’t feel like I’m learning very much new language, just getting better at using what I already have. So I’m looking forward to starting classes in Harbin, and I hope the language school I’ve signed up with is decent. -The chain hostel I stayed at in Shanghai was nice, clean and modern, and very convenient. The hostel I’m staying at in Beijing is a smaller, privately run one. It’s a bit less modern and the location is a bit less convenient, but more than made up for by the staff. Very helpful and friendly, and I’ve spent some time hanging out with them chatting in Chinese (although they do speak English). Any chance to practice in natural conversation like that is great, because despite being in China my opportunities to actually speak Chinese are still limited by the necessity of, you know, having someone to talk to. -I’m usually at a bit of a loss for words when someone asks me where I’m going or what I’ve done that day. I generally set out in the direction of some famous tourist attraction, but more often than not I either don’t manage to find it or don’t think it’s worth the entrance fee when I do. So the answer to either of the above questions is usually, more or less, just walking. Which is perfectly fine, because it’s walking that involves seeing all kinds of interesting things, but not the kinds of interesting things that are acceptable answers to questions about which things you’ve seen on the checklist of touristy things to have seen. That said, I do see a few of those, two. -Getting food is strangely troublesome. There is food everywhere, and it is very cheap and I can afford to pay for it, but the intermediate steps are more difficult, mainly due to my aforementioned inability to read menus in Chinese. I *could* go to McDonalds or KFC, which are everywhere- but I feel guilty if I eat non-Chinese food. I could walk into one of the smaller places and try to muddle my way through ordering something, but I’m always too shy to try that. So I usually end up wandering hungrily for a while before finding a place with a menu with pictures and pointing, and still feeling guilty, because it doesn’t involve using any Mandarin beyond “that one”.