[Rick Lee]

If you want help in other cities, PM me. My friends/guides there can help you out for no or next to no money. My Beijing guide would probably take good care of your family. Folks are very friendly there, but the ones who are too friendly are often scammers. Hold onto your wallet when walking around Tiananmen Sq. or the train station. If you come across food there that you recognize, don't eat it. No Mainlander would ever know any of the stuff that's called Chinese food here. Eat what they eat. All their chicken and fish come with bones and it takes some practice to eat that stuff with chopsticks. Also, make sure to always grab a few bottles of water or green tea before you go to your hotel room for the night. They cost about 2-3RMB on the street and the stands are every 10 meters or so. You can use hotel tap water to brush your teeth, but that's it. Never go to your hotel without a few bottles of water. It's ok to talk politics with some people, but just remember that any consequences will be suffered by them and only after you leave. Nothing will happen to you. Most of the folks I talked to on my last trip knew nothing of the protester at Hu Jintao's White House meeting. Most of them know only the gov't. version of the Tiananmen Sq. crackdown, and consequently, most say the gov't. did the right thing.