A change in the air

Finally we're moving into the best season in Beijing, which will last all of a few weeks before succumbing to the worst, and then the second-worst. As the leaves at Xiangshan turn to brilliant hues, we can all breathe a sigh of relief (or just breathe) as the atmosphere clears and the exposed Tsingtao-bellies are packed away.

Meanwhile preparations continue apace for the October extravaganza, with mysterious lines of empty buses pouring into campuses around the city to pick up students with nothing better to do, and schoolkids working through the holidays (sacrebleu!) so they can practice holding up tiny pieces of enormous Chinese characters. They had a whole run-through of the event at midnight a few nights ago, which rather worryingly must have meant a lot of bleary-eyed soldiers driving missile launchers up Chang'an Avenue - just one more reason not to go anywhere near the place for a month. "Everybody's going a bit crazy," said a friend at lunch today, as a security guard poured water into my glass in the 拾年咖啡, presumably because one of the regular girls is manning a tank somewhere.