I was surprised last year when I came to China how easy it had become to rent an apartment and live in the country (aside from the crowds and the pollution). With the run up to the Olympics, China has become more like it was ten years ago - controlling the movement of people in the country.

I had a bit of a panic last week when I started reading about the visa clampdowns and how China was basically trying to do what it could to make it difficult to both enter and stay in the country. I have applied for a six month visa and will know next week if my application has been successful.

This of course has made it a huge headache for anyone wanting to travel to the country either for business or pleasure. Tibet is totally off limits for now. Many festivals and events have been postponed until after the Olympics. So there is not a lot of Olympic stuff happening now.

The new design for my Beijing site is now up. There is still a bit of work to do on it, but it’s a big improvement on the old design.