An astonishing 99 percent of Beijing residents say they have been participating in the Olympics in one way or another, according to a survey by the Beijing Social Facts and Public Opinion Survey Center.

Matti Varheenmaa has been preoccupied for the last few weeks with the preparations for the Olympic Games. Varheenmaa works as a project manager for the Chinese PC company Lenovo, one of the major commercial partners of the Beijing Olympics.

China has long waged a war against illegal gambling on its territory, despite the fact that it has a significantly long history of legalized gambling: the very first forms of this type of activity emerged there some three thousand years ago, and the first state lotteries were held in the Tang Dynasty. As the fascination with games of chance grows, China has to consider the possibility of liberalizing the gaming industry, or clamp down even harder on its illegal forms.

For the Chinese, food is such an important part of daily life that, not surprisingly, it is also the source of a myriad of strange, and sometimes even quite well-founded, symbolisms and beliefs related to people's wealth and well-being.

Sichuan cuisine is probably the most well-known Chinese cooking style in the West. And nothing says Sichuan more than the fiery dish known as Mapo tofu (or Mapo doufu in Mandarin).

Char siu is one of the most popular dishes in Cantonese cuisine. Its name literally means “fork roast,” referring to the traditional way of preparing it. Char siu is used as a filling for steamed buns, known in Cantonese as cha siu baau.

If you've ever been in any Chinatown anywhere in the world, your curiosity might have been piqued by the sight of snowy white buns being kept warm in steamers. Baozi, or steamed bun, is one of the staples of Chinese cuisine, served by street vendors and enjoyed anytime of day.

Laura Piila works in Beijing as a build manager for the Finnish telecommunications company Nokia. Moving to China was not something the young Finn had ever thought about before last year, when her boyfriend was offered the possibility to take up a job in the Chinese capital. Although Piila had never been to China and had no job waiting for her there, she had no hesitations about accompanying her beau on this exciting adventure.

A trip to China can at best provide ample inspiration for ways to improve your living environment. During my trip to Beijing and Xi'an I found that the Chinese really have a knack for enhancing the urban setting by simple and low-cost means.

If you are looking to buy tea, tea sets, teapots or other tea paraphernalia in Beijing, the best place to go is the China Tea King store in Xuanwu district. The chain's co-owner Chen Changdao tells us about the Chinese business of tea.