Once again, everything is possible in China. You never know for sure, a definite "yes" may turn into a "no" just at the last moment, an "impossible" can contain a possibility. Long-term preparations aren't popular, everything is last minute. And, in contrast to Germany, everything gets cheaper the closer the final date. So with our train tickets to Beijing, so with my visa.

Picked up my passport last Thursday. In the end it wasnt as difficult to obtain as assumed (At first it seemed, in fact, impossible). Turned out easier to get than making an appointment with one of my former University teachers.

As a reminder that there are allways pockets of possibility and nonsense in China, even with (or perhaps because of?) harsh laws and an authoritarian government, take this sign, recently discovered in Beijing, in a restaurant close to Tiananmen.