Say you've just taken a few friends out for hot pot. The bill is 350 RMB, you give the waiter your cash, he gives you seven receipts. One for each 50 RMB note you've given him.

That is, admittedly, kind of ridiculous.

"Are your bags packed?" It was my editors in Los Angeles. There are reports of village protests in Southern China over confiscated land. The protesters blocked a highway, and then the protests turned violent. A teenager was reportedly beaten to death. A newspaper said her parents were paid to keep silent.

Inevitably, your editor thinks it must be easy to get there. "Just a skip and jump from Hong Kong."

Well, sort of. But the closest airport is a three-hour flight away. And then it's a three-hour bus ride to a nearby city, and the village is about 30 kilometers beyond. Another detail: The village has reportedly been cordoned off by police.

When Chinese offer you a drink, they always start with "Ganbei." It means "bottoms up," and they mean it literally. If you accept, what follows will be endless "Ganbei" until you don't know who you are!

Walking around a back alley with my American colleague in Chongqing, people were sitting outdoors doing business, playing cards, and drinking alcohol. A foreign visitor in this district is very rare, so my American colleague drew great attention. A group of old men were sitting around a table drinking alcohol from rice bowls.

This often meant eating dumplings from just down the street - or eating at the hotel restaurant in the interest of time.

In Chongqing however, I was able to break away for a little of the famed Sichuan Hotpot...

I'm going to break that rule though and tell you a little bit about the overnight this week. See, some of the crew putting together Marketplace's afternoon show are also working the overnight. That's because the 16 hour time difference between LA and China means that our daily live broadcast of 2 PM Pacific Time/5 PM Eastern takes place at 6 AM the following day here in China. And to make the 6 AM deadline, we have to start work at 3 AM. We're preparing for a dress rehearsal of the show this morning - to test out some ideas and make sure there are no technical snafus.

But despite feeling exhausted, there's so much to see and appreciate here. And mornings especially are worth watching here. A few days ago, I got up early to go to a Chinese elementary school. On the cab ride there at 7:30 in the morning, I saw groups of people all over town practicing Tai Chi. Some were on sidewalks, some under highway overpasses. I saw parents walking their kids to school - and not one of the kids carried their own book bag. I guess they really are little emperors...

It turns out Tibetan Buddhism is enjoying a quiet boom among urban ethnic Chinese...

Here are a couple of shots of the editorial team "do-wopping" a little between MMR newscasts. It's "Kai and The Ryss Dolls!"

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Host Kai Ryssdal and Producer Deborah Clark on the mic:

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Then there are hearty, earthy buildings of stone and wood.

These old-style buildings are also quite lovely and full of character.

For our broadcast location, as you may already know, we chose the Astor House Hotel - one of the old-style buildings. Again, quite lovely and full of character – but choosing such a location does present its share of issues...