Biggish night with our promoter last night. Rice wine. Bad news for non-hangover fans. Battled through the morning before rehearsal, then battled through rehearsal – which was awesome. I figure this is training for Germany. Had to go hunting for a bag to replace another bag which is dead already. Too much weight in our luggage. About 100 kilos between us. Merch, equipment, clothes, instruments. Walked around for ages searching. Big department stores – no bags, just fashion stuff. Dammit. Cabs wouldn’t pick us up to take us back to the hotel. Rickshaw ride, eventually (motorised). Fantastic. Kamikaze journey through traffic. Slept for an hour, then out to meet. Great food and beer at Badr’s new bar (we met last time – he saved me by directing me home through Beijing after a bender & a shocking sense of direction). Jo (friend and publicist) is a beautiful legend – she snuck in payment for the entire tab. Holy crap (it was hefty). ‘Home’ at last. Sleep now. Rehearsal tomorrow. Germany the day after.

Behind the wheel, rickshaw through Beijing this afternoon.

Fires out.