If you get sick in the next 240 days before the Olympics, you'll probably be a bit closer to recovery: if the big headliner on the December 12, 2007 edition of the Wanbao (Beijing Evening News) is actually true (which it certainly must be -- c'mon, this is your faithful Beijingologist with his faithful wanbao!), you'll have your family doctor -- even if you're not a trillionaire. The health system is getting better, and your health records will be kept on file to clue in the "angels in white" (as they're known in officialnicespeak Chinese). More on this on page 2.

The big headliner, of course, shows that big digital ad sign on the Jinxing Tower near the northeastern 3rd Ring Road. Head up north, and you'll see it going northward. Some ads are a bit scary; the military one is outright stunning, in fact, as the army, navy and air force salute Beijingers, hour in, hour out, day in, day out. That very ad space will show you the Olympics -- live -- next year. In full portrait. Yours truly can't obviously imagine how the Olympics will look lopsided (and this isn't like an iPhone where you can rock it 90° to make horizontal), but oh well! Details on page 26.

Other headlines worth a look:

• Subway Line 10: The Second Ring Subway: Is that Line 2 a bit too cramped? -- Yeah, the subway guys thought so. Page 26 has a stellar image of Line 10. When all is said and done, we'll be witness to a massive loop at 57.13 km (which might shock the M25 in London), with 45 stations (all underground), 24 transfer stations and links to 17 subways. Including Lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, L1, L2 and L3. The Beijingologist detests data dumps without explanations from the bottom of his heart, but oh well!

• El Cheapo Housing for the Less-Than-Privileged: Page 4 has more on housing for the less-than-privileged. If you don't earn enough cash, but you still want your own four corners, there's quite a bit of stats for you to gobble down. For the super-rich expat, it boils down to this: THESE HOUSES ARE NOT FOR YOU... SORRY...

• Super-Long Chinese Names To Be History: Like we mentioned earlier today, the authorities are thinking of limiting the length of names Chinese from the Han ethnic group are allowed to have (that's like 91-92% of the whole population of the PRC). Red lights and alert sirens are guaranteed for those who want a name over six characters, as well as those using made-up characters.

The weather today and tomorrow: clear, bit of clouds; overnight lows at -4°C and it might get somewhat more than just a bit breezy. Max temps tomorrow at 6°C.