Fire on the Dancefloor


Block 8's New Year's Party got hot. So hot it was on fire ... or almost. When the fireworks went off at midnight, the smoke set off the sprinklers. Meanwhile the Indie Night DJs (pictured above) are still on fire. Luckily there are no sprinklers at Kai Club.

Reopens
After almost a month of renovation, the Dongzhimen subway station will reopen on January 10. Unfortunately for those wanting access to Dongzhimenwai, the east exits will remain closed until March 28.

Baby Steps
Starting January 1, the Chinese Government has mandated that all oil wholesalers and retailers adopt the cleaner Euro IV standard of fuel by February 29. Despite the move to cleaner burning fuel, pump prices will remain unchanged. Talk about a win-win situation for the rest of us.

No End in Sight
Compared with last year’s value of 7.8, the current value of the yuan, at 7.3131 per U.S. dollar, is causing cheers on the mainland. Hope you get paid in RMB?!

Plastic, Please
Having received the go-ahead from the government, Citigroup, HSBC, Standard Chartered, the Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng Bank will soon set up Chinese subsidiaries, paving the way for Chinese versions of "foreign" Chinese credit cards.