Best way to deal with the lake at Dali is to set off in the morning. Then find a restaurant for lunch that will let you charge the bike while you eat. Not sure how long it takes to fully recharge the battery though.

Electric scooters are very popular throughout China. I've rented one before in Yunnan (Shuanglang zhen near Dali). 38kph top speed but good for getting around town/the lake.

Cheers. Getting a 5-year marriage resident permit will interest a couple of married friends of mine. Not much use for me at the moment as can't legally work on them. Hopefully they'll see sense on that in the next few years.

@ Geezer. If you're going to cross into Macau don't bother with Gongbei. There's a border crossing at Hengqin, Lotus Bridge, that currently is really quiet. Brings you out at the Cotai strip. Taxi from Gongbei is about 30-40RMB & 3RMB on the bus over the bridge. I've never queued for more than 10 minutes there and a couple of times there's been no queue.

You can also get the 20RMB ferry at Wanzai. Maximum 150 people on the boat, takes 10 minutes and lands you within a 10 minute walk of downtown Macau.

I had a 3-year one previously in GZ and hell knows how my company managed that. What are the 5-year ones you are referring to? For work purposes I'd only heard of 5-year ones being issued in SH.