Just got back from Chengdu. Renewing a passport is a quick service. About 30 minutes to 1 hour if your application is correct. Unfortunately, you can no longer receive your new passport by mail because you must cancel your old passport before they issue the new passport. You can designate someone to pick up your new passport if you give them an authorization letter but that person must bring your old passport and the receipt. So if you are willing to give your old passport to someone this can be done by another party. Guess I will be visiting Chengdu again in about 10 days.

It is not a leak and the landlord is not cheating you. You need to go to the water company and get a copy of the last water bill (meter reading). What seems more probable is that you are being cheated by your room mates. Your first step is to go get a copy of the previous water bill and find out when and how much was previously paid.

Someone is in estrus a lot it seems. Are Western women actually having sex in China? I think its time to begin a new petition about BillDan.

When I am on my travels I see so many new projects in the works and it gives me hope to see all this infrastructure under construction. I was in Liuku, Nujiang a few weeks ago when I saw the new highway under construction from Baoshan to Liuku and all the way to Tibet. Same for the new railways. Can't wait till the rail goes to Hekou or the new railway going through Dali to Myanmar. I wish they were completed sooner but I understand that all this work takes time. I remember when Kunming did not have a subway yet we should have 2 lines open by the new year.

How long have you been living in this apartment? How long have your room mates been there? What floor are you living on? Is this your first water bill since you moved in. Try to retrace the the pipe from the meter up to your apratment and also check the roof to see the hot water heater. From time to time when I visit freinds in high rise apartments I can see the hot water heaters leaking or should I say pouring water and no one even knows about it. When visiting my friend, I have seen the same water heaters leaking 3 months later. Do not pay until you get some answers. Another problem is that if you just moved in then you are probably paying the bill for the previous tenant who did not pay. What was the original meter reading when you moved in? You can go to the water company and get see all the previous bills but you will need the password and account number from the landlord. They sometimes will not tell you if you only have address and apartment number.