1) If you dislike eating Chinese bread, you can slice steamed bread and toast it. IMO it's tastier and sugar-free.

In Zhejiang province at least, Trust Mart sells white sliced bread which is western style, good for sandwiches and toast. Alternatively, I highly recommend buying a toaster oven for baking muffins, making pizza, lasagne and so on. A godsend if you like to cook at home and not uber-expensive.

2) If you wish to convert foreign currency into RMB, go downtown to one of the major branches of the Bank of China, but not at weekends. Opening hours of the bank are likely to be from 8.30 am until 6 pm, but winter opening hours will probably be somewhat different. Remember to take your passport with you.

Not always, it differs. Some will, some won't. Easier to get a chinese friend you know and trust, to use their ID to change it for you.

3) Using a shortwave radio that cost me about 70 Yuan, and a long wire antenna whose far end is tied to a tree, I can receive Radio Nederland's English broadcasts, BBCWS, VOA, Radio Australia and Radio New Zealand clearly.

www.audials.com I can receive radio from around the world, right to my pc desktop, high quality and no static, and can even record it to mp3 for posterity.

Another tip, to make pasta sauce on the cheap, at the local lanzhou lamian place, buy a tin of tomato paste off them (cheap) and grow your own herbs, it's much cheaper than paying through the nose for imported pasta sauce.

Cheers
IM