Under the rules, while an entertainment venue is open, its evacuation routes and safety exits must be clear. They may not be blocked or locked, nothing may be put in the way, and the signs may not be covered. Internet cafes likewise may not lock doors or windows shut. Failing this is illegal, and you can report it. If the room is underground, has only one exit or the hallway is piled with clutter, go somewhere else.
Under the rules, entertainment venues must post clear prices for services and goods, and must show you the price list on their own initiative. The so-called "sky-high drinks" almost always happen where no one saw the price list and the bill was settled afterward on a verbal quote. When you enter the room, ask for the list and take a photo. After you order, ask for a confirmed order slip. If there is a dispute at checkout, call 12315 (China's consumer complaint hotline) on the spot.
Entertainment venues may not sell or supply drugs and may not let people use them on the premises. Violators are ordered to suspend business for rectification for 3 to 6 months, and in serious cases lose their license. If you use drugs yourself, you face public-security punishment. If you let someone "use it for a bit" in a room you booked or in your home, that is harboring others to use drugs, which is a crime. If someone takes out unknown powder, tablets or vape cartridges and invites you to try, leave on the spot.
Drugs today don't look like drugs. "Head-rush" vapes (上头电子烟) mixed with synthetic cannabinoids look much like ordinary vapes, and some people go to bars, KTVs and hotels to hand them out to try. Anyone who tricks others into using them faces 10 to 15 days of detention and a fine of 1000 to 5000 yuan, and the person tricked into using them also faces 10 to 15 days of detention. If a drink has been out of your sight, get a new one.
When your mood is low, brisk walking or jogging helps most clearly. Next come yoga, strength training, and tai chi or qigong, with little difference among them. The higher the intensity, the better the effect, and strength training and yoga are the easiest to stick with. The quality of evidence here is on the low side. What can be said is that moving is better than not moving, so pick the kind you can keep doing.
For people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course improved symptoms about as much as taking the anti-anxiety drug escitalopram. Nearly 80% of the people on the drug had side effects, and some dropped out because of them. About 15% of those taking the course did, and no one dropped out. It has to be the standardized 8-week course, and any random meditation app does not count.
Doing a breathing exercise for 5 minutes a day for a month improved mood and slowed breathing more than 5 minutes of mindfulness meditation did. Among the breathing methods, "cyclic sighing," which lengthens the breath out, did best. The method is to breathe in through the nose, take one more short breath in to fill the lungs, and then slowly let it all out through the mouth. This is only one trial, and how well it works was reported by the participants themselves, but it costs nothing.
People who rarely have contact with others have about a 30% higher chance of dying over the same period. For those who feel lonely it is about a quarter higher, and for those who live alone about 30% higher, more clearly in people under 65. These were found by following people over time, and it may also be that people whose health is already poor are more likely to live alone.
The more green space within 500 meters of home, the lower the chance of dying over the same period: about 4% lower for each 0.1 increase in the vegetation index. What was measured is the greenery around the home, not how often you go to a park. Greener areas tend to have richer residents and better air. So don't read this as "go to the park and live longer"; just count the nearby green space when choosing where to live.
Moderate value
Evidence A
Buys life
Disputed
Mainland China only 1 tips
These tips describe mainland-China rules and do not apply in the United States; they are here for people living in China.
A 2022 notice from five departments states that script-based entertainment venues (剧本娱乐场所) may not be set up inside residential buildings or below the first basement level. These places are dark, have many partitions and flammable props, and the doors often have to be opened by solving a puzzle. If a fire starts, it is much harder to escape than from an ordinary shop. Before booking, look at the address and floor on the review page, and if it doesn't comply, go somewhere else.
