chinese word for tea
Others play badminton and ping-pong in local gyms, where normal barriers tend to come down (I once interviewed a senior Chinese official at his ping-pong club - I'm sure he would never have agreed to speak to me had I applied for an interview through his office).
And, then there's clubbing and dancing. Despite the controversy over the latest Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy, I can assure you that - from personal research - Chinese men and women are more than happy to dance to old Guns N' Roses records when the DJ plays them.
More and more people here have money. So, those who can afford it often go for a day trip to the coast. On Saturday, a colleague and I went to the coastal city of Tianjin to join others in looking round a military theme park (more fun than it sounds).
We went by train from Beijing South station. Return tickets cost 116rmb ($17) each. The train left dead on time from a sparkling platform (workers were polishing it right up to the moment the train left).
Our ticket included a free bottle of water - handed out by smartly dressed stewards on board the train (the Chinese man sitting next to me didn't need one - he had a gigantic jam jar full of tea from which he sipped enthusiastically every five seconds during the journey).
The train's speed was displayed on a digital screen in the carriage (nerd that I am, I noted that it reached 330km/h - which makes it faster than the London-Paris Eurostar.) After 30 minutes, we got to Tianjin.
We then took a taxi to the theme park. Many cabs in China are built on the inside like rally cars - with a cage round the driver's seat to protect the driver from rowdy passengers. So, if you're sitting in the back your legs tend to get crushed by the metal bars of the driver's cage.
The central attraction at the Binhai military theme park is an old Soviet aircraft carrier - the Kiev (China doesn't yet have any aircraft carriers of its own). Tickets cost 110rmb ($16) each - a pretty hefty price, which is more than many can afford. I was the only Western visitor - everyone else was Chinese.
On board, there were a number of young guides with megaphones ready to take visitors round the ship. Each of the four decks had an obligatory refreshment stand. Wherever you go in China, all stands seem to sell the same thing - instant noodles, hot dog sausages, packets of dry biscuits.
The aircraft carrier was preserved as an old Soviet relic - it still had pictures of Lenin and even Putin on the walls. On deck, all the tourists were keen to take pictures of each other standing in front of the old warplanes.
Nearby, there was a building which advertised paintballing. Four life-size models of warlike soldiers were posted outside the front door (curiously, the models each had Western faces). Next door there was a restaurant built around what looked like an old tank. Alas, you couldn't take it for a drive.
For the first time, a generation in China has grown up with both money and free time. In a few years time, it's possible that China's middle class will be the largest in the world. How these millions of people spend their time and their money may help to determine how the rest of us live.
An update on 
On Wednesday Ran Chen spoke to the BBC - on what she believed to be the eve of her father's execution.
On Thursday morning she was allowed to visit her father, Wo Weihan, for the first time in four years. Ms Chen believed this was a last gesture by the authorities before her father's execution.
After her visit, Ran Chen held a news conference. I'll quote in detail from what she told us, because it's extremely rare to get an insight into how a case like this proceeds in China. The legal system in this country operates amid great secrecy. China doesn't disclose how many people it executes every year, but human rights organisations charge that China executes more people than any other country in the world.
Most families involved in death penalty cases don't speak to the media. But Ran Chen has more freedom to talk because she holds a foreign passport (she obtained Austrian nationality several years ago - her father still holds Chinese citizenship).
This is what she told us.
In the morning, Ms Chen and her stepmother went to the Second Intermediate Court of Beijing:
"Before we went in there we had to sign a paper. We were told in a separate room what the rules were for such a family visitation and we were not allowed to bring any paper or pen. We were not allowed to bring anything apart from three or four photos."
Her father had been taken to the court from a prison hospital. He hadn't seen his family for four years.
"It was a complete surprise to him. He said he was sleeping this morning and then the people came and just took him to the court. He was sitting there and then all of a sudden we came in the door and he was very happy to see us... He was calm - he was obviously much older now. He has aged."
The meeting was heavily monitored.
"There was a glass window and I was sitting [on one side] with his wife. And he was sitting on the other side and there were two officials behind him. He was in handcuffs. And behind me were about five to six officials and also a video camera. So the whole conversation was taped."
There were restrictions as to what they were allowed to talk about.
"One of the rules was that we were not allowed to discuss the case. Whenever my father started to speak about the case he was told not to speak about the case."
But there was something Ms Chen had to know.
A few days ago, a low-ranking court official told the family by phone that the Supreme People's Court - China's highest court - had reviewed and approved Mr Wo's execution. Since the start of 2007, this court has had to review all death penalty cases in China. An approval clears the way for a death sentence to be carried out at any time.
But the family hadn't received this final verdict in writing. It didn't know whether or not it should rely on news given over the phone by a minor official.
So, Ms Chen wanted to hear from her father what he had been told.
"The first thing we asked was 'have you received your last verdict?' He said 'no'. I actually asked twice - 'did you receive any news?' He said 'no.'"
Wo Weihan did not appear to think that he was about to be executed.
"He again repeatedly told me that he is innocent. He said very clearly that he has confidence in the justice system of China."
After 30 minutes, the visit was over.
"After meeting with my dad we went home, and I cried for two hours and it was just so difficult and emotional. Because I thou