My morning excitement here was visiting the dentist — the first time for any dental work in China. Easy peasy, as it turned out. I lost a filling and the tooth looked cracked to me, so I was fearing the worst — lots of drilling and grinding for a cap. All that worry for nothing. It just needed a new filling. So now I have a temp filling and go back next week for the real one.

Cost: 320 RMB or about $50.