Big Harry In Gigantic China: Day 3 of the KILL BILL Reports!

As I return to the set today, I just want to let you folks know... I'm losing strength. Writing these all nighters, getting less than 6 hours a night, plus that damn sunburn from yesterday sapping the energy right out of my body... I'm beginning to wane a bit. No, my enthusiasm is still ramped up to 20,000%, but for some reason the energy I gathered from the fried pigeons and that abalone egg noodle dish with those alleged chicken feet I gnawed on last night... Why would I eat Chicken Feet... Well Hiromi (That Miramax lady) and Michael Jai White, told me that The Master, Yuen Woo-Ping, said that the Chicken Feet would give you strength. I found that eating Chicken Feet gives you only ONE thing. An Empty Stomach. And if there is something that I am most definitely a Master at a level at least a 1000 times above This Master on... it is how to fill my stomach with the foods that will make me a happy energetic camper. Chicken Feet do not make me a happy camper, though they were tasty... I just find the lack of any real substance to be discouraging.

Anyways, I find the crew picking up where they had left off yesterday… Now they are shooting Michael and David’s fight to the death in the TAI CHI MASTER alley way. This is just the bomb, the first exchange of sword attacks… Very cool. This shot was a series of three sword clashes and a missed death blow by Michael, looking to decapitate Bill. David Carradine has a ferocity in his face, that I don’t know if I’ve seen before. Very cool. Absolutely no nonsense.

As that shot ends, Quentin is shooting a trick sword removal by Carradine where he throws the blade up out of the sheath into the air and then landing in his hand in a high position for a downward slice. Very cool move. I really can’t believe how cool that looks. It is funny when it goes to far out, but David always seems to catch it and bring it back into frame, though the time it hit the table with all the peppers caused David to crack up pretty hard.

Before we continue with the day, let me correct a couple of things from the first column. First off, KILL BILL will not be shooting in El Paso, though part of the film is set there, instead Barstow will be subbing for far West Texas. Next the make-up work that I was seeing that day was due to the angelic Heba Thoristottir from Iceland. All the KNB guys were apparently in Tokyo at the time readying things to shoot there very soon… In talking to Heba today, she told me about how Gordon Liu told her that given all the times he’s played Pai Mei in film before, he never expected that he would look best in the role for an American production. Now Pai is primarily the construct I hear of Heba and Manny. Now Manny is a coiffeur extraordinaire. He did Cameron Diaz’s amazing hair in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, and yes I was quite good and didn’t ask about the magical swirling ass. He’s also done quite a bit of work with Angelina Jolie. On this film, I’ve mainly been seeing him work on David Carradine’s AMAZING hair in the film… Really cool look.

Then there were a couple of things that Quentin wanted to have clarified. First that the steadicam shot isn’t a full fledged kung fu thing, but more of her character entrance going into the fight. Soon I’ll be going to the HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES set and getting the walk through, I’ll let you hear all about that. Apparently the geography about what happened will become far more clear with that shot when I’m on set.

Next… Quentin did bring the sad news that he had indeed cut YUKI’S REVENGE out of the film. Now I had asked three separate folks about the YUKI’S REVENGE chapter… All three told me that not only was it in, but they shot it. Apparently, these folks thought I was talking about Yuki as a character. I believed I was quite clear in stating the chapter, I even asked who would be playing Bonnie… But apparently… I must’ve been less than clear.

When I asked why that had to go, Quentin said that he had been watching the APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX and he realized that he would shoot YUKI’S REVENGE, he’d kill himself shooting it. That it would be a bitch to shoot and in the end, when he’d be sitting in that editing room trying to make this movie fit a hair or two beneath two and a half hours… That YUKI’S REVENGE would go.

I expressed the utter heartbreak of fans round the world now reading his stolen screenplay, that there would be mass suicides and whinings throughout the end of time. That’s when Quentin told me that he’s added another chapter though that is more directly related to the story at hand. I believe the chapter was called MASSACRE AT TWO PINES – and this chapter is the full fledged church scene… Everything that went down. How the attack played out, how she was caught unawares, did she put up a fight, what happened?

At this point I whined and asked him to give me the new script, and Quentin got this coy look on his face… "Oh no no no no noooo, you don’t read it, you’ll see it like the rest of the world, or maybe at Cannes with the rest of the world press!"

It was at that moment that I swore a blood oath to Odin, I, Harry Knowles, will read this new draft of KILL BILL. I will read it and I’ll let Quentin know I read it, just so there will be no doubting the will of Knowles. I’m not just some New York Times sit across with folded legs and ask polite questions reporter, I’m no idle mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper or magazine… I’M AINT IT COOL NEWS AND MY X-RAYS ARE ON MAX!!!! Hehehehe… somehow I think Quentin is gonna beat me on this, but ya know… I wouldn’t be Harry Knowles if I didn’t try.

Right now, David is shooting a close up of his side of the attack of Michael Jai White. The putting away of his blade, followed by a viscous physical hand attack at Michael’s face. Behind the camera is The Master – Yuen Woo Ping… He tends to pace around, but here he was rapt attention on what Carradine was doing, and after the thrust, he begin excitedly nodding, pivoting and smiling. He very much approved of what he saw. Very cool.

Today, Quentin is wearing his black pants with the white racing stripe down the side. He’s got a plaid sort of lumberjack shirt and a quilted skull cap. Later I find out this is his New York outfit, not really the L.A. scene, but here everyone tells him… "Very Nice!!" Once again Tarantino is right there, maybe 3 feet from the front of Carradine… giving encouragement, being there with instant reactions right off the cut. His excitement when he gets exactly what he wants is communicable. He will suddenly jump back with a ‘yeeeeeaaaaaah, check it print it and let’s move on!" Very cool.

The second that Quentin, closes up a shot the Chinese crew leaps into action… Pointing at everyone on the reverse side of the camera and shouting out… "In da movie.. in da movie!" and pointing at everything. Suddenly it is all moved. And I mean WAY FAST. 5 minute turn around max. I mean this track is laid out, cleaned, and smoothed out quicker than a runny nose in January.

Robert Richardson is up in the on high seat on the dolly, does the push on the Michael Jai White Chinese Stand in. Then without notice Quentin is back, replacing Robert in the seat, watching the push from the place, and then he’s ready to go. Now, there could’ve been all sorts of notice, but all I know is everything that gets screamed on this set is either a war cry or some Chinese phrase that probably means, "Quiet On Set!" "Turn Off Your Cel Phones and Radios!" "Cut" "Rolling" or the typical phrases of film production. Although there is a lot of screaming of "STEEEELLLLLLLLLLAAAAAA!!!!" on set too, but I think this refers to someone named Stella that handles costumes for the principles… or something. All I know is at least twice a day the crew gets a big kick out of yelling her name in all their anguished glory.

Now, about 5 feet in front of me, off camera… way off camera… is David Carradine literally going through the off camera motions every single take for Michael to reference. What a giving performer. He doesn’t have to do this, but he’s there… every take being the reference his fellow actor needs. After a bit he retires to a seat next to me and we begin talking at length as Michael is jamming his sword hilt into and through a table it looks like. There’s a lot of technical stuff to this shot, getting the sword to land in the exact right spot off of a grand sweeping motion all without looking at the spot.

David comes over and really was overly kind about the stories that have appeared on the page thus far. I am of course humble acting, but inside I know it is all true… ahem… riiiiiight. I just have great material to reflect upon this trip. If I was on the set of CHARLIE’S ANGELS 2 right now, well my neck would be tired of my head following the swirling motion and I’m sure I would constantly just be drooling.

However, giving that I was having hardly any drool issues today, though Michael Jai White’s implants (well, that’s what he calls em) well… Ok, I won’t go there. Anyways, I had a long Conversation with David Carradine about THE LONG RIDERS – One of my all time fave westerns… For me, it is my all time favorite Walter Hill movie, and frankly I’ve always been curious how the project came together. Turns out that it was James Keach and Bob Carradine’s brain child / pipe dream. They came to David to try to get him to do it, and after they’d told him what they were thinking, David just hemmed and hawed and let them know that he felt it would never happen. That it was a pipedream of youth. At the time James Keach and Bob Carradine were just a pair of saplings… Young kids that hadn’t really done much of anything at that point, but James said that Stacy Keach had signed on. David told him that if Stacy was aboard, he’d do it, but that it would never happen. Immediately after David committed, James and Bob went to ask Stacy if he’d come aboard. They decided to bring in the Quaids and the Bridges brothers. Walter Hill came on, and then it was trying to get United Artists aboard. Well, United Artists was intrigued, but felt that they’d never get all the brothers and family all together at any given time to pull the project off. They said to name a date, and when they did, they through a big ol party… all the brothers showed up, got drunk, sung and did their bit to convince UA that they were serious. After that it all moved forward. On the set it was great fun. Keith Carradine had recently had a personal relationship fall apart and was pretty down, and David was kind of wondering why he was on this film, because his part was just so small. Since he had so much idle time, he figured that he’d occupy himself with making Keith laugh. Walter would overhear him saying something smartassy to Keith, then tell David to use that in the movie. From there, the character was expanded. And when Pamela Reed came aboard – He knew the film was working. Because they just had such a great connection on the set. He feels that even though she’s barely in the film, though she was literally coming from out of nowhere, she nearly steals the whole film. Speaking of Belle Starr, on the set there was a ton of moonshine, singing, firing guns, riding horses and…. Atlanta whores. At the time David had his wife on set. However, anyone that was lonely wasn’t lonely for long. He also felt that those women were some of the nicest, most friendly, good spirited women he’d met. We then talked about the brilliance of the action, but right when we were about to get to the nitty gritty…

On set, there was a sudden transition to the reverse of the initial fight with David Carradine and Michael Jai White…. That first volley of attacks… Watching from the opposite side this time, being able to see Michael’s expression during the shoot is very intense… he had a "don’t fuck with me feeble white man" look. Very cool.

Now as they continue to shoot, Quentin starts off one particular take with, "Can we pick up the speed a bit here, I’m going for Lightning Swords of Death style action here."

After nailing that take with a bit of Ogami Itto action going on, they again decide to focus on more of Michael’s shots. So again, David comes and takes a seat next to me. Having this sort of talk time with David is quite cool, specially for someone that grew up on DEATHRACE 2000 – which I still haven’t brought up! CIRCLE OF IRON, LONG RIDERS, LONE WOLF McQUADE, Q and of course KUNG FU. For a child of the seventies and eighties… David Carradine means quite a friggin lot, and having him just plop down to shoot the shit is great. There is zero pretension, and he’s got a wicked sense of humor. When he takes a seat, he begins telling me about the Campfire Story sequence in KILL BILL!

Campfire Story? What fucking Campfire story? Well…

According to David, the Campfire Story is essentially The Story of Pai Mei – in the script it takes place in the jeep as Bill takes the oh so youthful one day BRIDE to the sadistic hands of Pai Mei. Now, instead of a conversation in that dusty jeep, it takes place at night on the Chinese Countryside, the night before he arrives at Pai Mei’s… Originally Quentin wanted them roasting marshmallows as he told the story, but the monologue didn’t flow quite right with a steaming hot molten marshmallow in David’s mouth, so Quentin asked David to try it with the Flute.

What FLUTE? Well it turns out that David brought along the CIRCLE OF IRON Silent Flute… That’s right, Bill will have the Silent Flute in the film. And he uses his flute to help tell the story… "Peter and the Wolf" fashion. How cool is that? Now, as the story goes, back before CIRCLE OF IRON started filming, David planted the bamboo plants, let them grow, harvested the bamboo, dried it out, treated it and turned them into the silent flutes. There were three Silent Flutes, and they all got banged up to hell, given the amount of head banging and ass bruising they caused, and on most days they will rarely give out a note, but on the night of the Campfire… The flute treated David and the crew to a rare sonata of a performance. The scene starts off with David improving out some flute work, then going into the story of… well.. you know, it goes:

BILL (V.O.)
Once upon a time in China, some
believe around the year, one-double
knot-three

As each part of the story unfolds, David plays PETER AND THE WOLF fashion musical interludes for the characters and storyline that comes. Now will this still be over old Pai Mei footage from the Shaw Brothers era? I’ll need to ask Quentin that. However, the other people I asked on set about the ‘Campfire’ scene all declare it a classic. And Quentin came over at the tail end of David’s telling of how it went, and said that it was actually the first monologue of his he heard for this film being delivered. David interrupted that it was pretty much the only on-camera monologue… Then Quentin stressed that he felt that David’s SUPERMAN monologue was most definitely a monologue, which David quickly conceded. Quentin then mawkishly looks at me and says, "Oh yeah, that’s another new thing that isn’t in your version of the script!" THE BASTARD! Argh… Ok Tarantino… the gauntlet… You task me, and I shall have you! I’ll chase this script ‘round the moons of Nibia and ‘round the Antares Maelstrom and ‘round perdition’s flames before I give it up!
Knowing that Quentin is in a coy, fuck with Harry mode, I don’t ask him about the "Superman" Monologue, but instead sit on it, wait for Quentin to get busy else where, when I’ll get that talkative wonderful orator known as BILL to spill…
Quickly, Quentin is called back into action, leaving me alone again with David. I look at David with angelic innocence and say, "Superman monologue?" This is apparently a new scene that takes place between Uma, David and that other character that I don’t want to mention because of the spoiler nature of the final chapter of KILL BILL, but as David says it, this is a doozy. He looked me dead in the eye and says that the SUPERMAN monologue is one of those just ingenious trademark brilliant Quentin monologues that he’s famous for. Dealing with the whole Clark Kent/Superman and his place in things sort of stories. How this ties in to such a powerful sequence as when The Bride and Bill finally meet… Well, that’s a story he wouldn’t get into, but from the fire agate flame of giddiness in David’s eye… it really must be great stuff.
David is again called into action and as I look around for my ever watchful eyes to pick up on something, I notice the Master Yuen Woo-Ping is playing with the paper label from his water bottle. Folding the paper, smiling at the paper, looking at the water bottle, but ultimately bored with the water bottle. Apparently the label didn’t hold the secrets of the universe, or maybe it did, but him being The Master, he knew the secrets of the universe long ago, and is bored with such revelations. Suddenly he is paying attention again to the "sliced button" take.
The SLICED BUTTON TAKE?
Well Michael Jai White’s character does a sweeping Slice one of Bill’s buttons in half moments. There’s a whole special effects complexity to this shot that I could never really fathom… But then I’m a simple man from Texas.
Next they begin rehearsing the one armed fight,, as Bill has his sword behind his back, and Michael has lost his sword when it is thrust all the way through a solid wooden post, not easily retrieved. Now ‘The Master’ and his team of Fish, Dee Dee and Tony are all right there alongside as Michael and David as they go through the motions at half speeds. Then they replace Michael with one of their team to go at a faster speed so that Michael can see what he is expected to do.
However, when Michael steps in… all of a sudden the geometry of everything is way way off. Because Michael’s legs are so so soooo much longer and the motions that David had just gotten used to, are completely suddenly way way off. After a bit of initial blocking, they BREAK FOR LUNCH.
Now the past two days, in the big lunch area, I’ve done lunch with Michael Jai White, who is just a splendid chap. I mean, he does have a physical look of mass intimidation, but everything about him otherwise speaks to a very solid man of character.
Over lunch I tell him and the still photographer on the film about messages I have for both of them from readers of the site. Both were a bit amazed at how this site thing works, but as we chat more and more, the issue of Michael’s 11 year old middle aged son comes up, and Andrew Cooper (the unit still photographer) asks if Michael has his studying Martial Arts yet. Michael says no, mainly because he feels that a lot of Martial Arts in the United States has become more of a business than a character building ethos to carry through life like it was for him. Today it is more about the fighting abilities, marketing of the skill into film and what not. That just about anyone can achieve a Black Belt today and that devalues the meaning that the belt once had.
I drew a parallel to what happened to the Boy Scouts of America during the decade of the Nineties where the qualifications for how to become an Eagle were softened so that folks that were Handicap or were in Urban areas and never had an opportunity to camp, could become an Eagle Scout through substitution badges like Computers, Electrical Engineering and all these bullshit badges that have nothing to do with the philosophy behind what Scouting was about.
Michael agrees completely. Then demonstrates by trying to get to the heart of what Martial Arts is for him. He says, "Ok… Say I can kick a 1000 times before wearing out, and you (Andrew) can kick 300 times before getting to the same place"
Hiromi (That Miramax Lady) interrupts with, "And I can kick 2 times"
Michael continues, "Ok and you can kick 2 times before tiring. Well in Martial Arts, my training wouldn’t really begin to kick number 1001, yours (Andrew) would be at 301 and Hiromi’s would be at 3."
"Now lets say I kick in my training to 1005, but you (Andrew) kick to 320… In the discipline it took to go farther past your limitations, who is the better martial artist. You are. It’s about being able to know your limits and going past them, to realizing that though you have your limits, you will push past them."
I interrupt, "So basically due to my conquering of those damn Pai Mei steps the other day, that means I’m 10 times the martial artist of all of you!"
Now Michael very seriously agrees that my defeating that internal fear and conquering that physical limitation was built on a personal inner strength that is at the exact core of what Martial Arts is about.
Feeling all Bruce Lee inside, then realizing that ain’t exactly right, I say… Well I’d like to say it was meeting and defeating some internal personal demon, but all I wanted was to see Pai Mei and Gordon Lui kicking a little ass. I was then told that THAT doesn’t matter, that was the tool I used to defeat the inner defeat.
Damn… I’m a badass.
Anyway Lunch is over, and it is time to head back to set. Once there, I once again am shocked to see that Quentin is just once again right at it again, this time getting an insert shot of the scabbard on Michael Jai White’s sword crashing into the table. After a couple of takes, I witness the impossible…
Actually, this is the most amazing thing I saw throughout all of this….
Quentin sits… and chills sipping upon his tasty beverage… WOW.
I know that might not seem like much, but I haven’t once spied Quentin relaxing, sitting and just enjoying a moment of peace on any of these days. He’s just got a serene look of pleasedness upon his face. Good for him.
Then the crew begins work again on the fight that Woo-Ping and his awesome team of BADASSES (btw – Fish Fong – Yuen Woo-Ping’s Team Manager – was inquiring in the front office what the term BADASS means. So basically folks… I introduced to Team Woo-Ping the term BADASS! I am a God! Hehehe) were choreographing before the lunch break. This they decide to break out LARRYVISION – that’s right the brilliant combination of all man and all machine.. The Larry McConkey Dream. Larry dons his ALIENS-esque hardware and gets the camera fitted and begins working out the steadicam following of David and Michael’s moves.
During one of the breaks David Carradine and Quentin Tarantino start talking shit about the AFI lists-- David Carradine – "Where was Time Bandits on that list?" David –"I’m one of those guys responsible for filling theaters everytime TOUCH OF EVIL plays." Q-" Yeah, what are you going to watch on a deserted island… Citizen Kane or Touch of Evil?"
Suddenly it comes time for more sparring, Michael goes to put his top back on, but the cooled sweat in the interior of the shirt makes Michael do the heebie jeebies…. so they have to bring a new one, spritz and towel him down. As Michael is waiting, he decides to test my Martial Arts prowess, but easily intimidated by my Fat Fu, he retreats in fear. Hey, leave me to my Calvin-esque flights of fancy… it’s my perceptions, I’ll warp it if I want!
In the break, Quentin introduces me to a friend he made at a local Beijing DAIRY QUEEN.
DAIRY QUEEN? What the fuck is a DAIRY QUEEN doing in the heart of Communist China? I thought DAIRY QUEENS were a symbol of the very capitalistic beating heart of America. I though DAIRY QUEENS spoke to the very ideological soul that was the basis of John Milius’ RED DAWN. That the DAIRY QUEEN rural bumpkins and FREEZE drinkers would rise up and repel communism in all it’s evil Nicaraguan/Cuban/Commie Forms. I suppose, DAIRY QUEEN has decided to attack the sociological structure of China from within. Hmmm, is it too much for the DQ KID? We’ll see.
Anyway, Quentin met this friend at the Beijing DAIRY QUEEN. Because I’m the worst person in the world with names, I’ll refer to her by her ‘porn 1st name’ which was Snoopy – don’t ask how I remember that. I suppose it comes from the mere fact that she said the word porn, and after that everything she said stuck. Anyway, she works in film in China and currently has a new film she’s handling called SPRING SUBWAY, which she gave me a DVD for that I’m going to be checking out, the second I have a spar hour and a half here. She’s a big site reader, and she talks about the silly monkeys in TALK BACK that talk shit about KILL BILL and how even with them having read the script, they don’t even have a clue what Quentin has done in terms of evolving the material far beyond what was in that 1st draft.
Meanwhile, she grabbed my laptop so she could read the latest story update, and I turn to watch David tossing that poor fool named Michael Jai White who dared to step up to the plate with the Grasshopper. Ewwww, these are brutal throws. Man, Spawn getting ass whupping lessons from Kwai Chang Caine… Somehow… I really feel that’s appropriate as all hell. It’d be like watching Kirk kick shit out of Picard. Just something that needs to happen from time to time.
After a couple of takes, we wrap up here, and I hear exclamations of… "To THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES!!!!!!"
Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy…
I literally wobbly get to my legs faster than I should and begin stumbling all Imhotep fashioned. Snoopy is giggling at my enthusiasm for getting to watch a bit of shooting in THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES. Quentin is trying to play it down, that it is just a little insert shot. A tiny thing. I try to explain that I don’t really care…. I’ll get to see even a minutiae of shooting in the HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES will make every friend I have disown me out of pure unadulterated hate, fury and envy.
As we round the corner into the studio area, I see what looks like a giant bronze Thumb sticking out of the ground. "THAT’S A COOL THUMB" Both Quentin and Snoopy get a kick over how genuinely impressed I am by a giant bronze thumb… Yeah, I’m easily amused, but… I’d love to have this giant bronze thumb. Snoopy wonders aloud if it is meant to symbolize the power of the oppressors or something to that degree. Me.. I’m checking out the fingerprints and wondering whose fingerprints that the giant thumbs were modeled after. Yeah, I really am like that.
Anyway, once into the stage area, I find myself in the two story interior set for THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES. I decide to not break out the computer. Instead I was just wanting to pick up on the atmosphere and general look.
If you remember that report a while back of the 5,6,7,8’s with the pictures… indeed that stage behind them really was The House of Blue Leaves mural. The bar is the bomb, and for me…. I want to party in this venue right now. Stock that bar, bring back the 5,6,7.8’s and lets get this place rocking with a little Crazy 88’s action.
I see that they have a giant crane in the middle of the room with Bob Richardson (DP OF THE GODS) on one end, setting up a shot where The Bride will do a pivot, dodge, spin leap upon the 2nd floor banister. The Bride is outfitted exactly as described in the script… A yellow jump suit with the GAME OF DEATH stripe and soaked in blood. Hehehehehe… COOOL!
After three simple takes they nail it, then suddenly that’s a wrap for the day.
As I’m headed for transportation back to the hotel, I discover a gleaming goddess holding many proof sheets of still shots by the "greatest still photographer in film" Andrew Cooper.
These are the shots from the shooting of THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES shoot.
OH MY FUCKING GOD this stuff is amazing looking.
I really don’t think my words can do this justice. But I will of course try.
O-Ren Ishii is dressed in an all white Japanese empress looking outfit – somehow a combination of a geisha and a samurai in fashion. Her hair very traditional, but not in the white face look. The Crazy 88’s are exactly as described in the script… Black suits, black driving caps, black Kato masks, gloves… the whole pizzazz! The richness of these colors are striking, but the best stuff from these tiny micro glimpses were the shots from the O-Ren Ishii vs The Bride sequence. Like some sort of Kunesada painting, it is simply one of, if not the most beautiful, poetic and awesome sets I’ve ever seen for a samurai battle. Add to that the contrast of O-Ren’s pure white gown/samurai outfit and the bloody, ripped GAME OF DEATH outfit of the Bride. The stylized setting makes it all the more unreal. Frankly… I am no really unable to conceive of having to wait till Cannes. That’s just not fair. I mean, this shit is all tickling the privates and getting me ready, with a 10 month wait for release… Fuck that. I’m mortal man. I need to see this fight scene pronto. But that will be a story for another day, because as all things must… this story has reached its end!
P.S. - If you're missing the funny Harry anecdote about himself in Beijing today, it's because I woke up, got in the car, dropped at set, left the set, returned to the hotel, took a shower, at in for the first time this trip and wrote this report. For me, the real anecdotes of this report are the talks with Carradine about THE LONG RIDERS and Michael Jai White's estimation of my Martial Arts super powers. I will attempt to find an opium den or some other adequately seedy locale to lose myself for your reading pleasure. Are there Opium dens in Beijing? Hmmmm, something to find out about for tomorrow!