Road work (see post below) may be annoying, but having people cry outside your apartment building every day is probably worse. This is what’s happening to residents in Jia’an apartments on Wanping Lu, two streets to the east of my apartment. What happened is that a restaurant opposite the compound is offering funeral dinners, and several mourning parties are held there every day now. Following Chinese customs, relatives of the dead dress in white and burn paper houses and money before the dinner, which also involves lots of crying and loud music. Not the nicest thing to have below your window. And because funerals are considered unlucky this makes it even worse for superstitious residents.