Whether it’s located in an open field or a Soho basement unit, the range is a place where you can develop the skills needed to survive in this dog-eat-dog world. Whether you shoot, fling or whack, Beijing has a range for you, and they are all way more than we bargained for. Being denied entry at Beijing North International Shooting Range was a minor blip compared to being slammed in the mouth with a golf ball at Chaoyang Kosaido Golf Club. In short, the assignment was equal parts painful, informative and challenging.

It's that time of year again, when offices fill up with untouched ornate boxes and bellies burst with lard-based pastry. That's right, it's mooncake season! This year all the usual high-end traditional mooncakes are available, along with a couple  of more creative takes that you might actually fancy eating.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Fu Niu Tang (伏牛堂), a Hunan restaurant in Beijing, claims to serve the world's spiciest rice noodles, 125 times spicier than Tabasco based on the Scoville scale (a scale that measures the concentration of capsaicin in chili peppers).

Since last weekend's launch party, voting has been hot and heavy in the Burger Cup, whereby you have been tasked in selecting Beijing's best burger from 64 contenders.

Lazy Indian food fans will be delighted to hear that serial the Beijinger Restaurant Awards winning Indian restaurant Ganges has launched online ordering for its delivery service. Better yet, there's no delivery fee, which gives them a leg up on alternative delivery options for Indian food.

Here we go again: a new crackdown could leave unlicensed drivers and riders of motorcycles and tricycles on the wrong side of the law, as Beijing officials seek to improve road safety.

Motorcycles and tricycles (sanlunche) are considered to be frequent violators of traffic laws, along with serving as getaway vehicles for robberies, according to Li Shaoming, spokesperson for the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

I'm writing from the road so for this edition, Talking Travel will be brief but hopefully informative this time. Starting Thursday, look for a few surprises coming over the next couple of columns, including a big comparison, a scouting trip, and, well, whatever else I think up.