We all have "Bad China Days". Just some days, for whatever reason - you're tired, you got out of bed the wrong side, you've got bad hair - you struggle to cope with the curve balls that a day in China can present you with. For me, it can be frustration at not being able to do something I take for granted at home, or frustration at not being able to communicate as well as I'd like. But I think I've found a way to spot the impending arrival of a bad day. A warning system, if you like.

On my travels recently, I took a minibus from Tai'an to Jinan in East China's Shandong Province. I was interested and not a little amused to note a panel on the dashboard with three small indicator lights. The first was labelled "power", the second "cool" and the third said "trouble". I realized that I probably have three lights exactly the same as these myself and as long as "power" and "cool" are lit, I'm fine. The problems start when the "trouble" light comes on. Reflecting on my recent travelling experience, I realized that watching my indicator lights carefully might warn me when a bad day is approaching.

After a seven-hour train journey, we arrived in Tai'an late in the afternoon, with the intention of reaching the top of Taishan Mountain where we were to spend the night. After a long day's travelling, my "power" light was starting to fade and my "cool" light was definitely beginning to flicker. With darkness approaching, we decided to take a bus as far up the mountain as we could, to avoid stumbling around in the dark.

Now unfortunately, several "opportunist" minibus drivers decided to try and take advantage of the approaching darkness, our obvious desire to reach the top of the mountain and their monopoly on taking people to the halfway point up the mountain. They demanded a completely ridiculous amount of money to take us, on the basis that as we were so late, there would be no one else on the bus.

On hearing their demands, my "cool" light went out and the "trouble" light started flashing violently. We had just paid a similar amount to buy air tickets back from Jinan to Shanghai!

Unfortunately, my ability to communicate in Chinese and the "trouble" light are mutually exclusive. When it's lit, my limited knowledge of Chinese deserts me, along with the last traces of "cool".

Fortunately Mike, my much more tolerant boyfriend, seems to have a different thermostat. With his "cool" light still brightly lit, he was able to restrain me and extinguish the "trouble" light by offering reasonable suggestions, before I was completely overcome by the urge to sit down on my rucksack and, in a truly mature manner, have a good cry. We didn't pay the minibus driver's price, but we did get to the top of the mountain, where my "cool" light was restored.

In the previous week in Beijing, my "trouble" light had also flashed ominously on several occasions, usually after several hours of jostling with huge crowds or being stuck in appalling traffic jams on stuffy buses.

Fortunately, the number of people ready to help a tourist with a flickering "trouble" light always seems to outweigh those willing to take advantage of it, like our friend the minibus driver.

So look out if your "power" light is flickering. There may be "trouble" ahead!

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