Chinese media, advertising, and urban life.

"But we have to pay lots of tax, too!"

It's probably safe to say that few people enjoy paying taxes. Many businesses and individuals actively seek out ways to avoid giving any more money to the government than they absolutely have to.

The State Administration of Taxation realizes this and uses a variety of approaches to convince citizens to become taxpayers, including an annual Flash animation competition that's the source of the image here.

The administration also puts a scratch-off lottery onto many receipts so that customers have an incentive to request them and keep their purchases on the books. Restaurants and shops counter with incentives of their own: they offer discounts or free gifts on purchases so long as customers don't ask for a receipt.

Occasionally you'll read stories of consumers complaining that streetside vendors or railway concession carts refused to issue a receipt for a purchase of a bottle of mineral water, but the system generally proceeds without major incident.

Today, however, The Beijing News tells the story of one Beijing consumer who sued a restaurant for 10,000 yuan over a receipt she initially declined. Here's a translation:

"My conscience, or a Sprite? If I gain, the country loses!" Seated in the Dongcheng District courtroom yesterday, plaintiff Hu held up a receipt and confronted the defendant, Bayunfang Sichuan Restaurant. The receipt, which she ought to have been given right after her meal, was nearly swapped by the restaurant for a bottle of Sprite. Ms. Hu believed her right to monitor the collection of national taxes had been infringed, so she sued the restaurant for 10,000 yuan in emotional damages.