As the cold winds of winter creep in, people look to their homes for the comfort of warmth.

While everyone knows that food, drink or shopping can be swiftly delivered to your home, the capital is witnessing a growth in special services available direct to your door.

Here's a look at some of the most delightful and despairing things available for those who don't want to venture outdoors.

Pole dancing lessons

Stay warm this winter and exercise with private pole dancing lessons in the comfort of your own home.

For around 2,000 yuan, a pole can be installed in your house. Following that, a dance instructor from Pussy Cat Dance Studio will visit each week for 800 yuan to teach you the latest twists and turns that can not only impress someone special but also keep you fit.

The craze of pole dancing has taken off in recent years in Beijing with interest from both men and women, so slip ahead with your own gear and get into pole position.

www.pussycat-dance.com

Rent-A-Friend

Everyone gets a little lonely. Fortunately, in this modern age, the cure for loneliness can be delivered right to your door.

Claiming 283,000 friends worldwide, Rent-A-Friend is a relatively new service that allows users to search by area and, for 175 yuan a month, can contact "friends" to watch movies, go to the park, or just hang out with.

Bear in mind though that when you do find a friend, you will need to pay to keep them - company comes at a cost, roughly 70 yuan an hour. Who says you can't put a price on a friendship?

www.rentafriend.com

Bagpiper

There something undeniably soulful about the eerie whine of the highland bagpipes.

Beijingers now have the opportunity to enjoy the moving melodies of the highland instrument in their own living room thanks to award-winning bagpiper Duncan McKay.

For 1,050 yuan an hour, the Australian bagpiper will fill your home with the serene scream of one of Scotland's most treasured instruments.

www.sydneybagpipes.com.au

Ice Bar

Impress party guests with cocktail-making skills as you blend behind a bar carved from huge blocks of ice.

Nothing says cool more than a white Russian served from a frosted counter top in your home.

Crafted by experts at Icespace, the bar comes custom-made costing 2,000 yuan for each one-meter-long block. That said, a 3-m-long, 2.5-m-wide bar will cost around 10,000 yuan before it melts away.

www.art-ice.com

Organ delicacies

It is a meal that most people cringe at, but for some, eating male animal sex organs is a delicacy believed to boost a man's virility - and for women, it is said to be good for the skin.

The Guolizhuang penis restaurant has been serving up a feast of animal wiener wonders for more than four years and yes, they do deliver.

Offering six types of appendage to chow down on - including deer, snake and horse - the exotic eatery touts a Chinese medical tradition that is more than 1,000 years old. With a minimum delivery charge of 1,200 yuan to serve four people, the meaty dishes are not for the feint of heart or light of wallet.

Superman

It's a bird, it's a plane - no it's Mr Magic.

For just 1,000 yuan an hour, one of Beijing's most enthusiastic entertainers will show up to your door dressed up as Superman.

It's a childhood dream come true. While he may not have the ability to take to the air, Mr Magic is about as fly as they come.

And if superheroes are not your thing, he also claims to do a stellar Elvis.

Mr Magic 139-1062-6059

China Daily

(China Daily 09/20/2010)