With due respect to the 'elderly'

Beijing has made me old - or should I say, elderly. And I'm not upset at all. Indeed, if anything, I feel a bit chuffed about it, especially in crowded buses and on subways.

But I don't feel ancient or aged, nor am I decrepit. True, I'm well into my 50s but I still feel young, and believe I'm fit, still more than capable of indulging in my favorite pastime, golf, walking briskly between shots and on all the 18 fairways. So being old or elderly in China has nothing to do with my fitness or appearance. Instead, it has everything to do with how other people react to me, especially on those modes of transport.

In the few weeks I've been in Beijing, I've been catching buses regularly and have on occasions taken the subway. Several times now, young women - and sometimes men - have stood up and offered me their seat.