Blowing in the wind

As a keen supporter of unfashionable Ipswich Town Football Club, an enthusiastic drinker of warm Tolly Cobbold beer and an avid listener to the music of the long-disbanded Velvet Underground, I know my taste in some things is not mainstream.

It would be easier to support Manchester United, drink Budweiser and listen to Lady Gaga but, hey, we are what we are.

While I'm used to being out of step more often than a one-legged soldier on the parade grounds, it came as a total surprise to learn that the rest of Beijing does not share my love of the two-week invasion of catkin fluff that blankets our city around this time each year.