Heat brings out best and worst in us

Some Beijingers are part of the "ant tribe", eking out a living in decrepit cubicle housing while others drive cherry red Mercedes SLKs and reside in swank penthouses, a reminder of the harsh reality that life isn't fair.

The great equalizer is that one and all are free to express themselves, in ways wonderful or downright vulgar.

Even paupers can offend, and the scene is now on glorious display on the sidewalks and in the parks of the capital. Temperatures and scruples have an inverse relationship: the Celsius rises and propriety plummets.