Life in the land of convenience for 'home boys'

When asked, "What's Beijing like?" by friends and family who haven't visited the city, my response is invariably, "Four walls and a window."

Let me explain. The capital bakes in the summer heat and freezes over during the winter, leaving just two short seasons of relatively mild weather to enjoy the outdoors life. Oftentimes the best place to be, especially on one of those gray smog days, is inside, either cocooned in the glow of citywide central heating, or bathing in the air con breeze.

Like the rest of my metropolitan colleagues in cubicle land I move like a herding animal from stable (home) to field (office), with the occasional forage at a restaurant. After all, it takes at least an hour to get anywhere, regardless of whether I take the bus, a taxi or subway. Traffic has me trapped in those same four walls and a window.