London or Beijing, the topic is weather

Forget for a moment, if you will, talk of Brexit, a golden era, trade deals and tourism. There's one thing that always binds Britons and Chinese, and that's fascination about the weather.

It's a standing joke that if you get two or more Britons together on a train journey or in a pub, they'll end up talking about the weather. Like the woeful performance of the England soccer team, it's a safe subject that anyone can talk about.

I'll bet it's the same in China, especially at present, with torrential downpours flooding the streets of Beijing.