Pop goes the classic music I grew up with

It comes round every few weeks - the time when I must write a Second Thoughts column. It's a pleasant enough task but sometimes ideas are thin on the ground, especially considering that most of my expat colleagues are also tasked with writing a column and might well pick the subject I was thinking of.

My thoughts as a newcomer to China, my daily life in Beijing - those are fairly popular subjects and some people have a lot more knowledge of this country than I do. What I like about China is another popular one ... but what about what I don't like about China? I haven't seen that one yet.

This got me thinking. What don't I like about this place? Those nests of perilous electrical wiring outside some buildings, the seeming lack of butchery skills - some of the meat I eat seems to have been attacked with a machete, leaving bone fragments everywhere. The almost total absence of obesity, tattoos and piercings ... oh no, wait, that's a good thing.