Life in Beijing - five new mind-grabbers

Since relocating to Beijing in September 2015, smog has been a recurring theme in chats with friends, much like weather was a fixation when I was in the United Kingdom. (It was consumerism in Singapore, and movies and cricket in India.)

My mind, it appears, has decided to move on. "Smog? Gimme a break." Reconciliation? Resignation? Acceptance? Saturation? Don't know.

But, the mind, being the mind, has to have something to chew on, especially during those rare moments when the smartphone is quiet. During such nanoseconds, I caught my mind grappling with the following: