They say that you learn something everyday. While this may be far from true for many people around the world, I can confidently say that for me, it really is true. Everyday I see something in Beijing that fascinates me. From a man cycling a rickshaw with a colossal mountain of plastic bottles on his back; or a lover's squabble on the subway that results in the boyfriend breaking into romantic song - an idea no doubt lifted out of a cheesy boy band music video. Most days I also pick up a new phrase or new word to expand on my growing Chinese mandarin vocabulary. What interests me most about China, however, is the profound difference in culture and way of thought. Chinese people my age often have radically contrasting feelings towards many things, most notably for me, is their priorities in life.

Today I read an article published by the Shanghai Metropolis Daily, which featured a list they called a "Hierarchy of Snobbery". The lists, which cover everything from taste in the opposite sex, to favoured brands, music, and movies, are, what the paper claims, reflect a person's intelligence, class, and even how "international" they are.

Here are a few of my favourites...

Cell Phones:
1. Blackberry
2. Apple
3. Xiaomi
4. HTC
5. Samsung
6. Sony Ericsson
7. Nokia
8. Motorola
9. Lenovo
10. ZTE
11. shanzhai mobile phones.

(Original Chinese text) 手机：黑莓>苹果>小米>HTC>三星>索爱>诺基亚>摩托罗拉>联想>中兴>山寨机

TV Shows:
1. British TV shows
2. American TV shows
3. Japanese TV shows
4. Korean TV shows
5. Taiwanese TV shows
6. Thai TV shows.

(Original Chinese text) 电视剧：英剧>美剧>日剧>韩剧>港剧>台剧>内地剧>泰剧

Coffee:
1. Costa
2. Starbucks
3. Left Bank
4. U.B.C.
5. Typhoon Shelter (Tea House)
6. McDonald's/KFC
7. Nescafe Instant

(Original Chinese text) 咖啡：COSTA>星巴克>左岸>上岛>避风塘>麦当劳、肯德基>雀巢速溶

Most desirable Women:
1. Light-skinned, rich, slim, beautiful, and with big boobs
2. light-skinned, rich, slim, and beautiful
3. light-skinned, rich, and beautiful
4. light-skinned and rich
5. light-skinned and beautiful

(Original Chinese text) 女神：白富瘦美挺>白富瘦美>白富美>白富>白美

Second generation Chinese:
1. PLA second generation (children of People's Liberation Army officers)
2. Government official second generation
3. Rich second generation
4. Children of coal mine owners
5. poor second generation
6. children of farmers

(Original chinese text) 二代：军二代>官二代>富二代>煤二代>贫二代>农二代

With this in mind, it's unsurprising that among the rows and rows of restaurants, a number of entrepreneurs are keen to locate a niche market. Low and behold, the themed restaurant landed. Although the older generations of Chinese prefer to stick to traditional Chinese restaurants, teenagers and young adults, possibly in a bid to rebel from their disciplined school and work lives, are keen to try something new and unusual. So, as disturbed as I was to come across a restaurant that had a chosen the universally-acknowledged unappetizing theme of poo poo as its premise, I nevertheless found myself inside the restaurant, perched upon a toilet seat and browsing the poo-inspired menu.

With dishes such as a beef curry served in a tabletop commode, and mashed potato swirled into a turd-shape and served in a urinal, I had clearly entered some kind of doodoo dream-world. Even my drink came in a curly-poo cup...I was relieved to discover the content was orange juice. Chocolate milkshake may have been too much for my reserved English insides to handle. However, while the food looked very good, the concept of eating out of a commode left me feeling quite uneasy. Nevertheless, the House of Poo Poo restaurant was bustling with potty young Chinese diners enthusiastically licking the toilet bowl clean. However friendly the staff are and no matter how many cuddly poo toys decorate the walls, a walk on the stool-side of dining left me feeling like ****.

Last week, people across China enjoyed a three-day holiday to mark Qingming festival. But rather than enjoying a break somewhere nice, or putting their feet up in front of the TV, many Chinese people will have spent the holiday spending time with family or visiting cemeteries to pay respects to their ancestors.

Qingming Festival, which fell on April 4th this year, is also known as tomb sweeping day. It is a day set aside for Chinese people to remember family members who have passed away. Like most Asian countries, family plays a major role in the lives of the Chinese people. Therefore, it is considered essential that Chinese people of all ages make a special effort to honour the dead.

For those that have the opportunity to visit cemeteries on this day, the standard ritual is to burn incense and offer sacrifices to the dead. It has long been a tradition for families to burn fake money, which is peculiarly printed in the style of dollar bills. As the fire eats away at the money, it is believed that the 'money' is passed over to their family members on the 'other side'.

A Chinese friend of mine once told me that his grandmother, who had passed away a couple of years earlier, visited him in a dream. He noticed that her clothes were shabby and her hair unkempt. So, come Qingming festival, he made sure he bought plenty of paper money to burn for her. The next night he dreamt that she visited him once again; this time wearing her lovely new clothes. Rather than query the belief, with questions such as 'is currency necessary in heaven?' or 'where would one buy clothes in heaven?', I choose to respect the belief. The emphasis and consideration that Chinese people attach to the importance of family is admirable and something I consider to be severely lacking in British society today. However, I can't help but smile at how much emphasis cash has in Chinese society. If Qingming festival proves one thing, it's the belief that even in death, money and possessions are indispensable.

Since China's 'opening up' 34 years ago, the significance of money and status have become even more magnified. It is no longer simply a car, apartment, and job that prove your worth, it's also your partner, where you eat, and of course, your mobile phone, handbag, and a whole host of other materialistic paraphernalia. So it came as no surprise when I discovered that this year, it wasn't just paper money that Chinese families were buying as offerings for their ancestors, but also paper Apple iPads and iPhones.

At 80 US dollars per iPad, and iPhones for around 4 US dollars, these paper offerings do not up at a snip. In an attempt to drum up enthusiasm, sellers on popular Chinese shopping site, Taobao.com, offered discounts to bulk buyers. How many iPads does one's deceased relative require? For those really wanting to splash out and treat their deceased loved ones, then paper villas, cars and even houses are also available.

A majority of Chinese people that I spoke to about Qing Ming festival plans told me that they will not be bulk-buying paper iPads just yet. In recent years, as the Chinese people have become more aware of eco-living, people have been encouraged to commemorate relatives on QingMing festival by planting flowers and trees around gravesites. However, the traditional way of commemorating Qingming festival remains the most popular option.

There are numerous forums and Facebook pages rallying for the awards to be renamed 'The Sh$! Awards' and I have to admit that I'm full of skepticism for the awards that are meant to represent the 'Best of British Music'.

However, music is the thing that keeps me going. It's the one indulgence I can rely on to bring me happiness on a bad day, to make me cry, dance, scream and even daydream.

Some girls remember places or moments by what perfume they wear but for me it will always be what soundtrack was the accompaniment.

My blogs will be mostly about music; whether that's new bands, the local scene, music tech or just general musical chatter.

My first subject is the music documentaries:

Today, I saw images of dragon dances and kung fu acts on the streets of London, Ontario, and Madrid.

The first thing that stuck me was how these celebrations seemed far more stereotypically 'Chinese' than celebrating New Year in the Chinese capital has ever been for me!

I've spent my fair share of Spring festivals in China, but i'm yet to see a dragon or lion dance parade through the streets of the city.

That first kiss that you've imagined over and over in your head to be nothing short of perfection. A teeny-tiny orgasmic lip lock.

But then, as you bob your head to go in for the kill, lips pursed in anticipation of making your dreamy kiss a reality, you're met with a soggy mouth full of disappointment. The dream is shattered, rose-tinted spectacles shaken and blurred.

It really has been a while since I enjoyed some decent lip action - a kiss that gave me butterflies in my tummy, and made my right leg kick back with a pointy toe.

I can't help but wonder whether this has something to do with the fact that I have limited my lip-locking over the past few years exclusively to Chinese men...

Of course it would be uncouth of me to generalize; just because the Asian men that I've kissed came at me like a starving man at a giant ice cream cone, it doesn't mean that every single man in Asia would do the same.

However, it does pose the question as to whether different nationalities have their own preferred kissing styles.

I mean, just because I don't get off at being suffocated by a kiss, it doesn't mean to say that another girl somewhere else in the world might think it totally hot.

His first novel, The Pig Bin, was published by Tindal Street Press in 2000; in 2001 it won the Society of Authors' Sagittarius Prize for best first novel of the year (Senior Section). Its sequel, Careless Talk, was published in 2007.

He's had short stories, articles and poems published in, variously, The Sunday Times, Mayfair, London Magazine, Private Eye and Raw Edge.

A completed third novel awaits publication and at present he is working on a book of related short stories.

Michael Richardson's author page at Tindal Street Press

Here is a selection of his poems:

Awards Season

The film awards season is now beginning in earnest. BAFTA have published their long list, from which the 6,000+ membership will choose the nominees and then the winners. I'm one of the voters. The trade press say that less films have been made this year but those completed are of higher quality. Having less films to consider is certainly a blessing and I have to say I'm really enjoying my movies at the moment. But, the big question - how am I going to vote? Tricky, with a lot of good films on offer. I think in my top three though contains two films based on true stories, the third is directed by a Brit in his 70th year. Can you guess the films?

One of my day jobs whilst we are making 'Turbulence' is running a Thursday evening film course at The Midland Arts Centre or MAC. To celebrate the awards season, I am going to dedicate each week to a different category. There'll be evenings on cinematography, actors, script, costume etc. I'm hoping to include special guests and even a special awards ceremony on the final night!

So what do the awards actually mean? For me I'd say being nominated is the most significant thing and being on that list year in, year out certainly does no harm to a career. The actual winner is much more of a lottery and ultimately less significant. Also there tends to be the lean towards one film picking up nearly all the prizes. Whilst this makes a good news story, I have to say I do think it's a shame and generally doesn't reflect what's out there. For my own work, I tend to think about the words of Martin Scorsese, famous for not winning an oscar for most of his career. He always said its not the prizes that matter but being able to make the next film. Here's to that.

So, I'm off to vote! You can see the BAFTA 'long list' using the link below, these will become nominees, and after a third round of voting, winners. Can you see any of your favourites from 2010?

http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/entered-films,65,BA.html

Also check out MAC's evening courses and of course, our film Turbulence. We are now looking for completion finance of £75,000. if you know someone who might like to invest, please ask them get in touch. Businesses can invest in the film and offset this against corporation tax before April 6th 2011.

About Turbulence http://www.turbulencefilm.com
For Turbulence investment e mail Natasha@dreamfinder.net
For MAC's courses see http://www.macarts.co.uk/page/3704/Learning+Participation
To follow me on Twitter it's @bikefilm