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World Cup hype

World Cup fever couldn't be much higher here in Beijing. Other nations' flags adorn nearly every bar or pub (accompanied by the incessant droning of vuvuzelas during match hours), whilst football has become one of the main topics of conversation amongst Chinese and expats alike.

The Chinese national team didn't qualify for the World Cup this year, much to the disdain of the rest of the population, but that hasn't stopped people staying up late or setting their alarm clocks for matches that sadly take place at ungodly hours in Chinese time.

Even my American friends have developed a rapid interest in "soccer" after a certain goalkeeper's horrendous mistake when the US, playing England, highlighted just how terrible we (the English) currently are.

But why is football, in particular the World Cup, so popular?

In the case of England, it's easy to find reasons not be interested! Our team haven't won the World Cup since 1966 and certainly don't have a chance to win this time around.

We have no good goalkeepers, just the one top striker, a midfield that can't play together and an injury prone defense.

Equally the team is hardly the most upstanding members of society - many members are just as famous for infidelity and drink-related criminal offences as they are for their football skills, so they don't exactly provide a good image to the world.

Yet this bunch of over-paid, over-hyped prima donnas will command all English supporters' hopes and fears for the duration of the tournament!

Despite the negative points, staying up half the night to watch them and others play, some in despair, still seems oddly compelling for many people in Beijing.

Different people have different reasons for watching: the football geeks will be watching to see how the individual characteristics of league players cope in the national teams; some will chance upon a match whilst sipping a cold beverage or few; and others may delight in catching the allegedly attractive members amongst the Dutch traveling fans.

National pride (or national humiliation in England's case) also plays a part. There's something special about watching your country, however insignificant their achievements seem at the close of the tournament.

But many of those watching World Cup matches will not watch because of their innate knowledge of the game or intimate familiarity with the players on the team sheet. Some won't even be wearing their heart on their sleeve as their nation goes to battle on the football pitch.

Even the fairly uninterested football viewers like me will end up becoming acquainted with the supposed pace of the South Korean wingers and the flair of the Spanish side.

Indeed, the aura of the World Cup goes beyond national pride and football mania. It creates an atmosphere of great curiosity - many of the world's teams are playing and many more of the world's population are watching.

Whoever knew that some, admittedly rather camp, men kicking a spherical object around the pitch could command such collective international feeling?

It must be a living hell for those who "don't get" the World Cup - weeks of press coverage, conversation and being woken in the night by an over-enthusiastic German celebrating his team's success.

Thankfully for the majority, it's a period of enjoyment, where beer at 3 am is basically fine.

Despite their failings, I will be dragged along with the current wave of World Cup fever and ultimately find staying up late to watch football a better and better idea.

Whether it's national pride, football enthusiasm or for other reasons, make sure you enjoy the World Cup - I'll be cheering for England (as long as they drop Green... he couldn't catch a cold).

or look at labels

I never pay attention to fashion and brands. I wear what I feel is comfortable and convenient. Decades ago, my 10-year-old Italian nephew asked me for jeans from Canada when I visited.

Upon seeing them, he exclaimed they were not Levis. "What does Levis mean?" I asked naively.

Later, I was preparing to come to China when my Sichuan friend ordered jeans for her daughter. "You mean Levis, I guess?"

"No, Benetton," she said.

Living in China I realize the impact brands have on people here. Once I bought a pair of sandals because I needed sandals. More non-Chinese than Chinese told me, "Wow! You wear them? You have money!" I didn't know why they thought 150-yuan ($22) sandals - obviously fake - were for wealthy people. I had never heard that brand name (which I can't remember) before.

While visiting my family in Canada, we were talking about false-fraud-fake products in China. I assured them I would never buy imitations. As a writer, I don't accept that readers pirate my books and I would consider myself a thief if I ever buy counterfeits.

A young relative once asked, "What about your purse?"

"What's the problem with my purse?" I countered.

"It's a Yves Saint-Laurent; do you mean you paid the full price?"

"How can you think I bought a YSL? I bought it because of size, color and price."

She picked up the purse and pointed to the 3-cm steel YSL on the flap. Believe it or not, I had not noticed it till then.

When Hong Qiao Market (Pearl Market) used to sell fake watches, I happened to need a watch and went there for the large choice they offered. What I wanted was a watch to see the time, I insisted.

They had no Chinese brands, only Cartier, Citizen, Seiko, Rolex Desperately, I finally bought a Gucci for which I paid 20 yuan, bargained down from 168 yuan. It still works after 14 years.

Recently, in a store at Zhongguancun, young vendors noticed my watch and asked me how much I paid. I joked: "20,000 yuan." Expecting a laugh, I got an "Oh!" full of admiration. I gave them the watch to examine, but that only ended up convincing them it was an authentic Gucci.

"I want to sell it, I'm tired of it. What about 2,000 yuan?" I said.

"It's still too much for us."

I then did what Chinese merchants do: "How much do you want to pay?"

No one dared give an answer. "Well, I will leave it for 200," I concluded.

"Is it fake?" someone in the crowd finally asked.

Two years ago, a family member needed an inexpensive watch with a blue plastic wristband for a special occasion, "something that looks nice on a little girl," she said, adding "a local, not-famous brand".

Hong Qiao was the market for children's watches. Having refused several ming pai copies, I was leaving without buying when I saw a blue plastic one.

"Diesel, what a strange name for a watch," I thought. Wasn't diesel something that went into a gas tank? The transaction went quickly; I offered 35 yuan and left with the watch. Again I had been naive, I discovered later.

As for DVDs, I never buy pirated ones. Knowingly, I mean. I used to get them from a shop for 15 yuan instead of 5, and I have established a lending system to prevent my colleagues from buying fake ones.

Until the day China Daily published a report on a dozen DVD stores being closed down by the police. I wrote asking them to publish an article on how to distinguish fake from genuine, but I'm still waiting for it.

give me the beat boys

Rock, hip hop or R&B, if it has a pounding tempo music can really rock your cardio workout.

Fitness experts say boosted by that backbeat you might not even notice that you're working harder.

"Higher tempo certainly seems to drive the intensity of exercise performance," said Dr. Cedric Bryant, chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

"The faster the beat, the higher the intensity," he explained. "Listening to smooth jazz would not do it."

Bryant said preliminary results of an ACE-commissioned study on how music affects exercise performance suggest that under the influence of a strong beat, exercisers will actually work harder than they think they do.

"Individuals listened to different types of music, even comedy routines," he said of the study, conducted by the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. "They found that upbeat music listeners rated the intensity of their exercise lower than it actually was."

He added that recognizing the music seems to have the most impact, and if people select their own music they would exercise even harder.

The study, which is due to be published this fall, notes that the subjects, who were college students, thought exercising to music was less stressful.

But not all cardio workouts get into the groove. Bryant said bicycling was the most beat-driven, followed by running. Walking was tone deaf.

"With walking, music didn't seem to make that much difference," he said. "That makes sense. If you walk it's your own normal pace."

Bianca Kosoy, creative director for Equinox fitness centers, says her company uses computer models to select workout music.

"It has to be up tempo, which we define as 130 beats per minute," Kosoy explained. "Our selection is based on a music algorithm and streamlined centrally to our locations."

Kosoy said the computer tries to match songs that feel similar in tempo.

"Classics, hip hop, R&B have the lowest weighting. There are about 600 songs, and every month we take a percentage of them out."

Kosoy said another factor is client comments.

"We had music from the 60s but overall feedback was negative," she said.

A milder faux pas involved Sade in the women's locker room.

"I love Sade but mellow isn't necessarily the right thing for the locker room, where we want a more ambient feel we like to call ultra-lounge."

At the Crunch fitness chain, the beat goes on, also relentlessly upbeat.

"It's never a slow song," said Marc Santa Maria, Crunch's regional group fitness director. "Even if a song is traditionally slow, like Beyonce's ‘Halo,' they'll re-mix it."

Santa Maria agrees that the beat can ramp up the workout.

"I know from teaching classes that when it's the right music, I'll realize I'm matching the rhythm of the song," he said. "I'm working hard without even wanting to."

Santa Maria said it's not just the cardio folks who are pumped up by the music.

"For weightlifters, it's huge. A testosterone-driven song, with a big base and a rock singer's voice just makes you lift the weights with more gusto."

He said some think the playlist suffers from too much Britney Spears.

"One general manager was so tired of hearing girly songs, he pleaded to me: ‘I need a guy song.'

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