It's all about the little things ...

Having been here for almost 4 months, and having now lived on 3 continents, there are definitely a few things that I miss about home, and about western culture in general.  In no particular order :

1. Coffee.  The coffee in China is awful.  At best, you can get ground coffee beans at Starbucks; not exactly my coffee of choice.  Most supermarkets have instant coffee; either Maxwell House or Rich Blend.  Very expensive, and not that great.  
2. Coffee shops/cafes.  Canadians like their coffee, and it goes without saying that cafes are a part of European culture.  Not so in China.  One of the simple pleasures in my life include sitting at a cafe, watching people, sipping coffee while I read a book or surf the internet.  It's a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon; it's something to do after a walk, or just something to kill time and experience a change of scenery, or to catch up with friends. I cannot do that here and I miss it.
3. Tea.  You'd think that being in China, I'd find a tea that I liked.  I bought a Chinese green tea.  Didn't like it.  Black tea is different here; what we call black tea, they call red tea, and I haven't been able to find any.  They drink milk tea, which is OK, but it's generally powdered, and instant.  No thanks.  I managed to find Lipton tea here, but it's not my favorite.  I'm surprised that there isn't a Mark's and Spencer's in Beijing (there might be one in Shanghai), since its a city of 20 million people. 
4. The weather.  I miss going for a walk or jog in the rain.  It rarely rains here.  I also miss bundling up on a cool day and going for a walk.  The air is so dirty here, that there really is no pleasure derived from being outdoors.  Summer Palace was nice; I enjoyed smelling the juniper trees - lord knows there are few pleasant smells in this city, but I'm not travelling an hour by bus and paying $5 just so I can walk trails packed with tourists.  
5. Clean bathrooms.  I've seen what I thought were dirty bathrooms in Canada, the USA, and Europe, especially at 2am in a bar when people have been drinking.  Nothing can prepare you for how filthy public bathrooms are in Beijing.  People urinate on the floor, fail to flush after number 2 (and with the squat toilets, it just kinda sits there, no water or anything, so you can imagine the smell), and throw the toilet paper - after using - on the floor in the corner of the stall.  There's no reason for this, it can be flushed down.  It's gross.  Public bathrooms don't have hand dryers or paper towels, soap, OR hot water. 
6. Diversity.  For a city of 20 million, Beijing really isn't international (at least, that's my impression) Toronto is international.  No matter what you feel like doing: belly dancing, yoga, tai chi, going for dim-sum, it's all there. Mexican food? No problem.  Foreign films? Why not?  Not here.  Maybe it's because I'm in the 'burbs, but beyond a couple McDonalds' and pizza joints I've seen, I really have no clue where to go for Mexican food, fish and chips, Karaoke, to see a film, or to do anything other than what Chinese people do, which isn't much.  The buses and subways shut down early.  Everyone goes to bed early and everyone is up and about by 7am.  They do Chinese dancing outside, play ping pong and badminton, but that's about it. I'm pretty certain this is due to censorship from the government.  I don't have a clue where to buy music.  My phone's app for downloading tunes won't work here.  It's pretty isolated from the west.  I'm certain it will change eventually