Ross: … why do you have to wear underwear tonight? Joey: It's a rented tux, 'kay? I'm not gonna go commando in another man's fatigues.

In his letter, Mr Li revealed the bleak situation in Qipan township. Almost all the young people in the township had left to find work in cities and 65 per cent of the farmland had been left idle. A family of five paid at least 350 yuan (HK$329) a year for each mu (0.07 of a hectare) of farmland they looked after, and 85 per cent of farmers were losing money.

She presently reached a more open part of the country, though she was still near the forest through which she had passed, and, towards noon, when she was almost overcome by the sun's heat, she came upon a rising ground, whence she beheld, afar off, a great stretch of water, and, on what seemed its most distant reach, an opalesque haze.

At extremes, though, things can get rather proto-Morrisseyesque. “Nothing Is The Same Anymore” – with equally ludicrous backing vocals (“Hurrah!” “Hee hee!”) – sees Cargill moaning about everything from long hair to moon landings […]