Too tall for China...

With his 188 cm above the ground Tom rules the basketball court in the University. Well, at least he would've if height was all that mattered. Everywhere he walks he also get a pretty good view of the crowds, which helps when you lose your friend and just have to look for the only blond guy among ten thousand people.

But being taller than the average Zhou is no laughing matter. Not when you are travelling by public transport, and the expected public is way smaller than you.

For when do you know that you're too tall for China? When your kneepad is flat after sitting in a bus or an airplane? When your elbow hurts after the shopping cart constantly bumping into you while passing down the aisle? When your head aches after crashing into doorways, signs, lamps, roofs, all of them hanging too close to the ground? When your feet are hanging out of every bed there is? When you want to buy clothes, but no stores have your size in shoes, and no sweater arms are long enough? When your best hope of buying clothes is to get them tailor made? If you cover at least three of these, you can surely, with Tom's guarantee, apply for the title; "Too Tall for China".

That said, the young generation in China seems to be much taller than their ancestors. Seeing grandparents, parents and kids walking side by side, it seems like each generation are growing over ten cm. If that's the case, we're looking at the Chinese National Team in Basketball with an average height of 250 cm twenty years from now. Good luck to the rest of the world! So, next time Tom comes to China, he'll probably feel a lot more normal. And maybe public transport is more suited for people like Tom. One can always hope.