It was the sort of assignment no self-respecting journalist would turn down: Go to the city regarded as the cleanest in China, where the locals are regarded as the most polite and which is considered to be a model for the future of the nation's metropolises and compare it with life in Beijing.
Aside from the occasional car horn beep, courtesy is almost palpable, as abundant and welcoming as the cherry blossom at the time of our visit to this southern city. It's as if they put it in the water.
