I have just moved to China Town in New York and although it's just about 20 blocks from where I used to live in Greenwich Village it's like being in another world.

The energy is different – for some reason people are walking slowly here and preferably side by side so it's impossible to hurry to the subway as other New Yorkers are used to.

The smells are different – this part of town is famous for its cheap fruit and vegetables but also for its fresh fish, something that is really working your senses and not always in a good way.

The tastes are different – China Town has some of New York cheapest and tasties eateries where dumplings, Vietnamese sandwiches, Beijing duck and thai food are just a few of the things on the menus. But also in the supermarkets it's different. There are rows and rows of Chinese herbal teas, but I had to look an eternity before I could find a simple think like milk.

A friend once told me that the best thing you can do in New York is to live short periods of time in different neighbourhoods, to get to know the parts of the city in a real way. I now understand what he means.