Keep my beloved hometown out of your mouth, Fenrick

Birmingham looks quite nice now that it's finished.

- SHAZIA MIRZA

It has the beautiful Bullring shopping centre, the eye-catching Selfridges building – four storeys high and decorated with 15,000 blue aluminium discs – and indoor and outdoor markets where you can get a bag of fish and a bag of bras for a pound.

You can go out for a night up the Broad Street, and then go for a famous balti up the Ladypool Road, an Indian on the Coventry Road, jerk chicken in Handsworth, and fish and chips in Harborne.

Soho Road in Handsworth is also famous. It's got everything you want. West Indian bakeries, all the turmeric and garam masala you need from the Asian supermarkets, yams from the African food store, gold from the various jewellers, and you can get your back, sack and crack waxed at World of Beauty.

There has always been everyone and everything in Birmingham. It's famous for its culture, diversity and integration. Even the bands are a reflection of the city: UB40, Black Sabbath, Duran Duran, Electric Light Orchestra.