Beijing – The idea of the blood-soaked hands of the Chinese ruling class somehow befouling the principles of the Olympic movement is as silly as the barely clad dance pack girls who run out onto the basketball courts while athletes grab water for relief from Beijing’s sweltering heat.

Chengdu, Sichuan Province – When my friend Yin Xinjie told me you could get over 100 flavours of cure-all Jell-O in China, my mouth watered with thoughts of rich orange mango and purple plum.