Like everyone else I was bowled over by the opening ceremony. But the “West” always seems to be surprised by Chinese excellence. We already know how outstanding they can be in  other spheres; for instance western music, the fine arts, archaeology and increasingly western medicine in spite of the persistence of strange folk medicine. Sport too although they have seemed to excel in sports such as tennis, table tennis and badmintion. But if the Chinese were to take up cricket in a big way they would doubtless be contenders, if they were allowed to be, in world Twenty:20 games.

Perhaps we should cease to be surprised at the ingenuity and application of the Chinese and a little more understanding of their slow progress to our views of human freedom and diversity. China works !