大象传媒

The Chinese security guard looked a worried man after putting my suitcase through the scanner.

So did his colleagues, all five of them, and when his supervisor arrived the offending item in my bag was subjected to a level of scrutiny that bordered on the forensic.

I was carrying a suitcase full of electronic equipment: a satellite phone, lap-top, digital recorder, you name it but the object that really concerned them was... a .

If I were from the , I'd be worried. They clearly have a mountain to climb in terms of spreading the worldwide appeal of the game, although they might suffer similar problems at any airport in any non-cricketing country.

I offered to demonstrate, but the frowns told me otherwise. Eventually, the accompanying translator persuaded them I was just a slightly eccentric Brit in search of a bit of light entertainment.

It was my second brush with officialdom since arriving in . According to customs at the swanky new airport terminal, I was missing a bit of the licence document for the sat phone I was carrying.

For 40 minutes, this threatened to be a major problem, which only diminished when about 20 Korean cameramen all tipped up from the same flight clutching customs forms.

The Chinese authorities do seem uncomfortable with our satellite gear even though they've become an essential tool of the trade for broadcasters. It'll be interesting to see what response we get when we start to use them around the city.

At the moment here, staff and volunteers are out-numbering the media about five-to-one. Out of a sense of duty to our colleagues who'll be arriving over the coming days, two of us early arrivals bravely took it upon ourselves to test out the media bar.

I can confirm it is working fine, with a total of three people served by 20 staff serving: one to take the order, one to get the bottles from the fridge, one to take the caps off, one to pour, one to take the money and the rest to smile.

Those rows of teeth are ubiquitous, save for the security staff who stand commendably impassive until satisfied we're not going to inflict anything worse than cricket upon them.

Whilst the teeth might be shining, the sun isn't. Well, not so as you'd notice through the fug. Enough has been written and said already about the atmospheric pollution here.

All I'd add is that at this point, something dramatic is going to have to happen for things to improve much before the .

It seems to me that a favourable wind is about all that's going to make the skies change from grey to blue a week on Friday.

It's hard to tell at this point how well organised the Chinese are but around the bubble of the IBC and , not much seems out of place.

I recall at this distance out from Athens, there were diggers working on the landscaping around the stadium, and tilers were still laying the walkways. In fact, I'm not sure if they ever finished.

Here, the tarmac's well set and the main venues confidently illuminated by night.

There's been the usual chaos setting up the broadcast studios and offices with equipment going missing or being delayed by customs, but the technical teams are working flat out to make sure we'll be alright on the night.

They do a fantastic job, though if their dexterity extends to being able to bowl an inswinging yorker, I'm yet to find out!