In the centre of Beijing’s spectacular “bird’s nest” Olympic stadium four or five Chinese tourists beetle slowly along the running track on rented imitation Segway scooters or negotiate small obstacle courses set up next to the long-jump pit.
The forlorn scene on a recent Monday afternoon is a far cry from the images of the 2008 Olympic Games playing out on giant screens 100m above the tourists’ heads.
The footage of Usain Bolt smashing the world 100m record is proof to the trickle of people willing to pay Rmb50 ($8) to step inside the stadium that the place really has been filled to its 91,000 capacity at least once since it was completed early in 2008.