IN a sprawling city such as Beijing where the vast majority of people neither understand nor speak English, including the army of Olympic volunteers, it can be enormously frustrating for those from overseas trying to work here.

So it came as a complete and very welcome surprise when this writer received a call over the weekend from former Royal Gazette colleague Mark Graham who has been living in the Chinese capital for over a year and immediately offered to be my 'Beijing tour guide'.

Many in Bermuda will remember the dry wit of the Yorkshireman – he still supports Rotherham football team – who worked for both the Mid-Ocean News and the Gazette during the 1970s and '80s before leaving for Hong Kong.

Now a freelance journalist with a Chinese-born wife who holds the lofty position of editor-in-chief of the China edition of up-market magazine 'Vogue', which requires travelling to fashion shows in Milan, New York and other major cities – sometimes accompanied by Mark who, ironically, was never noted for his sartorial elegance.

His time is divided by assignments in Beijing and Hong Kong.

But he still has fond memories of living on the Rock, where he was a keen member of the Mid Atlantic Athletic Club, and a regular patron of the old Buckaroo, the Robin Hood pub and the Lobster Pot restaurant where he was a good friend of late owner Fritz Reiter.

Other names that cropped up in a 'reunion' dinner on Saturday night included former MPs Quinton Edness and Jim Woolridge and union boss Ottiwell Simmons who he remembers interviewing on many occasions.

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AMERICAN anger confronted Chinese authority on the way to the first of the swimming finals yesterday – and it wasn't a pretty sight.

In what should have been no more than a 10-minute drive from the Main Press Centre to the Aquatics Centre where American star Michael Phelps was later to set a new world record and claim what he hoped would be the first of eight gold medals, somehow the Chinese driver managed to lose his way and get stuck in a traffic jam.

He and his assistant refused to open the bus doors so that anxious US journalists could at least walk the rest of the way.

Tempers reached boiling point with the language barrier unable to disguise the profanity exchanged between the two parties.

But in China, it's their way or no way. No guesses as to who prevailed.

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THE most popular restaurant among journalists at these Games?

No question, the ubiquitous McDonalds.

After a while, the steady diet of fried rice, noodles and sweet and sour seems to have taken its toll on those flying in from the West.

The line outside the fast-food giant at the Main Press Centre, which is accommodating some 10,000 writers and editors for the Olympics, appears to be growing by the day.

Although, despite assurances from local authorities that the serving of dog meat for the duration of the Games is banned, there remains some suspicion that the Big Mac we're all chewing on is no more than a 'lassie-burger".

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JET lag has its different effects on different people. But it clearly wasn't being kind to a towering Russian who, from the tracksuit he was wearing, might have been a member of the country's basketball team.

As we lined up for breakfast the other morning, his team-mate made the mistake of queuing up behind the big fella.

First he tipped the contents of his coffee cup over one side of his shorts and, as he attempted to apologise, lost a grip on the orange juice he held in the other hand, soaking his comrade again.

Hopefully Boris will show better coordination once he steps out on court.