This morning I had a productive work meeting. Ideas were openly discussed on both sides, a clear agenda was set and stuck to rigidly, everyone got their point across and went away happy.

Then I woke up and had my breakfast.

Maybe it's just me but meetings in China seem to be a sport where one side tries to get away with as many lies as possible whilst the other team tries to catch them out, interrupted by a constant stream of cell phone calls and people walking out at random.

I'm used to people smoking and taking naps at random intervals, but today I was trying to explain something I don't understand whilst the guy I was lying to flicked through the channels of a 40" TV with the volume turned up full.

Of course nothing really mattered today (08/08/08!), the main boss was wearing a t-shirt that said "One Hearts! One Minds! China Add Fuel!" and all anybody cared about was whether we could get the opening ceremony on the TV.

I suggested we each run around the boardroom table carrying a whiteboard marker to get into the Olympic spirit, but the suggestion was drowned out by yet another ringtone.