The huge red gates of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing were closed yesterday - access was denied, except to those who had not merely Olympic accreditation but a special accreditation on top of that. Heaven itself probably works on a similar basis.

Outside the wall a large crowd built up, even by Chinese standards - it can't have been less than 25,000 - to see the Olympic torch reach its final destination for the day, 48 hours before the 2008 Games get under way. The newspapers had told them the torch was coming here, and by mid-afternoon people stood eight to 10 deep behind the barriers near the entrance.