Liu laid the device on the table to the confusion of the assembled crowd. It seemed to be nothing so much as a strange evolutionary variant of the mobile phone, perhaps half the size of a normal wallet, although illustrating the same folding mechanism. Gone was the touch screen and sleek glass cover, replaced with an industrial keyboard that folded into the casing. And there didn't seem to be anywhere to scrawl Chinese input.

Back in the 1990s, McDonalds used to bear the brunt of public riots here in Beijing. Apparently the new kid on the block is Apple, although the crowds these days are less pissed off about American culture forcing its way into China, and more irritated that it isn't forcing its way into the country fast enough to keep up with demand. Which means that if you really want the latest stuff, you have to have either special connections or an Internet connection.