The host of the next Olympics has been dazzled, impressed and 'blown away' - but London has not been intimidated by Beijing's sporting extravaganza.
That was the message from the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, yesterday - just hours after arriving in Beijing, where he will collect the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony on Sunday night and carry it back to the British capital, the Games host in 2012.
'In our own sweet way, without wasting the taxpayers' money, I am absolutely convinced that we can do just as well [in four years],' said Mr Johnson during a press conference that was a mix of serious politics and slapstick.
'I think that with our native wit and gift for pageantry and our fantastic ingenuity, it is possible to produce - even though we have a lower population base and lower resources - a fantastic opening ceremony and a fantastic Olympic Games.
'If you can bear to wait until Sunday, you will see the kind of things we might conceivably do during our opening ceremony.
'But we will not do the [switch] with the girl in braces,' he said referring to the much-publicised lip- synching incident at the Beijing opening ceremony.