We don't really know, but Xinhua does give us a clue. In the past, Xinhua released photos of the nation's top leaders hand-shaking or chatting with the chief executive after the opening of the meeting in the Great Hall. This year, at least by last night, there were no such photos.

As for Tsang's private dinner hosted by Xi, we won't know the details unless Tsang briefs the media - which he will, if all goes well.

One thing seems certain. Tsang is likely to stay in office until 'the last second of his term', as he vowed he would. Despite all the controversy, Beijing does not want any more chaos or uncertainty in Hong Kong for the remaining four months of Tsang's term.

In a comment that is likely to resonate with Hong Kong's civil servants, Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday reiterated the importance of having a clean government and urged officials to strictly abide by anticorruption rules.

Tsang's acceptance of trips in private jets and luxury yachts offered by tycoons - all the while paying economy ticket prices - and his bargain rent of a luxury penthouse in Shenzhen have shocked and upset the city's public servants. Tsang said he had learned a 'painful lesson' from all this and established an independent panel to set new rules for the chief executive. But this response has not placated the public or the civil servants, in whose ranks he long served.

'Nothing that Donald has done would be allowed by any civil servant,' said one senior civil servant. 'If we had ever done any of these things, we would either end up in jail or be severely punished. How could our chief executive not realise that what he did failed people's expectations for a high moral leader?'

The expectations people had of Tsang are clearly spelled out in the codes of conduct for civil servants.

The Prevention of Bribery Ordinance states that 'it is an offence under the ordinance if a civil servant accepts any advantage without permission; if he solicits or accepts an advantage with abuse of office'.

Tsang's argument is that these rules do not apply to the chief executive. He had no one to get permission from, so he used his own judgment. But this falls well short of people's expectations, and the code.

Whether Tsang violated any rules is too early to say. The Independent Commission Against Corruption has to reach its own conclusion. But the biggest fallacy is that Tsang does not view himself as a member of the civil service. In theory, he is correct, but that is what annoys his team and the people of Hong Kong.

The Acceptance of Advantages (Chief Executive's Permission) Notice says: [a civil servant] 'should not allow himself to be placed in a position of obligation to persons with whom he has official dealings, by accepting gifts, discounts, loans of money, service or other forms of favour', and 'whilst entertainment is not an advantage for the purpose of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, a civil servant must avoid any lavish, unreasonably generous or frequent entertainment that may lead to embarrassment in performing official duties or bring the civil service into disrepute'.

Being in public service for 45 years, Tsang surely knows all the rules by heart. The problem is that when he became the chief executive, he distanced himself from his former colleagues and believed he was above their rules. He's right in theory but wrong in reality because people have a legitimate expectation that their leader be 'whiter than white'.

To be fair, our chief executive needs to meet people from all walks of life, including the tycoons. He also has the freedom to make friends, even with tycoons. But he appears to have forgotten the Chinese saying that 'the emperor is doomed to be lonely'. When one is at the top, one has no friends.