It’s 8.30am and the venue hasn’t opened yet, but there’s not much shelter. Facilities are quite sparse, other than the sun shades under which volunteers are huddling, handing out yellow plastic macs to the gathering ticket-holders. So we make for the only shop around, hoping to pass some time before the venue opens.
It turns out to be a Chinese medicine shop, with cabinets full of strange, desiccated things.
What looks to me like a dead insect is actually a ginseng root, while a beautiful wooden box packed with what appear to be porcini mushrooms is 'cornu cervi parvum' – the velvet of young deer horn, apparently good for people with cold intolerance.
Ideal for someone shivering in the rain, but I’m not brave enough to try it. Instead the kindly shop owner magically produces two cups of hot, sweet coffee, and we pass a very happy half an hour.
Then we learn from a shouting volunteer that the event has been postponed until the next day - BMX riders apparently need a dry track to compete on.
It’s disappointing news, but gives a useful learning experience all the same. How can London 2012 handle its wet weather contingency planning most effectively?
Digital media might play a role. If we collect mobile numbers when people buy their tickets, for example, we could text them to let them know an event had been cancelled. We could post real-time venue and weather updates on our website or the big screens which will be a feature across London and the Olympic Park.
And what can we provide by way of shelter or rainwear for people caught in bad weather at an outdoor event? Is there a sustainable alternative to disposable plastic sheets?
There’s another way in which Beijing resembles London – it’s impossible to find a taxi when it’s raining. I make it back to the Main Press Centre eventually, dripping and bedraggled, but surprisingly upbeat.
As we get nearer the handover of the Olympic flag from Beijing to London on Sunday, a rainy day makes it feel almost like home.
My Olympics
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