China makes robot...

The man asked, 'You don't believe it, do you?'

I made a gesture.

He paused and continued, 'Not the kind of robots seen in Japan, say, android, but a kind of natural... evolution. That by having a body proper, no matter it's a clay doll or metal shell, it works. Do you understand what I mean?'

I shook my head, 'No, I don't. Do you mean a doll made from clay and sand can be a robot, that can move?' I showed disbelief.

'Yeah, a clay doll, that's what I'm making.'

'A mascot of clay doll?'

He was delighted, 'Why not?'

the mascot is a robot?

'It isn’t allowed? What about earthquake? It isn’t, but however it quaked!'

I looked at the man. He was in short temper and seemed so emotional that he was at a loss of what to do. After a while he continued, 'It's the robotics industry that counts.'

'Wait, what do you mean by robotics? What does that to do with the would-be sixth mascot?'

'Because the mascot would be a robot.'

'You mean like a robot that looks like human, that can move?'

'Should be.' The man replied, but with hesitation.

'Should be? I don't think we have that kind of technology...'

the would-be sixth mascot of 2008 Olympic Games

I was visited by a mysterious man the other evening. He asked for something to drink, and started talking.

What caught my attention was that he mentioned about the sixth mascot of the Beijing Olympics in the coming August. It wasn't ready yet, but soon it would be.

'Is it a joke or hoax?'

'Not a joke.' The man shook his head seriously.

'Is that legal?' I asked. 'No one makes a mascot for the Games except the Chinese Government.'

He stared at me. 'You're like the others. Why can't we have a mascot not from the government?'

The question in me remains whether it is legal.