The Great Wall . . . and Dale Winton

It was John Trewick who supposedly famously said 'seen one wall, seen them all' when Albion visited China and took to the Great Wall.

Knowing him, it would have been a tongue in cheek comment but it has been interpreted a different way and gone down in folklore as an example of how uncultured footballers supposedly are.

When Blues visited the Juyong Pass, 45-minutes from Beijing, they were genuinely impressed by one of the wonders of the world.

Not many people realise that in some places the steps towards the ceiling where it levels out are at a frighteningly steep angle, and there's not much room to squeeze past tourists coming the other way.

Throw in a boiling hot day as well, and the sweat was pouring off all and sundry as they made their way onwards and upwards.

I count myself fortunate as this was my second visit to the Great Wall and I came prepared.

Stuart Parnaby and David Murphy were but two who regretted wearing flip-flops - but it didn't matter to Big Zig.

Nikola Zigic was particularly enthused, as was Michel. Both are real culture vultures and have taken a keen interest in the surroundings on this pre-season tour.

Zigic was a bit miffed that he didn't get as long exploring as everyone else as he had been booked in to do a photoshoot and film a television commercial for Xtep.

Zigic, Michel, Roger Johnson and Ben Foster was taken to a massive warehouse and shot a sequence of footballing moves that with the help of computer generated images will be turned into the kind of trendy and macho advert that stars Wayne Rooney.

The storyboard apparently involves the Blues players, in normal attire, looking demoralised and defeated in a game. Then, all of a sudden, Zigic lets out a huge roar, Xtep Blues shirts appear on their backs from nowhere, and they are transformed into world beaters. Or something like that.

After the Great Wall visit, Xtep transferred Blues to their flagship store in down town Beijing.

It wasn't so much a promotional event as the store manager promptly shut the doors, barred the public and invited everyone to help themselves to anything they wanted.

Kevin Phillips promptly lifted up one of the mannequins modelling Blues new kit and made for the exit, causing plenty of laughter.

Not being used to the rock star kind of treatment, there was then some awkwardness. Nobody wanted to be the first to pick up and try on a pair of trainers.

By the end, someone remarked that it was like Supermarket Sweep and they expected Dale Winton to appear and put a stop to it.