Thirty-five miles north of Beijing, the capital, the opulent Pine Valley Golf Resort and Country Club is in a spectacular setting. Surrounded by mountains, there are places on the course where it is possible to view the Great Wall snaking its way up the precipitous slopes. But most obvious for all to see is that this is a place for the affluent and the elite.
With the Johnnie Walker Classic being played for a first prize of more than ¬£200,000 ” 70 times the estimated average salary of a city worker in China ” and with the leading players having been tempted here with hefty appearance fees, it is evident that big business will do all it can to establish a secure footing in this rapidly emerging economy with its population of 1.2 billion.