Speaking to "Keef" Richards a little later he says: "Shanghai? I've always wanted to get there. We're very grateful for being allowed in, we'll stick our noses in and see what's happening."     

    What does he want to do whilst in Shanghai?     

    "I want to buy some of my own bootlegs ... I just want to get a whiff of it and look around and see what's happening, it's all brand new to me ... China will be a bit of an adventure for us, we've never been there before, it's a first and by now we don't get many firsts," he says.     

    The band has been on the road since August with their Bigger Bang tour which ends at the Millennium Stadium in Wales on August 29 after 120 concerts.     

    That's a gig every three days for an entire year (the Tokyo Dome gig lasted a full two hours and included 21 songs) ¡ª the Rolling Stones are far from work shy.     

    I put it to Richards that they can hardly be doing it for the cash. ¡¡

    "You wouldn't get any of us doing it for the money, I'll tell you that," he says. Pressed as to why then, he offers: "There's a sense of mission. There are millions of people out there who want to see it. You know it takes a bit to put this stuff on, we come away with a bit and we give a lot away," he says in his home counties, eccentric and slightly squiffy uncle voice.