French climber Alain Robert, the famed Spiderman who was briefly jailed in May and then deported for scaling Shanghai?s tallest building, was back in China at the weekend, but this time going up a mountain. And that?s just how the Hunan provincial authorities wanted it. Hoping to attract attention to the 1,518 metre Tianmen mountain in Zhangjiajie prefecture, the officials had invited the outlaw and stuntman who was certain to draw a crowd for their cause.

But this time, the 45-year-old climber, renowned for climbing the world?s tallest buildings, was embraced and feted instead of deported after making a 40 minute bare-handed climb of the mountain?s sheer cliffs on the day before.

?I can understand, because that was illegal,? Robert said of his treatment after climbing Shanghai?s 88-storey Jin Mao Tower. ?I would like to apologise (regarding the previous incident). For me this is good. I think it shows the people of China are open-minded.?