"It is stressful. I think about those responsibilities every day, I really do," he says, in between telling a story about how Confucian ideas win him respect on the football pitch, "I know I have to learn Chinese, but it's got to be a hobby rather than a job. It's very stressful to think about it." He is reluctant to be pushed, but his Englishness, says Kong Ming, the Shanghai businessman, is no bar. "As long as his root, his heart is in China, that's OK. I live in Shanghai but my root is in Hangzhou. Perhaps in 30 or 60 years time, James will follow his grandfather and lead the next revision of the Clan Register. It will be his duty."