Twenty minutes later, we climbed the stairs out into the night, hustling after Li down the block to the Galeries Lafayette, the ten-story department store on the Boulevard Haussmann.

NEWYORKER: The Grand Tour

Li scaled it down and completed it anyway.

CNN: Up, Up And Away

Li scaled it down and built it.

CNN: Master of Guanxi

Although Li tried to play down the impact of Google's touchy relationship with regulators during a Bloomberg TV interview, Credit Suisse attributed Baidu's growth partly to customers losing confidence in Google's advertising platform.

FORBES: Magazine Article

But when Li came calling, the Ruias were down on their luck.

FORBES: The Ruias Return

We followed Li into a small Chinese storefront, down a flight of stairs, and into a hot, claustrophobic hallway flanked by windowless rooms jammed with Chinese diners.

NEWYORKER: The Grand Tour

From heights of 60 times earnings, Li Ning is now trading at 23 times and is down 28% this year, while Anta, valued at 33 times, is down to nine times.

WSJ: China Brands Lose to Western Labels

Riding down the hill towards the harbour with my friend and translator, Choi Li Hung, we pass cattle grazing by the roadside.

BBC: Hong Kong: Where worlds collide

But Ms Li does not believe the search giant will take the challenge lying down.

BBC: Searching for the next big thing

Li Cheng wore a white furry hat in the shape of a polar bear, paws reaching down to warm her chin.

NEWYORKER: The Grand Tour