Not so China's poorer interior, where the dark colour of colas is associated with the dark tea traditionally used to mask the sediment in the local water.

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Down a narrow alley not far from the sparkling city centrepiece of Federation Square is dark, pokey Rutledge Lane, where a wild riot of colour spills over every surface and stretches storeys high.

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Upriver here and at the Sandrift River, which runs parallel 10 miles to the east, the colour of the water is striking - imagine looking into a cup of strong, dark coffee.

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The dark red colour pervades everything, he says: the streets, the sides of the damaged houses and the forbidden zone beyond.

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Oldman is sporting a pink shirt, his Commissioner Gordon moustache (he is currently filming the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises) and a pair of heavy-framed, light brown glasses, which match the colour of his hair.

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