HEFEI, China (AP) — One of China's most politically charged murder trials starts here Thursday. But talk to the student at the cafe, the taxi driver, the software salesman and the flower seller — none of them has any idea that the courtroom in an imposing building near the downtown of this grimy industrial city soon will be the center of China's political universe.

As everywhere in the country, the talk in Hefei is more about China's medal tally at the Olympics (73 so far) than the drama surrounding Gu Kailai, who is accused of murdering a British businessman, when her husband Bo Xilai ruled the roost as the Communist Party boss of Chongqing metropolis.

Gu's case may have riveted the international community, but it is barely causing a ripple among ordinary Chinese, underscoring how far removed such high-stakes political maneuvering is from their lives.  The lack of awareness points in part to the government's relative success with censorship and limiting media exposure of the case, which has embarrassed the Communist Party ahead of its carefully managed once-a-decade reshuffle of power later this year. Bo was a contender for a top job until his downfall earlier this year.