Ready for Olympics

Everybody asks themselves is Beijing ready to host the biggest Sports event of the year?

This is a very tough question. I would have to answer yes and no.

Yes because every major infrastructure is of course completed. Beijing even opened 4 new subway lines and 20 new bus lines in one month. It's really unbelievable how fast the shape of Beijing changed. I went to Beijing in May to witness a major change in July. New hotels, new communication buildings, new subway stations in just a period of 2 months. That's really crazy, but that's China's strength. So on this part China will really amaze the world.

Starting from 21 July the government stopped all construction activities and all factories around Beijing for 2 months! Also cars were only allowed to enter Beijing on even or uneven days according to the number plates. This is a way to reduce the air pollution that's poltergheisting the Chinese capital. One of the 3 traffic lines on Beijing's highways is exclusively reserved for Olympic use.

Only one electable party makes it of course easy to control the whole country. If you combine this with the group-thinking any Chinese citizen herited from the time of Confucius, you can start to understand how such preparations are possible.

No because China stays China and people are not really used to foreigners.

I took some taxis in Beijing last month and was a bit disappointed as I heard that most taxi drivers will possess a GPS system to help the foreign guests, but none was available. In every taxi I saw I never noticed a GPS system. Although every taxi driver could follow a free course of Basic English, it is still very hard to converse with them without any knowledge of Chinese. So the obligatory business cards or a Chinese friend's phone number will still be needed.

And that my friends is of course only the taxi drivers. I can already imagine a few chaotic and funny situations in restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, ...

Oh by the way the officially promoted restaurants for the Olympics were forbidden to serve dog meat. All the other restaurants in Beijing were kindly asked to do the same.

Another thing that bothers me is China's attitude towards foreign residents; Most of Beijing's foreign residents were kicked out of Beijing because their visa was not extended. I suppose the Chinese government wants to limit the troublemakers, and troublemakers in Chinese's minds are always outsiders.

Even getting through the security check at the airports is for a foreigner a braver mission than for a Chinese citizen. Any unidentifiable item (so no Chinese on it) will find it's way to the nearest garbage bin.

So my conclusion can be that what you will see on TV will be perfect (I guess if anything happens the Chinese will just cut off all transmission). But all around Beijing a lot of problems will occur for every non-speaking traveler. So better take a guide, gives me more work haha.

Please don't miss the opening ceremony on 8/8/08 at 8 minutes past 8. It's by famous director Zhang Yi Mou.

Pictures taken near the Olympic Green :

Apartments for the athletes. They will become luxurious apartments once the Games end.




Whole set of apartments. The top of the tower symbolizes the Olympic Flame.




Famous new icon of Beijing, the Bird's nest.



View on the Olympic Green. The tower in the middle will support the Olympic Flame.




Watercube, venue for all swimming contests. After the Games it will become a public swimming pool.