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• Beijing's Loss, My Gain

  Friday, Aug 22, 2008 1:14PM / Standard Entry / Members only
  19 comments

  so i just got back from a few days in Beijing at the Olympics. i wasn't originally gonna go because i didnt have faith in Beijing's ability to manage crowds, tourists, transportation, infrastructure, safety, etc. for any one of us who's ever lived/worked in Beijing, we know that Beijing has trouble running on a normal day, let alone a huge event like the Olympics.
  
  i'm not a China hater - hello, i live in China! but i do have to call things as i see them. in fact, i was living in Beijing when China won the bid for 2008 and i was excited, proud and just as happy as any of the hundred or so overly talkative cab drivers i had conversations with about the Olympics in China; but i'd be lying if i said i wasn't also a bit worried. sure enough, China's set themselves up for a lot of dissapointment and have delivered just that - here's why:
  
  1. VISAS: from the onset, China shot itself in the foot by creating ridiculous, new rules and regulations about visas and foreign tourists;
  2. HURTING LOCAL BUSINESS: i have about 3 dozen friends who's restaurants, bars and clubs have been shut down. in addition to a very selective targeting for foreign owned businesses, even many of my local friends were forced to shut down for the entire month of August. The one's who've managed to keep open are not doing nearly as well as they hoped and have had to pay dearly (bribe after bribe after bribe) to stay open. almost all of them have said it's not worth it. hotels are still very vacant and have dropped their rates to no avail. most of my club owner friends tell me they were doing better before the Olympics then they are now;
  3. TOTALITARIAN BULLYING: only in China do bus loads with hordes of police come to ship people off out of the city to "clean" it up. they did it with bicycles and they did it with people. they literally bussed tens of thousands off to the boonies to get rid of any "unsightly" people during the Olympics. they did a similar thing during the Special Olympics a while back when they cleared the streets of all homeless, vagrants, beggars, etc. they've cleared Beijing of all Wigurs and aren't letting them back into Beijing until after the Olympics.
  4. EMPTY STADIUMS: most of the events i went to were almost half empty. we're not talking obscure sports like Shooting, but even Weightlifting, Tennis, Basketball, Boxing, Baseball, etc. i've been to 5 Olympics and have never seen so many empty seats. as a former competitive athlete, i can tell you first hand that it makes a difference, that crowds and fans and support so make you try harder, give you that extra lift and the boost you need - and it makes you feel damn special. it's gotta suck for the athletes to be competing at what is for most of them, the peak of their career, in half empty stadiums and arenas.
  5. FUCK FOREIGNERS: this is the attitude the government has taken during the games. not only were they intentionally making it ridiculously difficult for foreigners to come to the games, even after then got there, police were making random checks on the street for foreigners and shipping them off if they didnt have their passports and events tickets to prove they were there "legitimately". i've know of 3 people who were deported and have heard dozens more reports of similar incidents. it also doesn't help that random foreigners have been attacked and even killed during the Olympics.
  
  so why is it like this? well, most dont know this, but i spent my first 4+ years in China doing political and economic research and consulting for Fortune 500s and even the China govt. the reason? i can clearly and honestly state, in my humble opinion, that the 2008 Beijing Olympics are not for anyone except the Chinese. China doesnt care about anyone else, nor do they give a rat's ass about what others/foreigners think. China would rather have a mediocre (in the world's eyes) Olympics with lots of bad press without any huge fuck ups (woops, too late), rather then set themselves up for high expectations and not be able to meet them. by making things difficult from the start, they limit the tourism, limit foreign coverage, limit foreign participation and involvement and most importantly limit their liability. they save face...or at least some.
  
  In Beijing's and the rest of China's eyes, the 2008 Beijing Olympics are a huge, phenominal, uncontested, auspiciously, heavenly success. why? because, China's got the most GOLD! dont believe me? why else would Hu Jin Tao say to Liu Xiang "if you don't bring home the gold for China [in the Men's 100m hurdle], all of this (Olympics) and your career will be pointless". it's not about bringing countries, people, athletes, cultures together - it's about brining home the GOLD! i haven't heard a single Mainlander say anything congratulatory to any of the China athletes that won silver or bronze instead of gold. rather, i keep hearing how they have disgraced China, they should be ashamed, how can they consider themselves professional athletes, how they've let their country and people down. ouch.
  
  Sorry, China's let the world down. China really had the opportunity to showcase themselves in the world spotlight as a visionary, modern, progressive and developing country. instead, they remind us old China hands why we still have expressions like "T.I.C. = THIS IS CHINA"
  
  that said, i was able to benefit from all of China's selfishness. Beijing's cleaner than it's ever been ever! the streets are clean, people aren't spitting as much, the sky is clear, the weather is good (thanks to China's ability to manipulate weather and make it rain), the streets are empty, there are plenty of cabs, and i can get a table at any restaurant, bar, club (the ones that are open) any time without having to make advance reservations or make calls to people. i've been to 5 Olympics and this one is by far the easiest to get event tickets to. i did 9 events in 3 days! unbelievable. and i only paid for 1 of those tickets because there are so many tickets floating around. in fact, i'd have to pick and choose between events because i couldnt go to them all. i got to see Korea beat Japan in baseball (lost my voice for nearly 2 days), watched China win gold in weightlifting, USA men's basketball, sexy women's beach volleyball and their bikini cheer squads, boxing, athletics, and the men's and women's tennis finals! so i guess i have to thank the government for being so narrow-minded, zenophobic and selfish! Xie Xie Zhongguo!
  
  here are some pix:
  
  Korea wins over Japan 5:3 DAE-HAN-MIN-GUK!!!!!
  
  
  
  humina humina humina. those bikini girls are smoking hot!!!
  
  
  only RMB5 for a beer at all the events! (i had 12 on average at each event)
  
  
  USA's Williams sisters take the women's doubles gold in straight sets over Spain.
  
  
  Russia swept the women's finals! btw, the usher girls are all super hot!
  
  
  even empty seats at the Men's finals: Nadal (Spain) beat Gonzales (Chile) in straight sets
  
  
  Nadal is such a badass. no wonder he's now #1.