Chinese Displaced for Olympics?

A friend forwarded this article to me yesterday - I haven't heard anything about this before, but living in China there are many things I don't hear about so that really doesn't mean anything.

The article states that according to the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), The Beijing Olympics has displaced 1.5 million people since 2000.

They also go on to say that "International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to award the Games to Beijing has been a catalyst in increasing forced evictions and displacements in Beijing. COHRE’s new report holds the Chinese government guilty of widespread forced evictions along with other human rights violations during preparations for the Beijing Olympics"

I am not at all surprised to learn about this report - mainly I'm saddened by the lack of information in China. It's easy to forget as I go about my everyday life here how much of a stronghold the government has on it's people.

To download the whole report and come to your own conclusions click here:

http://www.cohre.org/beijingreport

Olympic Food - What the *#$^!?

I am having a great time at the Olympics so far - I have two more events to see and then I'll be heading back to Shanghai.

I have only a few "suggestions" to make concerning this year's Olympics in Beijing. The biggest issue I and my guests ran into was the lack of food! At all venues there is of course strict security and no food or liquids is allowed into any venue. I can understand this - and I don't mind it but if inside the venue the food offerings are bad then it becomes an issue.

All all of the venues the same food is offered at food stands, it includes some of the following; soda, water, beer, chips, cookies, popcorn, sausage & a boxed meal that heats on it's own (rice and meat). At the Olympic Green exactly the same food is offered and the ONLY other option is 2 McDonalds restaurants. That's it!!!

It's really pretty terrible - if you have two events in the same day in the Olympic Green area (we had Tennis & Swimming yesterday) there isn't really any other place you can go - the area is too large to walk out of and back into. I was very very disappointed to basically be forced to eat crap for two days straight. I was hoping for more of a sampling of Chinese food from the different regions, or at least more food stands and different choices beyond just McDonalds.

Olympics - Boxing, Women's Volleyball, Swimming & Tennis

Hi everyone! Being in Beijing at the Olympics has been a fantastic experience so far.

We arrived from Xian on Thursday and managed to score last minute tickets to Beach Volleyball and Boxing for Friday. Even though we thought it was going to be really hard to get last minute tickets to anything, it's been amazingly easy. On Saturday we already had tickets to swimming and tennis. All events were just a really great time overall.

There are a few ways to go about getting tickets if you don't have them already:

1. Craigslist - Beijing edition
2. Go to the event early and stand around looking for scalpers. They're there at all the events regardless - but you'll pay at least 3-4 times the original face value ticket price.

Back to the games - from what I've seen so far of the Olympic Green (main area) and the Volleyball & Boxing venues have all been excellent. This comes from my foreigner perspective but it's a very nice surprise to see clean facilities everywhere (especially bathrooms, with soap and toilet paper!) and TONS of Olympic Staff.

Speaking of cleanliness, I have never seen Beijing so clean in my life!!! I hope the government can keep it up.

So far Tennis and Swimming have been the most "impressive", we saw both Michael Phelps and Dana Torres swim yesterday and then saw Federer play in the men's doubles gold medal match.

I've posted some photos below of both events below. I'll post more tomorrow about all the other interesting Olympic sights I've seen so far....

Go USA!!!!!

Beijing releases etiquette code book.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Beijing has released an Etiquette Code Book for the Olympics.

"Beijing officials have distributed 4.3 million copies of an etiquette book outlining rules on good manners and foreign customs, including rules about what not to wear. The guide is part of an effort by various departments within China's government to clean the city up in preparation for the at least 400,000 foreign visitors who are expected to descend on its capital for the Olympic Games, which start Aug. 8."

This is funny - especially since it outlines what to wear, what not to wear. Has anyone seen the official Chinese Olympic Uniforms?! They are awful. I guess that what happens when a bunch of middle aged, communist, government officials get to play fashion designer. Good lord.

New information on Olympic censorship

I'm not surprised by this article in the New York Times today - the Chinese government loves to censor. The Chinese government originally promised all foreign journalists that they would be able to "report freely" while they're in China reporting on the Olympic games.

Here's a quote from the article:
"Since the Olympic Village press center opened Friday, reporters have been unable to access scores of Web pages — among them those that discuss Tibetan issues, Taiwanese independence, the violent crackdown on the protests in Tiananmen Square and the Web sites of Amnesty International, the BBC’s Chinese-language news, Radio Free Asia and several Hong Kong newspapers known for their freewheeling political discourse."

Now, to someone living in Shanghai - this is not shocking. The government does not want anyone to see anything that might be harmful to the countries "social stability". I hope the government changes their position on censorship for journalists, but I will be very surprised if that actually happens.

This screw up with internet censorship, the pollution in Beijing and all of the visa problems people are having are unfortunately putting a negative light on the Olympic games. Let's see if the government can pull something out of their you know what and turn things around.

Chinese release 8 "don't ask" rules for the Olympics

I just ran across this article about posters that are springing up all over Beijing. Aimed toward the Chinese population, they are the government's 8 "don't ask" rules when talking to foreigners and disabled athletes. They seem pretty logical, but it makes sense. Many Chinese feel very comfortable asking foreigners about their incomes, love life & marriage and will freely comment on your health, etc. I've had to dodge more than one question about my husbands job, what he makes, etc. Just another cultural difference!

Some samples:

"Don’t ask about income or expenses, don’t ask about age, don’t ask about love life or marriage, don’t ask about health, don’t ask about someone’s home or address, don’t ask about personal experience, don’t ask about religious beliefs or political views, don’t ask what someone does. In addition, some general rules for etiquette with handicapped athletes:

1. You should use polite and standard forms of address for handicapped athletes.
2. Try to keep as light as you can with handicapped overtones.
3. Pay attention to how you congratulate handicapped athletes.

Pay attention to avoiding taboo subjects, quit using bad platitudes, and do not use insulting or discriminatory contemptuous or derogatory terms to address the disabled. Say things such as, “You are amazing,” or “You are really great.” When chatting with the visually impaired, do not say things like “It’s up ahead,” or “It’s over there.” When chatting with athletes who are paraplectic in their upper body, do not say things like “It’s behind you.”

Weird Chinese News: Marriage at the Olympics

According to this article, more than 1,000 Chinese couples stood in line for hours to get a marriage license that will allow them to be married on August 8th.

Why? Well, the Chinese believe the number 8 is a lucky number which brings wealth because it sounds like the word "fa" which means "to get wealthy".

To read more click here...

Sex workers and the Olympics?

Call me naive, but I never even thought about sex workers coming to the Olympics, but it makes sense. There will be a HUGE influx of people coming in from all over the world for the events and naturally certain "businesses" would try to take advantage. But, the Beijing police are trying their best to keep any undesirables out of town.

"Last week, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games released a legal guide that itemized the preferred parameters for foreign visits, and expressly denied entry to certain types of undesirable visitors."

Click here to see the rest of the article from Asia Times Online