Shiny on the Outside - Opening Ceremonies

Alas, another negative comment about the opening ceremonies. :(  I just hate to do this but it really irritates me.

There was a great section of the ceremonies where a 9 year-old girl sang in front of the entire stadium.  It was great singing and it was impressive to see that from such a young person in such a high pressure setting.  Everyone was amazed.  Turns out that it was also a fabrication. *grumble*

Apparently, the little girl (7 years old) that endured to the end of the singing contests and was chosen for having the best voice and ability was axed at the last minute because she wasn't cute enough.  They replaced her with another girl (of undeniable cuteness) and in a great injustice, had the original girl's voice be the one that was broadcast throughtout the stadium (and the world). Turns out that this was just another lip-syncing effort like so many other singers in the past.

The Chinese say that they had their reasons for this but I don't agree.  Packaged performances (like movies, etc.) are known to be "constructed" to provide the best possible experience.  Live performances are invogorating and astonishing because they happen in real life.  The reality (and integrity) are part of the what makes them appealing to people.  Without that feeling of authenticity, there's no reason to enjoy these events in person.  Just give me a movie and tell me it's a movie.  Don't "pretend" you've given me authenticity.

Of course, the whole notion of authenticity may be out-dated and it's certainly not an overriding concern in China.  On a variety of levels, China operates under the assumption that if it looks the same on the outside, then it must work the same on the inside.  Much of the miracle of China is built on this assumption and rest assured, all gilded ages (and cultures) have eventually collapsed under the weight of the facades they build up.  Just because it's shiny on the outside doesn't mean it isn't rotting underneath.

It's Called the Olympics ... stupid!

Ao yun hui (奥运会) - Olympics.  It took me an embarrassingly long time to learn the characters and correct pinyin for the Olympics.  I kept thinking they would use something that sounded more like O-lee but it was not to be.  However, I recently discovered that instead of using this name, some of the locals in Beijing are referring to the Olympics as nao yun hui (闹运会).  In a fit of inspiration, they have replaced the first character with another that means ... trouble (as in: to stir up).  What a great insight into how the normal man on the street has both pride in the Olympics being in China but also an understanding of how much trouble the Olympics has caused to their daily life.

As you might imagine, the story is not over.  I was none too pleased to here the following word used during the opening ceremonies.  After all my trouble to understand and memorize the words above, they go and use this at the actual event: ao lin pi ke (奥林匹克).

The Opening Ceremonies

Okay, time for a few comments about the Opening Ceremonies.  I thought they were great.  Just incredible, fabulous, breathtaking and monumental.  I saw things happening in the stadium (and the city) that I had never seen before.  Most of the expats I know also had similar reactions to the event.  Given that were expecting to see a smog-filled stadium, I think we were just happy the cameras could see the other side of the stadium (and the smog seemed to magically clear up for the long-distance, external shots of the city).

I was surprised that a substantial number of the locals didn't like the Opening Ceremonies.  The complaints? "Too much Chinese history, they should have shown more of modern China."  "Just a repeat of the show in Yangshuo by the same director." "Too much like a movie and not a real performance." ... Let's stick on that movie comment.  

There were a lot of outdoor shots of fireworks across the city and we were amazed that the city could be so clear after dense smog we had during the day.  We thought that perhaps the light from the fireworks cut through the smog.  There was also a scene where giant firework footsteps were stomping across the city on the way to Bird's Nest.  The scene from a helicopter/plane was incredible.  I and the people around me commented, "Wow, it's just like a movie shot!  The view was absolutely perfect."

Problem was: It was a movie shot. >:(  They faked the giant footsteps because it was "too dangerous" for a flying vehicle to get the live shot (although the fireworks actually did occur).  I'm not sure this is the end of the story.  I think back to our surprise over how clear the skyline was and the great visibility of the fireworks across the city and now I'm filled with doubts.  On a higher level, I guess I don't have a big problem with computer-generated effects ... for a movie.  For a live event where the point is the fact that it is a real event, I want to see what it really looked like.

Austin Powers: Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

  What can one say about this picture?  This is not a preview scene from the newest Austin Powers movie.  This picture was published in the 1 August edition of Beijing Today.  Actual caption, you ask? "People's Armed Police are using Segway-like vehicles in their anti-terrorism drills."
  I believe this is part of the new People's Army initiative aimed at humanitarian crowd control and comedy-based anti-terrorism training.  Any serious terrorist would fall over laughing if they had to face this elite force.  Good luck to the police and congratulations to the local Segway dealer.

The Bus - What Price Transport?

Some of you may have already figured out that I'm a bit of a nut for public transportation. Well, so labeled. The last two years have been really interesting for the bus system here in Beijing. Let's look at the prices of the bus over the last 2 years.
1) When I moved to Beijing in August 2005, I discovered that there was a bus that went straight from my apartment to my company (magical air-conditioned bus #731) in less than 1.5 hours. At that time, the bus cost 4 yuan.
2) The next step was the introduction of smart cards (finally). You can now just wave your transportation smart card at a machine on all of the buses and it will debit the cost of the trip. (!) To push people to use it, they offered a 20% discount on the bus trip. New cost: 3.2 yuan.
3) Air-conditioned buses used to cost double the price of non-AC buses. This was interesting because the increase of a few yuan was enough to create lots of space on the AC buses while the non-AC were packed to the gills. As one of the better off people in Beijing, I was troubled by the classism but truly enjoyed the luxury. The double cost for AC was removed. New cost: 1.6 yuan.
4) In order to accomplish it's larger goals (more on that in another post), the Beijing government paid off the bus companies to triple the discount for the card to 60%. (!) New cost: 0.8 yuan.

So ... there you have it. My commute cost for the bus has fallen from 4.0 yuan to 0.8 yuan in the space of 2 years. I think it's fairly cool. However, the hidden implications of this reduction are a bit more unsettling. You'll have to wait for that information in a future post. *sorry*

Erasing Traffic - No! You Can't Drive Your Car

The local government in Beijing is hell-bent on making sure that all problems that might give visitors bad impressions of China are erased for the duration of the Olympic Games. There have been rumours about all downtown construction being banned, no smoking in the downtown area, no personal cars in the central downtown districts and all of the factories being shutdown. In addition, the government is scheduling "practice" drills for various behavioral and structural changes to the Chinese people (yes, to the people).
Right now, we're in the middle of a four-day experiment to figure out how to reduce congestion on the streets of Beijing. From last Friday through Monday, the government decided that you're only allowed to drive your car on the odd days if your license plate ends in an odd number (likewise, even days if your license plate ends in an even number). They're doing it now to figure out if it really has an effect and to make sure the population has some practice.
From my perspective, it's been a huge success. The traffic has been a dream over these four days. Very few backups (relatively), fast moving vehicles and much less anxiety. *I love it.* Of course, not owning a car, I only stand to gain the benefits and none of the problems.
Initially, I thought that this would be impossible to enforce but the local government has done an admirable job (along with the cooperation of the population -- not always a given). They were actually handing out tickets and had police stationed at all the off-ramps in the downtown highways (trust me, there are a lot of off-ramps). I didn't see many violators (okay... I didn't see any violators) .
Municipal governments often have crazy ideas but I'll give this to the Beijing administration. Here's hoping they make it permanent. Of course, during the African Summit a few months ago, there was another practice session that was even more successful. They banned all personal government-issued vehicles for the duration of the summit. By one measure, one-third of all the cars in Beijing are government vehicles. Now that's crazy!