Beijing Olympics Quote Of The Day
Posted by Dan on August 18, 2008 at 06:37 PM
Too good a line not to repeat. It is from a Lost Laowai post, entitled, "Beijing: Chinatown in Disneyland," reflecting on the atmosphere in Beijing during the Olympics:
The Beijing people seem happy in the way that the staff at a five star hotel are happy, but not in the way that a group of old men playing mahjong in a hutong are happy.
Comments
I am sure they are happy to host the Olympics - at least prior to the whole Torch relay debacle. Now they know they are under the spotlight, with the international media waiting to pounce on every mistake. They are probably too nervous and self conscious to enjoy themselves. I still remember seeing a neighborhood granny dance troupe celebrating the second anniversary of Beijing being awarded the Olympics; they seemed happy then.
Posted by: jms | August 18, 2008 7:55 PM
jms,
Yeah, there no doubt is an element of that.
Posted by: Dan | August 18, 2008 8:35 PM
As a long term Beijing expat I for one can't wait till the good old Beijing we all fell in love with returns - loud, rude, unsafe, unhealthy but charming in a perverse sort of way.
And I'm sure every Beijing resident can't wait until they can cast aside all this fake politeness and 'on-show' mode thay must present.
It's a bit like the city has gone for a dreadfully long job interview.
There will of course be some benefits - and the ultimate beneft of this Olympics expereince will not only be that China and Beijing learns a bit more about the world but that the world learns a bit more about China.
Posted by: jackonory | August 19, 2008 1:27 AM
jackonory,
Nicely put.
Posted by: Dan | August 19, 2008 6:31 AM