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So as you all know, I'm currently interning for an architecture firm in Beijing, the capital city of the best country in the world named the People's Republic of China, THE Middle Kingdom that all life and the universe revolves around. I don't have pictures to entertain you guys with but I do have yummy stories that I'll selfishly keep to myself.

HOWEVER, there is another major event (one of many but only this one that doesn't include yours truly...yet) that has taken the world by storm. I am of course talking about the lack of lamb kabob vendors in the streets at night! Oh the horror you, my loyal worshippers, must have felt when I collapsed on the streets of murky Beijing at 1:03 am when I found out that my favorite intersection was completely devoid of the delicious scent of sheep-on-a-stick.

Sorry, I kid.

The big old Olympic Games; the something something Olympiads will be held in Beijing this summer of 2008. I admit I didn't realize at the time how significant this was to my country as I was an innocent kid still playing with his blow up anime girls at the time they announced the results, but I have been giddy ever since 3 months ago when I realized I'll actually be here when it starts. Imagine my surprise when I hopped off the plane at the new Beijing International Airport and was blasted by smothering heat and coma inducing pollution (a slight exaggeration).

But I digress, this thread isn't for me, this is for you, my fellow SRFers to describe how the Beijing Olympics have entered your thoughts. Has it only tickled you when you heard it in passing or has it consumed your every thought? Lets hear it, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Before you guys spam this thread silly, I would like to lay out some topics of interests that would possibly lead this thread through the pages and bring in inciteful and mature discusions, except for sirslayer because he likes men.

Tibetan independence and general human rights

There have been numerous protests along the torch relay route from human right groups because of China's poor human rights history and its death grip on Tibet and Taiwan. Criticism of Chinese government's support of Darfur and Myanmar has also mired the Beijing Olympics. Pro-Tibetan independence groups and human rights associations have called for boycotting this year's Olympics as well, and many high ranking officials including the heads of state of many countries have opted not to be present for the opening ceremonies. How has this news effected you? Were you personally effected by any of this? What is your opinion on Tibet and Taiwan and China's poor human rights?

Health risks

Beijing boasts one of the developed world's worst air polluted cities. There have been days in my short stay here where from my cozy office 25 floors up, I could not see the buildings across the street. Air pollution is a major concern for the participating athletes. 7 years ago, Beijing told the IOC in their bid for the Olympics that they would deal with the air pollution with a big ass banhammer. So far, the results from their cleansing have been disappointing. Thousands of cars have been taken off the road and the use of open air grills have been banned, along with other small things. What do you have to say about the poor air quality? How do you think this will effect the results of matches and competitions? A biggie would be the marathon and the 100m to 3000m races.

What about the food served to athletes? Many countries are bringing their own food and chefs along in fear that Chinese foods will give them rabies and aids. Many also believe that Chinese foods will contain so many chemicals in them that they will show up in drug tests. What are your thoughts pertaining to this food scare?

Shenanigans

As many of you believe, asian countries hold a general prejudice to other races. White people are always right, black people are scum etc. A rumor started that during the Olympics, bars are banned from serving black people. This of course sounds asinine, but many foreigners are led to believe this by faulty news reporting and general misunderstanding. I point to this link Here for clarification.

Another humorous incident is the slogans and leaflets being passed out across Beijing. They tell the residents to behave themselves, not get too personal with foreigners, DON'T PICK YOUR NOSE in front of foreigners etc. Another leaflet told how to single out terrorists with awkward points. What are your thoughts on the way the Chinese government is preparing its people for the onslaught of foreigners?

herro

Its unspiriting when china is killing monks. Thats the equivalent of killing the pope or a rabbi. And the fact that the earthquake happened right by tibet almost makes you believe there is someone up there watching what you do on earth.

and the chinese government fights back with a better tibetan society and a more prosperous region under their rule. they also claim that under the dalai lama, tibetans lived in bleak circumstances.

Bejing Olympics rock

you better believe it will!

The olympics start on my Birthday hahaha.

lol, august 8th? most chinese would kill to have a baby born on that day.

tibet stuff:

The Tibet revolt is just some bullshit, Tibet has been part of china since the 1700s, it was ruled indirectly but recognized as part of china

years passed, around the 1900s, there were chaos everywhere, china was attacked by the europeans so it didnt care about tibet for a while, Tibet took this chance to uprise again, but it was put down and Tibet is recognized as part of china

Over the years there were more uprise, I just have to laugh how every uprise coincides with something big going on in china, culture revolution, WWII, Olympics...

"Historians" says china treat Tibet badly but think about it. During the civil war in US, what people do? There were riots all over Tennessee, and people killed each other. During the war people killed each other. What is so different between China and US that in US its called defend your rights while in China its called genocide?

The Dali Llama thing is also bullshit. For generations the Dali Llama was elected after he died and it was chosen from a new born who is believed to be the reincarnation of the Dali Llama. This is fine, whatever you want to believe. But now they are going to change it, they are going to "democratically" elect the Dali Llama...


Pollution:

yeah i have to agree the pollution in China is extremely bad. But they are doing their best, they banned half of the car in beijing to reduce traffic and pollution. Factories all over the country is being shut down during olympic week.


Other:

Just LOL

if its calculated correctly it can be done

or Caesarean section

Australia was considering not going to Bejing Olympics because of their poor air quality. Well, they eventually decided to go however some of our past athletes decided not to go instead (This being one woman in particulars first missed Olympics since Melbourne in 1956).

Just some things =x.

Also the Chinese officials suck at the distribution of tickets to athletes families.

while reading your post, I just realized...

Your sig is Lilly and Miley from hannah Montana!!!

OMG! Pr0nz!

Yeah...

Oh, about the Olympics: I only watch the horseriding things, I don't care for the rest...

You are a typical kid who just read the news and engulfs everything as true.

1. The Tibet issue has never been really a issue. Dalai Lama is upset with the way Republic of China is treating him and he claims they are not treating him as the leader of a "nation", which Tibet isn't. Dalai Lama is just a religious leader and should have NO political powers.

There are no facts that say the chinese government has been killing innocent monks. Are you really retarded enough to believe that story? If it ever happened, its because Dalai Lama religiously mind-controlled his monks to do terrorist attacks to the official government.

2. Shenanigans

Again, please don't just read the news that media spreads and engulfs it as truth. There are THOUSANDS of indians and black guys in China and they're doing just fine.

Obviously in ANY country there will be a bit of hesitancy when they see people from other religious origin or other skin color. Same thing if you are white and you're walking in the black community. Humans are biologically made to fear and be cautious about outsiders to the community, but it doesn't mean China is refusing all the other races.

Lastly there's just one more thing I would like to tell you, that the Chinese government has been working very hard on, but apparantly idiots like you who's been brainwashed by the Western media don't seem to understand.

Olympics is a global sports and celebrational event; stop relating Olympics to politics.

1/10

I totally agree, why do you think I only watch the horses??

They at least don't care for all this shizz, they just do their thing...

*even though they're very obedient...*

*I guess I just watch the Equestrians because I just hope for some horse going all wild and the person riding it breaks a leg or something....*

An event that encompasses so many countries of the world is nothing but political. Yeah we can all say what we'd like the Olympics to be and represent but thats not the truth. Thats like saying the US follows the ideas expressed in the declaration of Independence. The Idea of what the Olympics is and the idea of what it could/should be should not be mixed up or confused otherwise your lying to yourself. Hitler used the games for political power, Hussein believed the games held political potential, Nations boycotted in response to Soviet activity etc etc.

The world is not candy land and the Olympic games are certainly not exempt from world affairs. Same sh1t, different day.

Hell yea and why would they kill to have em born that day?

cuz 8 is the lucky number, referring to luck, prosperity and wealth

8/8/08 thats triply lucky

and they get the honor of calling their kid olympic baby

Yeap this is true.

You can also probably assume constructing that new stadium was to help amend China's national image. Personally I believe it did for the better, it shows their commitment and willingness to be a big part of the national community.

wasn't 7/7/07 lucky number??

thats like america and places like that, not china...

WOOT AUGUST 8TH FTW!!!

Just because something invovles people around the globe doesn't mean it should be used as a aid for other countries to solve political issues.

America has political issues like the 911. What if Olympics was held in New York and people said, "hey USA everybody is focusing on you now because of Olympics, why don't you release all the truth behind 911 in honour of olympics?"

Now that makes NO sense. Politics are handled everyday by those white-haired people. They do that EVERYDAY as a career whether there is olympics or not. So that's why if they want to use olympics as a tool to get whatever their purposes done, people like me oppose because politics's got nothing to do with me. I just want to watch the show. God damn it.

What better time for Tibetans to come out, while China is in the limelight. The focus currently is obviously on that country, therefore of course there's going to be things about it.

Every aspect of live in almost somewhat related to politics. Nothing we can do about it!

Just because it shouldn't doesn't mean that it won't.

Sure people watch and enjoy the Olympics, but there's always politics behind the scenes concerning the countries involved. It's not like it's stuff that causes wars or anything, but it's there.

I resent your first statement. I do not take the news at face value. I read the newspaper every morning and I scour the internet for current events, but I always take what they say with a grain of salt. I watch BBC news on PBS and value that over american media. I lived in the U.K for 7 years and the U.S. for 7 years and I am engulfed in Chinese culture. I speak it fluently and understand it even though I left China when I was 5.

I do not believe for a second that the Chinese government is willingly killing innocent monks. I believe you have me confused with jstar1. There will always be casualties in heated protests, and if for some reason some monks were grievously hurt, then it was a spur of the moment deal and not done with malicious intent. As a mod, you should know better than to dish out insults so carelessly. Am I a "retard"? Possibly, but I don't need you to tell me that.


I believe you have missed the part where I said it was "asinine". Again, please read posts more carefully before you jump in rambo style and rip the OP apart. I do not for a second believe the Chinese government is refusing services for other races. I have seen many black people having a blast here. I've seen first hand how the Chinese government has improved Beijing's streets and accommodations and I am impressed. The fact that the government is even handing out leaflets and putting up slogans on the streets to improve the image of Chinese citizens says it all. I'm not saying anything otherwise.

I am NOT brainwashed by western media. I may have biases, but they do not go against the Chinese governments and its people, and they are not caused by what I see on TV. I may not understand the many intricacies of Chinese practices and ideals, but I am willing to learn to understand them. I am open minded believe it or not.


I disagree, Olympics is all about politics. We may not like it, but the heads of state of many countries have stated very clearly in their actions that they are making the Olympics a political event. The human rights groups have made it political, and I fervently believe that the Chinese government sees this as a political event as well.What better way to show off a countries might and endurance than in sporting events. We place our countries' aspirations in these athletes to tell the world how great our homeland is. A gold medal isn't just first place anymore, it contributes to a country's worth.

Very well said I agree with all of that.

ty =]

neways, enough of that. i can't wait for the opening ceremony. is china gonna top the symbolic opening ceremony of athens? hm...i'm pretty sure beijing's gonna go all out on fireworks and lanterns and lion dances. ooh, can't wait, this is getting me excited ^_^

just don't drink their tap water, it'll make you shit bricks(hypothetically speaking)

No, the olympics shouldn't be made more of a political game then a global sports event, But holding them in a country like China, will surely make them to be. Ethics will never apply in such a situation.

And i love the uneven/even number policy on cars in bejing ;p It's so... comical.