Beijing Beyond the Village

It was a week of surprises here in Beijing, where I'm writing about everything BUT what's going on at the Olympics Village. The normally congested city is a ghost town as visitors expected for the Games didn't arrive -- guess they had trouble getting their visas with the tighter security procedures. A volunteer booth along the city's main east-west corridor did not have much business from tourists looking for maps and Olympics guides. See photo.

But my "old friend", the hazy, smoggy skies, have been here in plenty. Today, Friday, August 15, is the first blue sky day of the week.

Thunderstorms yesterday helped to wash away the stagnant air that was hanging over the city. Somehow I thought the Chinese government had crafted a technological way of controlling the weather and pollution. Wrong again!

Friends in Beijing had warned me that it would be a police state here. I haven't found that so. Granted, there are alternate day-of-the-week driving restrictions. That's one reason the traffic is so light. And granted, there are security checks of bags at subway stations, but you can walk right into major hotels, buildings and malls without as much as a glance. It is less security than what we have in New York City!

Yes, as promised, the government definitely has stopped construction of all major sites. Construction workers giving a group cheer before they start their shift at 7AM usually wake me up when I'm in town. But they're gone, along with some 5 million other migrant workers.

Partly because of the construction slowdown, some hotels have missed their opening date. The Park Hyatt is one of them. I went in for a visit the weekend the Olympics opened and took a brief tour of the near-vacant hotel. Let me tell you that it will be very swanky once it's officially opened to outside guests.

What has worked surprisingly well is all the newly opened subway lines and the Airport Express train. See photo of the train pulling up next to the terminal. Rather than hail a taxi as I usually do upon arrival, a volunteer steered me to the ticket window and, for less than $3, I tried out the new train. There was one glitch when the door opening did not match up exactly with the platform, but other than that, it was a smooth ride.

As the express train arrived in central Beijing, I easily connected to the just-opened No. 10 subway line and arrived to my destination with 90 minutes of when my plane landed. More photos are on my blog, www.silicondragon.blogspot.com.

The transportation infrastructure here makes what we have on many New York City lines look sadly in need of a major overhaul. Not to single out NY -- many other American cities need public transportation upgrades. Don't even ask me about my recent train ride on an Amtrak bus in the Pacific Northwest!

My week here in Beijing also had some moments of serendipity. On Sunday evening, I met up with some blogging friends at the Beijing Bookworm at an event sponsored by Ogilvy & Mather to promote Lenovo giving laptops to blogging Olympian athletes, including two cyclists from Namibia who were at the event. After some snacks and drinks, I tried to hail a taxi in a downpour but no luck. The only cab in sight was the one commandeered by these two athletes. I asked if they wouldn't mind taking me to my close-by destination first, before returning to the Olympic Village. I hopped in and before we got the message communicated to the driver, we went straight away to the games venue in the northern part of the city - a detour of about a half hour for me. Along the way, I did get a chance to chat with these two Olympic competitors and an opportunity to see the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, plus the row of modern apartment buildings where the athletes are housed. The athletes said their accommodations are nice - the only thing missing is a kitchen. When the apartments are later sold to residents, I'm sure they will come fully equipped. See the athletes here - the fellow with the blonde hair writes a blog, www.Mr-african.com.

On Monday evening, I had the chance to see where the Bush family has been staying during the Games -- the recently opened Westin Hotel just across the boulevard from the new U.S. Embassy. When I made dinner plans for that evening at the Westin, I had no idea the presidential family was staying there, but I sure knew once I arrived. Police vans parked outside, airport-like security checks to enter the lobby and secret service people (100 in all) roaming around. I was later told that 30 dogs were sent in to sniff out any trouble before the president arrived.

Later, while enjoying a drink in the lobby with a hotel staffer, I got to hear some interesting details about their DC visitors. It was the first time that the Presidential suite had been occupied - and they didn't release the room for the next guest (Singapore's leader) until Air Force One took off safely. The Bush family loves Cantonese food. Some other tidbits can be found on my personal blog, www.silicondragon.blogspot.com.

I would be remiss not to mention the VIP reception and dinner I had the pleasure of attending at the State Guest House here. Henry Kravis and Hank Paulson were there as were many tops politicos and investors. It took some quanxi to get an invite!

Now if only the Web would cooperate. The Internet is moving incredibly slowly here as people tune in to the Olympics from webcasts. Some people tuned in at video screens set up in major shopping malls. You should have seen the crowd gathered to see the women's gymnastics competition -- far more popular than fencing.

Bandwidth is so strained at about 4pm each day that I have to take time out and forget about surfing. Yesterday, I used the down time to try out the local Bally's gym - again no one there!

Today, I discovered the Today Show on Twitter, sent them a message, and bingo, Matt (?) replied right away. Twitter is the main way I am staying connected with friends here in Beijing. Facebook is too slow to upload.

I have tickets to the Games coming up soon, and promise to blog about that too. Stay tuned for my next Internet connection - and next installment from Beijing.

Rebecca A. Fannin is the author of "Silicon Dragon."

Comments

[waitforme]

Very interesting article. I will look forward to the next one. I lived in Beijing in 1983-1984 and went back in 1997. Now it seems it is very very different from both times. Send more.

[Note: Guanxi is spelled guanxi, not quanxi; I know the author knows that. Guanxi is the system of relationships by which one gets along in China. Who one knows is extremely important. Guanxi is a kind of coin of the realm. Pron. GWAHNshee (with the shee hissed).