Reactions from the 0lympics in Beijing/Hong Kong

I spent the weekend at the Olympics—hey, since I already had a visa, why not?!  Here are some thoughts from that experience.The number one topic in Beijing?  Michael Phelps.  Way to go, Michael.I’m really disappointed in Hong Kong.  First, Pearl TV wouldn’t even mention the name “Chinese Taipei” in live broadcasts when they won a medal (bronze).  That was disgusting and weak.  There is still supposed to be a free press in Hong Kong is there not?  Second—what the hell happened to your own Olympic team?  Where are they?  Where’s the local support?!  In Hong Kong (except for one Manulife Insurance ad) everything is about Mainland China's team.  If I was on (or related to someone on) the Hong Kong Olympic team, I’d be insulted.  If I was a Hong Kong citizen I’d be embarrassed.  Finally, as late as 5 years ago it was possible to get around in English in HK if you didn’t speak Cantonese.  Now, it’s Mandarin.  Even with the Olympic prep, English skills are down in public venues and service industries.  This of course is just an informal opinion from my experiences here with a client and my sister (neither of whom speak any Chinese) over this last weekend.  This was one of Hong Kong’s advantages—along with logistics, banking, freedom and adherence to international norms and standards.  It only took 10 years for Hong Kong to become just another Chinese city.As one foreigner we meet buying tickets in Beijing said: “There aren’t any places to hang out and party.  This must be the Serious Olympics."Pins, which were so much fun to buy and trade at previous Olympics (LA and SLC), were incredibly hard to find here.  I asked a number of people for pin trading/buying spots, but no body really knew.  Bummer.  The one guy, from Texas, who had cool pin brought it from the US and was passing it out to people in China—it’s loaded with religious symbolism and he obviously wasn’t here to collect sports pins.  I find it ironic that other “Christians” justify breaking the laws of other countries for a “higher cause.”  Nice guy though.Meet a couple from the Netherlands who were thrilled that they were “winning a medal a day!”  So what’s the most important—total golds, total medals or just having a great time?Beijing was cleaner and had less traffic than I have ever seen before.  I have traveled here for business/pleasure at least a couple of times a year every year for the last 5 years and this was a completely different city.I have never been to Beijing and seen so much sun.  After the rain, the weather was so good I got sunburned at the baseball game--really.The architecture in Beijing is amazing--it was a beautiful and different from any of the other 10 plus times I've ever been there.The taxis and taxi drivers were so clean.  Kudos to whomever thought to give all the drivers new shirts (and showers).  Unfortunately, the manners and English lessons did not take so well with some drivers, sorry to say.Chinese fans may not know much about all the sports in the Olympics, but they are, at least very active fans.  But the volunteers leading (the same) cheers over and over again did not, despite their diligent attempts, make the games more fun.  But maybe there’s hope.I asked a friend of mine whose company did some work on the Bird’s Nest what it was going to be used for in the future.  He told me that the stadium was built so quickly that there are serious foundation problems and the government will close it after the Olympics and have to do “billions of RMB” worth of repairs before it can be used again.  Surprised?Thankfully most people have been very safe (except for the dead and injured Americans, of course--my condolences to the family).  But I have to say, security was a HUGE pain in the rear.  Not because it was there, but because it was different every time.  Airports, museums, event venues, all had different standard, and it seemed that some people got it worse than others.  Sometime suntan lotion was OK, other times not. Ditto for iPods, computers and SLR cameras—the fact that I had a laptop, SLR camera and iPod in my bag was an issue for the baseball security folk, but not for football.  Open umbrellas were not allowed in any of the outside venues but were permitted/ignored everywhere and made jumping up and down a potentially painful experience at the baseball game.  The same 3oz. toiletry bottles made it though 4 different Chinese airports last week but not out of Beijing on our last flight?!  Which brings me to…Foreigners (white) were more than welcome in Beijing.  People went out of their way to smile, help and welcome me and my sister.  But black foreigners got not so much love and other Chinese almost none at all.  It was really too bad, we overheard more than one (back) foreigner complain about the treatment he had received.  And my (Chinese) wife was NEVER allowed into any event seating without being checked/searched/wanded.  Not once was my ticket checked after security at any event (5 games in all) but she was stopped every single time.  Security at Tiananmen Square, volunteers, helpers on the street corners, no one treated her as well as they treated me.  Tells me that the "changes" in China are temporary.  Unfortunate.Not one of the “sold out” events that I attended or anything I’ve seen on TV has really been full.  Here’s what others are saying.  I couldn’t agree more.  Scores of people at each event are selling tickets—and if you’re willing to miss the start you get them for just double face vale (Y100 to Y200 RMB).  We even had friends who bought tickets for the opening ceremony for less than $100 each.I feel so bad for Liu Xiang who not only got hurt but who doesn’t get to compete in the race he’s been preparing for more than 8 years.  The idiots in China who are angry with him for getting hurt show that the games in China are not about sports or individual athletes, but about national pride for most people here.  Here's one take.One last thought.  Outside of China do people of other nationalities “feel proud” to be a member of their respective countries when they watch the Olympics?  I love the sports, I love the US, but watching Phelps or USA men’s basketball team win doesn’t make me any more patriotic.  I’ll admit I love cheering for the US teams/individuals.  But I don’t love the US more or less when the events are over.  Am I jaded as an American?  Am I just used to having international exposure while Chinese are not yet?