Jonathan In China » 2008 Olympics

The Beijing Olympic Park

Jonathan — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:08:03 +0000

Horribly late but here nonetheless are some photos from my visit to Beijing’s Olympic park in early November. To get there I took 3 brand new subway lines and upon exiting the station the view I got looked nothing like what I had seen in December 2006 when me and some friends talked our way into the muddy field that surrounded the bird’s nest. Now the park is one massive square that makes Tian’anmen look quaint.

Even though I visited on a Wednesday the place was swarming with tourists (I even saw some Uighurs who seemed very proud), though the only things to eat were instant noodles and Coca Cola. The architecture provided me with plenty to digest for the hour or so I spent there.

(For the full photography set check out the Flickr page)

The Olympics Opening Ceremony 奥运会开幕式

Jonathan — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 05:38:15 +0000

(Taken from a New York Times article)

Yes, the long-awaited Beijing Olympics have arrived. Right now I’m watching the women’s volleyball match between Brazil and Algeria. The entire Chinese television system seems to have turned into a 24/7 Olympics network. Earlier today I watched foreigners debate President Bush’s visit to the games on CCTV 9 (the English channel), before that CCTV 4 enlightened me on the celebrations in the streets of Beijing last night, and of course CCTV 5 (the sports channel) is a non-stop display of the hottest competitions taking place at the moment. My friend informed me that last night’s opening ceremony could be watched on more than 30 Chinese television channels. Every where I go there are people watching a TV.

The opening ceremony was utterly amazing. The best I’ve ever seen, almost too good for words. I watched the 4+ hour long ceremony with a bunch of my fellow teachers at a local hole-in-the-wall KTV place. Its hard to explain the significance of a moment like last night. For countries like America and Australia such ceremonies are a time to celebrate and show off, but there is no need for such countries to prove themselves. For China it really really means so much more. Because for China it was a coming out of sorts, a display of their fantastic history and power which has been discounted by the world for so long. Such heady feelings were in the air last night, even here in Changsha hundreds of miles away from Beijing. Standing on the dilapidated roof of that KTV place last night I couldn’t help but look around Changsha and get excited and feel so lucky that I was here in China for such a moment. There were hugs and flag waving and many many bottles of Qingdao and Harbin beer emptied. Awesome night. Even the police officers who busted into our party didn’t hurt the vibes. (Apparently they were startled to see 52 foreigners walk into a small KTV spot and were worried for our safety, so decided to make a fuss). Well I got to go visit the Hunan Television station with my Chinese teacher right now. 和！

A Wonderful Valentines Night

Jonathan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:01:33 +0000

Today is the Chinese Valentines day, or at least the twenty minutes left of it, and tomorrow is the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. If there is a better reason to party in China I don’t know what is. Tonight was also the birthday of two of my fellow foreign teachers. Fifty of us went out to dinner then hit up the hottest club in Changsha. We brought the party, even though the dozens of happy couples were already having a good time. A bottle of whiskey cost 420 kuai and came with eight bottles of iced tea, a bowl of pistachios, a fruit platter, and a kind of helpful waitress who poured it into cups for us. Then, as is common in China, we all got on platforms and danced to Soulja Boy while drunk Chinese sang along with us. In the middle of this sweaty insanity a group of about twenty police officers came into the club. They had 4 video cameras with bright lights attached and 2 expensive regular cameras, all operated by police officers. A lone reporter followed along. They busted into a private party room in the back, filming all the while, pulling out someone and leaving the scene. At no time did the music stop and no doubt some foreigners are dancing on that cops’ tape. At around 11 I walked back to my hotel along with hundreds and hundreds of happy Chinese couples, eating watermelon on a chopstick. It was an awesome night and surely one of the best ways to welcome this historic day in Chinese history: 8.8.2008. 加油中国！！

2008 Beijing Olympics: Tickets for Americans

Jonathan — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 04:51:55 +0000

I just found the only way for American citizens to buy tickets to the 2008 Olympics. They are being sold through a company called CoSport. The company is apparently a world leader in the field of “Olympic games hospitality packages” and has sold olympic games tickets for over twenty years. Their “expression of interest phase” has ended and you can’t seem to do much now, but they commence live ticket sales in September 2007. Mark your calendars.