Beijing building up to 'greatest show on Earth'

Beijing building up to 'greatest show on Earth'
The Summer Olympics are fast approaching, and China's capital is sprinting ahead with its huge makeover in time for the Aug. 8 opening ceremony.
John Larsen visited Beijing recently as part of a UN team. This Calgarian's role was to provide communications expertise to the Beijing Public Security Bureau, which will oversee all of the security elements for the Games.
What Larsen found is a city undergoing massive cultural and infrastructural change. It is less than 20 years since the massacre in Tiananmen Square and now there is a Starbucks just a short distance from where the tanks rolled in.
The Cube is the venue for the aquatics events at the Beijing Olympics.Reuters
Admittedly, this is an area frequented by tourists, but the fact that it's even there speaks volumes to the transition the country is undergoing, certainly in the urban areas," Larsen says.
The People's Republic seems to have appropriated the Calgary Stampede's brand and is doing everything in its power to deliver "the greatest show on Earth."
Controlling smog levels is part of the proposition. The issue apparently will be dealt with by shutting down factories, half the cars will be taken off the road and people will not be allowed to burn coal in their homes for heat.
Spitting, an acceptable Chinese behaviour, is being stamped out, and queuing, not a typical national practice, is being encouraged -- especially for public washrooms.
According to organizers, being the perfect Olympic host also means speaking English, an exercise many Chinese have wholeheartedly undertaken because they are sincerely excited about the Games.
New cultural norms aren't the only changes that will greet Olympic tourists. Beijing is physically starting to look like an Olympic city. And here Larsen says, the drive toward modernization is at it starkest, leaving the vestiges of the Communist regime in the dust.
The essence of Beijing has never been found in nature, but in its buildings. Sure there are some hills to the west and to the north, where the Great Wall stretches out, but that's about it for natural attractions.
Rather, inside the ancient walls of the Forbidden City is the heart and soul of Beijing. The third emperor of the Ming dynasty, known as Yongle, is credited with creating the old city whose buildings are masterpieces.
"But the Games are responsible for forcing the city to step into a new architectural era, inspired by western influence," says Larsen, who also draws attention to "the contrast between the city's post-Mao world and many parts of the country that are still living in substandard conditions."