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."
Beijing building up to 'greatest show on Earth'
Dean Macey retires from athletics after Beijing Olympics disappointment
Dean Macey retires from athletics after Beijing Olympics disappointment
Gone fishing: Dean Macey will find more time for his angling after his retirement
Less than a week after injuries put paid to triple jumper, Ashia Hansen's hopes of going to the Beijing Olympics, Macey has been forced to accept that he will never be fit enough to contest another top class decathlon.
His decision came as no surprise after he failed in his last-minute bid to achieve the Olympic qualifying mark of 8,000pts at a competition in Hexham at the weekend.
Macey managed only 7,491pts after battling against a series of injury problems that began when he tore a muscle in his groin in the long jump, only the second of the 10 disciplines he attempted over the two days.
It was the worst way to end his Olympic dream but it was an outcome that was always on the cards for an athlete who has struggled against a catalogue of injuries throughout his decade at the top. A frenetic trainer, he probably spent more time on the treatment table than any other British athlete and contested only half a dozen major decathlons in his senior career.
advertisementMacey said: "This is the most difficult decision that I have ever had to make but, if I'm being honest, I don't believe that I can stay healthy anymore.
"My heart is there, my mind is there but my body has finally given in. It's been an amazing journey over the last few years and the support that I have received has been phenomenal.
"I've given nothing but 100 per cent over the last decade and worn my Great Britain vest with pride."
In between his injury problems, it was always a vibrant and defiant Macey who lined up against the world's best. He burst onto the world scene at the 1999 world championships, where his silver medal promised a golden future.
It was not to be. He claimed the bronze medal at the 2001 world championships in Edmonton and his only title came at the Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne in 2006. His two Olympic appearances saw him finish fourth at the Sydney and Athens Games.
He knew that if he made it to Beijing, the Olympic decathlon would be his last chance to make an impression but he never made it. Speaking before he travelled to Hexham, Macey admitted that he often felt embarrassed at the support he received from UK Athletics and the lottery-funded world class performance programme.
He said: "I used to think 'Do I deserve this?' I wanted to say to them, 'Shouldn't you be spending more time on someone else?'"
Easily Britain's most entertaining athlete and the man who brought worldwide recognition to Canvey Island where he still lives, Macey can look forward to resuming a media career which began promisingly a few years ago with a regular series for the Sky Discovery Channel on angling, the passtime that occupied him between training sessions.
Less than a week after injuries put paid to triple jumper, Ashia Hansen's hopes of going to the Beijing Olympics, Macey has been forced to accept that he will never be fit enough to contest another top class decathlon.
His decision came as no surprise after he failed in his last-minute bid to achieve the Olympic qualifying mark of 8,000pts at a competition in Hexham at the weekend.
Macey managed only 7,491pts after battling against a series of injury problems that began when he tore a muscle in his groin in the long jump, only the second of the 10 disciplines he attempted over the two days.
It was the worst way to end his Olympic dream but it was an outcome that was always on the cards for an athlete who has struggled against a catalogue of injuries throughout his decade at the top. A frenetic trainer, he probably spent more time on the treatment table than any other British athlete and contested only half a dozen major decathlons in his senior career.
advertisementMacey said: "This is the most difficult decision that I have ever had to make but, if I'm being honest, I don't believe that I can stay healthy anymore.
"My heart is there, my mind is there but my body has finally given in. It's been an amazing journey over the last few years and the support that I have received has been phenomenal.
"I've given nothing but 100 per cent over the last decade and worn my Great Britain vest with pride."
In between his injury problems, it was always a vibrant and defiant Macey who lined up against the world's best. He burst onto the world scene at the 1999 world championships, where his silver medal promised a golden future.
It was not to be. He claimed the bronze medal at the 2001 world championships in Edmonton and his only title came at the Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne in 2006. His two Olympic appearances saw him finish fourth at the Sydney and Athens Games.
He knew that if he made it to Beijing, the Olympic decathlon would be his last chance to make an impression but he never made it. Speaking before he travelled to Hexham, Macey admitted that he often felt embarrassed at the support he received from UK Athletics and the lottery-funded world class performance programme.
He said: "I used to think 'Do I deserve this?' I wanted to say to them, 'Shouldn't you be spending more time on someone else?'"
Easily Britain's most entertaining athlete and the man who brought worldwide recognition to Canvey Island where he still lives, Macey can look forward to resuming a media career which began promisingly a few years ago with a regular series for the Sky Discovery Channel on angling, the passtime that occupied him between training sessions.
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