Imagethief

Every one of us in the stands were hot and sweaty as hell too. What a show though, I'm glad no one bought my ticket.

I wanted to tweet while I was watching but I didn't have a connection at the time. Happy that you managed to express my sentiments at every stage of the ceremony.

I thought though that they overdid the lighting effects. Overwhelmed the performance. But thats what I get for being an events guy :S

LoL, ditto on quite a few of your observations, especially how utterly robotic and boring the Chinese officials/leaders looked. I thought they'd be enthused about the whole thing instead of the stiff wooden smiles. Maybe they've seen too many rehearsals?

Haha, felt bad about the girls on the perimeter too.

The yellow on blue Ukrainian outfits totally overshadowed China's fan qie chao dan outfits...which didn't look too bad when they separated the men and women contrary to earlier popular opinion.

LoL, yeah, I think London has a tough act to follow. That was a pretty awesome show, something most Americans and their flash bang boorish tastes could appreciate.

"Good luck, Beijing!"

Sorry, Will, but I nearly puked when I read that. Please leave sycophancy to China Daily!

What I couldn't work out about the opening ceremony was: was it about the politburo celebrating the olympics, or the olympics celebrating the politburo?

Was totally psyched when we got to our box seats (compensation for a year of my husband's sweating it out training volunteers) and realized those comfy sofas were in direct line of air conditioning. Less pysched when I realized there were no close circuit TV broadcasts and to see the opening I had to haul my eight month+ pregnant body out into the heat to enjoy. But, enjoy I did!

Everyone in our group thought it his duty to stuff me with as much Yili (love ya local sponsor!) ice cream as possible.

The gift bags were full of fun things for my kids, though I wanted to keep the fuwa led torch for myself.

The pregame instructions to use the gifts were WAY over the top. They lost me at:

When you see the rings, wave the torch clockwise...when you hear the music...

Scarves, torches, flags, too much to remember. I stuck to clapping.

Marveled at how more than two thousand performers could get on the floor in military formation while pushing huge drums in under two minutes,yet our top athletes couldn't make it halfway around the arena in under twenty minutes. I felt bad for the volunteer who had the job of shushing them along.

After all the excitement and heat, I had to pass on the company after-party. Everyone else loaded onto the coach bus for more fun, but subway lovin' gal that I am insisted to my husband that he could go and I would just take that gleaming train home to our door. He was beat, too and later ready to beat me when we walked, walked, walked past all the heavily gaurded and closed stations on the Olympic line.  Finally got on at Beitucheng Donglu. Cursed my impractical footwear, but let the buzz of a really great show carry me up that final escalator home. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat...but in sport shoes!

Maybe so, but personally I'd have huge problems wishing these b'stards luck while Hu Jia and many others with erroneous political views languish in jail, arms get sold to Zimbabwe during a time of deadly election violence and promises on lifting internet censorship get broken, to name but a few issues that you can clearly see are leaving me foaming at the mouth.

So, has the murder of that American tourist by a deranged knife wielding Chinese citizen gotten much play in the local media or are government officials keeping that one under wraps?

Will,

I'd also be interested in hearing if the murder got any air play over there...

Overall, a great show but a little over the top. I know that China really wanted to impress, and it was beautiful, but there was a sense of just trying to impress a litttle too much. Like showing up for a fist date in a tuxedo. Does the man on the street think that spending a chunk of GDP on the games is a worthwhile investment?

@ Extremely Concerned,

I am Chinese American living in the US and my family endured persecution by the Communist government so I am hardly a fan of its current government.  But I was moved by this ceremony.  If you do not get that this opening ceremony is a tribute to the Chinese people and its culture, NOT the current government, then it's really sad.  You could not have insulted the Chinese people more.  

Dave and Michael: Yes, there has been coverage of the murder in the Chinese press. Later, much less, and less detail than what's been published overseas, but still, it is there.

Will, somehow I was underwhelmed by Li Ning's torch lighting. It was cool, but somehow anti-climactic. I guess it was the interminable parade and the ridiculous neo-pagan quasi-religious Olympic rituals that preceeded it.

Will, fair points. I would love nothing more than for the Olympics to be a joyous occasion for everyone. But for me, it's a matter of conscience. I cannot get beyond the position, which is that to stand in one of those stadiums, for me as a foreigner armed with information from the international media which most Chinese don't get to see, would be publicly saying to the Chinese government: "Internet censorship's fine by me, carry on. Jailing people who disagree with you is ok by me, carry on. Not immediately recalling arms shipments when you know a country's descending into political violence gets my support." I cannot see how publicly supporting the Olympics is not turning a blind eye to a countless array of serious social injustices.

The presence of an international crowd at these Olympics will be seen by the government as a global show of approval for its policies and will be spun that way domestically. The opening ceremony was also highly politicised, with its frequent camera pans over the politburo and other world leaders. It appeared like it was aimed at showing a domestic audience world leaders fawning over their glorious leaders.

The other thing that makes this Olympics a sham for me is the fact that as Putin was in Beijing promoting the so-called Olympic spirit, he was sending tanks into South Ossetia. Obviously Georgia is at fault in this conflict too, but that it should erupt on the opening day demonstrates the Olympic spirit is well and truly dead.  

By the way, I'm not biased against the Chinese; I will feel the same about the London games.

As for "insulting the Chinese people", that's rubbish. I've only insulted you (apologies). There will be Chinese people who agree with me.

@Extremely Concerned:

"The presence of an international crowd at these Olympics will be seen by the government as a global show of approval for its policies and will be spun that way domestically."

Maybe the government will, and maybe it will be spun that way. But implicit in your statement is "and the Chinese public will believe them".

What, in your experience of peoples and governments, makes you think that?!

You know what my Beijing cabdriver said to me yesterday, as we were stopped at a green light to let a military bus go (a military bus which could easily have waited the 30 seconds or so for his light to go green)?

He said, and I quote: "The government fears us so much, sometimes it makes me laugh."

Because implicit in _his_ statement was "you know, one day our patience might just run out". So much for this meek Chinese population you imply, soaking up government spin uncritically, eh?

"I cannot see how publicly supporting the Olympics is not turning a blind eye to a countless array of serious social injustices. "

The clothes you wear -- where are they from? The computer you're typing on -- where is it made? Your country's economy -- how tied in is it to China?

And yet you choose the _Olympics_ to make your stand?!

Should the US have boycotted the Berlin Olympics in 1936 -- or just let Jesse Owens run? You tell me.

I live in southern California, where there is a large Chinese community, and I can tell you, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, even from my Taiwanese friends.  Today, one of my Chinese American colleagues told me she was moved to tears watching the children marching out.

This is the Chinese people's Olympics, not the Chinese government's.  China belongs to its people, not its government.  I am frustrated because the Chinese people have made themselves loud and clear and yet why do so many non-Chinese treat the Olympics as if it's the Chinese government's Olympics, and China as if it's owned by the Chinese government.  Of course the government is going to spin it to suit its agenda, so if anything, we should make sure that we recognize this is the people's Olympics, rather than indiscriminantly calling it the genocide Olympics or nazi Olympics.    

I take my "insulting the Chinese" comment back.  I was too harsh.  I am sure you are a good person.  If my world view had been limited to my western upbringing, I'd probably think the same way.  

Thinking back now on watching the opening ceremony (and mind you, I was half asleep), I find it curious that while the show honored 5000 years of Chinese culture, invention and history,  there were no sections dedicated to the Cultural Revolution or Great Leap Forward.

I guess China is proud of all its history...  Except for the last 60 years or so?

OK, Shannon

I don't believe that the Chinese are entirely meek in the face of a repressive government, but I do believe that many are influenced by the state-run media and selective, nationalistic education. I too have met taxi drivers who lambast the government. In the immediate aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake one said, "This government is only any good at controlling people," in relation to a lack of reports on why schools collapsed so easily. On the other hand I've also met many ordinary Chinese who won't talk about politics out of fear. But I've met many more whose line of political argument is a mirror image of the opinion espoused in the state-run media.

As I live in China long-term I have little choice but to buy Chinese goods. My marriage to a Chinese national shows I can see beyond the government. I don't have much control over how my country's economy is linked to China's. I don't begrudge the Chinese people greater prosperity and better living standards. But I don't feel I should have to qualify my comments by saying the Chinese are a great people and all that in the hope that I might offend less. I don't like this emphasis on nations and nationalities. We're all of the same species.

But not attending the Olympics for me is my way of peacefully protesting against some of the Chinese government's odious policies. Do I have to agree with all of the government's policies? Are you telling me I don't have a right to protest? Buying an item of Chinese-made clothing whose label is tucked away out of sight is hardly likely to be seen by anyone as a show of support for the Chinese government, but my face captured on CCTV and broadcast to the world will be portrayed as exactly that, in my humble opinion. Like I said, by standing in one of those stadiums I would be publicly declaring that I don't mind internet censorship etc. I think that's a dangerous precedent. How can I sit in a stadium enjoying the so-called Olympic spirit while Hu Jia is languishing in jail (he was jailed the same day Hu Jintao lit the Olympic torch on Tiananmen Rectangle)? It massively bugs my conscience. Please tell me how to get over that. How does one turn a blind eye and sleep easy at night?

Yes the US team and the entire democratic world should have boycotted the Berlin games. It is clear, having read Guy Walters's Berlin Games: How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream, that fascist, anti-semite careerists in the IOC, ie Avery Brundage, shouted down the Jewish lobby, and covered up the persecution that so many were trying to expose in the run up to the Games.

>>How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream

Yes, he was hugely successful, wasn't he, considering that the defining image of that games was a single man (the aforementioned Owens) completely repudiating his "master race" agenda.

And the 1980 boycott was also massively successful in its aims of shortening the war in Afghanistan.

Look, I'm not going to argue with you that the IOC are a pack of pandering careerists to this day. Sport is administrated by the "can't do, so get a job in management" class the world over. The sport I love the most, cricket, is damaged daily by the useless wankers at the ICC who run it. But it's still the best team game in the world -- a game not hostage to any particular physicality, where a champion team _always_ beats a team of champions -- and it's played (and won!) by countries rich and poor. It's still, excuse the pun, cricket.

People _have_ played politics with the Olympics, without a doubt. But somehow, despite all that, it's still comprised of incredibly fit and dedicated young people representing their countries at the highest level of athletic achievement. Shooting -- the most boring sport in the world -- was utterly transformed yesterday by an utterly amazing competition between a Finn, a Chinese, and an Indian. It literally doesn't get better than that. I watched it with a McDonald's upper floor full of laobaixing, who reacted to the eventual Indian victory with the most incredibly generous and warm-hearted statements. I am a stone-hearted cynic, and I was moved to tears.

And so what I am saying is that by instituting your one-man "peaceful protest" all you are doing is _joining_ the ranks of those who want to play politics with this most storied of sporting events. You're _becoming_ what you claim to hate.

There are other, far more effective ways to _do something_ about Hu Jia -- and all the others -- that will have an actual effect.

It constantly amazes me how the very same people who will stand for hours to shout some meaningless slogan at someone running past with a torch wouldn't _crap_ in a donation bucket for organizations who are _actually_ working for Tibetan independence, or [insert your cause here].

I am not saying this is you. By the same token, don't let it be.

Shannon

I can't accept your position, which is basically, 'let's look the other way'. While the Chinese govt is telling us there is only "One World, One Dream" when we both know only too well that this does not exist, then I can only see the event as a sham. I also don't see how you can expect me to sympathise with the cause of some pampered, nominally amateur athlete over the cause of someone who's been jailed for trying to help their community. When we've sorted these problems out, by all means bring on the Olympics. Call me a sanctimonious git, but for me social justice is far more important than what is basically a highly commercialised vanity fest which comes around once every four years.

I also don't see how I'm joining the ranks of those I claim to hate. My protest is not aimed at consolidating my grip on power or self-glorification. I'm merely saying to the people who are doing that, look I cannot come to your party while you treat people the way you do. I'm also saying, look you told me a few months ago that we would have the same internet access during the games that all other Olympics have enjoyed, but now you've gone back on your word. Do you want me to shrug that off? My politicisation of the Olympics is not hypocritical because I'm not denying that I'm politicising it. I'm just pointing that those who are telling us not to politicise the games are doing exactly that. Acts of bad faith and disingenuity aboundeth.

You forgot to mention that the boycott did have an impact on South Africa. Perhaps a bit too inconvenient for you?

It's perhaps apt that Russia has launched an imperialist war during this Olympics.

To who exactly did Jesse Owens prove that racial superiority was a myth? Democratic, open-minded sections of the West? Hmm, case of preaching to the converted if you ask me. It didn't convince Hitler, obviously. You do know what happened after 1936, don't you?

I would also "crap" in a bucket of an organisation I support.

Ah! The truth, finally. You describe the Olympics as "...basically a highly commercialised vanity fest which comes around once every four years."

So, presumably, you wouldn't watch it anyway.

Making your protest not only utterly ineffective (as we've discussed) but also personally meaningless, as it's _something you would do anyway_.

"I'm merely saying to the people who are doing that, look I cannot come to your party while you treat people the way you do."

No, you're not. You're not "saying" anything to them at all. If you actually want to "speak truth to power" then you will have to find some way of _actually doing it_. There are ways. They are not hard to find. There are ways that are _surprisingly effective_ that you can literally _fall across_ on the internet.

"You forgot to mention that the boycott did have an impact on South Africa."

What impact?! You surely are not seriously suggesting the sports boycott was effective above and beyond the economic and political one in effect at the same time? C'mon!

"Do you want me to shrug that off?"

Not at all. Not in the slightest. Let me be utterly clear that I encourage you, again, to find an effective way of making your voice heard. Doing something you would do anyway, doing something that has _no impact_ on the people you're supposed to be "protesting" to/about, and trying to pass that off as meaningful on someone else's blog is, however, the _very definition_ of self-aggrandizing.

You know, I also feel annoyance at many things Extremely Concerned mentioned, but don't really feel my presence at the opening or events I am planning to attend lends legitmacy to anything that rubs me the wrong way. Certainly my absence would never be noted or could never be construed as any sort of statement whatsoever. Simply by not being Chinese, one is pretty much regulated to being in one of two categories: "supports China" or "does not exist".

I fully understand one's conscience being ill at ease with attending, (and the personal choice not to). But, it really is a totally subjective matter, which really can't be extrapolated across the entire non-Chinese population. I have been here a long time,  years before Beijing even won the bid. For me, attending meant sharing a long-awaited  joyous moment with my family, friends and colleagues.

On a more personal note @ Extremely Concerned, I am curious about your Chinese spouse's point of view re: your position, on the Olympics

Shannon

You presumed wrong and leapt to a character assassination. Nice. But let me tell you, I would have attended the games had there been some gesture of compassion from the Chinese govt ie releasing Hu Jia and other political prisoners.

I'm not really a dedicated sports fan (I prefer participant sports like surfing to spectator sports), but I can appreciate the spectacle and am not immune to the fevered atmosphere that goes with major sporting tournaments. I'd also go along to be part of the historic moment in Beijing. But I cannot put my desire to be able to say at some party next year, yeah I was at Beijing brag brag brag, above Hu Jia, Yang Chunlin, Wu Lihong and many others. Just because I believe the Olympics in its present format is a highly commercialised vanity fest doesn't mean I want it abolished. That's preposterous. I'd rather see it returned to what it is supposed to be about.

The 28-year ban on South Africa was a force in ending apartheid. Not the only one, granted, but a force nevertheless.

As for the "do you want me to shrug that off" line, you find the time to criticise me, but don't address the specific and undeniable fact that the Chinese govt has broken its promise on internet censorship during the games. Again, you look the other way.

There are other ways to make protests, as well as boycotting things. But boycotts are a valid form of showing disapproval. Of course the host would argue against boycotts!

When you're in that stadium, Shannon, soaking up the Olympic spirit, please spare a few minutes for quiet reflection about political prisoners in China.

Kimmor

You're right, you're attendance probably wouldn't be missed. The yellow shirted cheer squads are making sure the stadiums are full.

But I reiterate. By being there I believe I'd be publicly endorsing the Chinese govt's policies, particularly on internet censorship because it is intertwined with these games. The government broke its promise and by going along I believe I would be saying, "I'm not too bothered about that, carry on with your policy." One World, Two Internets.

@Will

Ahhhh yes, and I felt a creeping sensation that I was sliding into that territory when I had no choice but to throw a tattered paper Chinese flag that had succumbed to an unfortunate yogurt spill into the trash can!

>>You presumed wrong and leapt to a character assassination. Nice.

No. I quoted you and took your stated disdain for the entire event as what you actually meant. You have since substantially retracted that. I apologize if my assessment of your pre-retraction statements came off as "character assassination".

In response to the rest of what you wrote in your most recent post (in which you accuse me of "look[ing] the other way" -- an accusation I resent and utterly repudiate) I can only reiterate what I stated earlier:

Let me be utterly clear that I encourage you, again, to find an effective way of making your voice heard. Because as you said to kinmor "You're right, you're attendance probably wouldn't be missed."

Indeed.

@Will, the worldview comment was aimed at myself.  If I had erased the Chinese half of myself, I'd probably think like Extremely Concerned.  I am sure EC is a nice person, but he clearly does not see the Chinese point of view.

Life is about expanding our horizon as much as possible by learning from each other (especially those who disagree with us). You are clearly a well travelled and versed person, and I am sure that's the reason so many of us visit your site to learn what Will has to say so that we can refine our own perspective and expand our worldview.

Shannon

My final post on this. It's not about not being missed; it's about my presence being used for something I disagree with, ie taken as a public sign of approval for policies you and I both find abhorrent. You cannot avoid the fact that with the row over the internet censorship (inextricably linked to the games) only a week before the opening, it is quite obvious to the Chinese government that anyone who attends is prepared to overlook that policy.

Besides, I don't see what I've retracted, as at no point did I say I wouldn't go to the games under different circs.  

Hehehe, I'm taking the pussiest middle-of-the-ground option possible:  In my mind, I'm against the olympics for all the reasons EC mentions, and so I don't attend the events.  And yet I watch them in my air conditioned home with my Chinese friends and family, and enjoying it.  Both sides, lighten up, be firm in whatever your stance is, but chill out and remember the issues will always be there to talk about when the Olympics are over.

Spending money on a show of this quality is much better than squandering money on unjustified wars or meddling with other people's business.

Forgive the incredibly late posting, but I saw no mention of this:

http://tinyurl.com/6jzhwa

It's an article re Windows' BSOD at the Olympics. It's hardly world-shattering, but v. funny. :D

Extremely Concerned

May by thinking about the tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghans whose bodies were shreded to pieces by American and British bombs can help you feel better.