The Olympic Closing That Was A Blast

All celebrations indicate victory and change. A graduation party celebrates the end of one type of learning and the beginning of another. The wedding party welcomes two singles now joined as one. And last night the Olympics Closing Ceremony was a celebration for Beijing, and all of China, for a job well done as it handed over the Olympic flame (and burden!) to London, England. And boy, was it FUN!

Everyone showing up for the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics at the Bird's Nest was ready to cheer and be entertained. And we were entertained, except for those obligatory speeches, of course. Light displays, acrobatics, fireworks, song & dance, strange space-age creatures climbing, jumping, diving in the air - that and more. We weren't sure what language Placido Domingo was singing in, but we enjoyed it all the same. The cheerleaders we met beforehand outside the Bird's Nest still gallantly and endlessly cheered - and kept atheletes more or less in their areas. Jimmy Page grinding his electric guitar while Leona Lewis belted out Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" set the whole audience (and that's a lotta people - more than 90,000 according to Xinhua!) grooving in their seats, waving their plastic torches and just enjoying the wild scene. David Beckham appeared for another photo op and unsurprisingly kicked a soccer ball into the stadium audience. Jackie Chan found yet another Olympic opportunity (in addition to airport ads re: counterfeit goods) and sang onstage with other Chinese stars. In the end, fireworks blasting around the Bird's Nest and throughout targeted Beijing areas were felt even in the Beijing suburbs.

After the ceremony, we and friends went off to Mare, a Spanish restaurant, for a late night snack and stumbled into the Spanish Basketball team's celebration of their silver finish against the American Dream Team. (I refuse to call the Americans the Redeem Team - they played like a dream together!) A friend from the Spanish Embassy spied us, welcomed us, and we stayed enthralled with the scene. Anna for her first (and perhaps, only?) time got to wear a silver medal courtesy of Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trailblazers, and I, tall for a woman, felt diminutive for the first time in my life next to 7'1" Pau Gasol of the LA Lakers! All the young men were gallant, humble guys, bless them, even to remembering the victims of Spanair's recent air crash tragedy when giving comments to TVE, the Spanish television network. Friends, family, team players from both men's and women's teams, journalists, a few fans, dumbstruck wait staff from the restaurant - we all celebrated being alive and being lucky enough to witness the Beijing Olympics and the achievements of so many. So, good luck, London - we all look forward to another great party in 2012!

8-23-08: Beijing Serves the People

(Photos: Retirees in Beijing hutongs cheerfully make sure cleanliness and traffic safety are up to Olympic standards.)

Mao stated the aim of the People's Republic of China was to "serve the people," or, wei renmin fuwu. The Olympic events have been dazzling for us; we yesterday saw the US Men's Volleyball team grasp victory over Russia in semi-finals, and today we saw Lionel Messi and his fellow Argentines dance around an equally adept, but alas, scoreless, Nigeria to win the gold medal in men's football. (Nigeria won silver, Brazil won bronze. Think about it: THAT's where the future of football is, Latin America and Africa!)

And yet, at the Olympic venues, about town, and even in the suburbs it's the people serving the people I keep seeing and thinking about. Volunteers abound and most volunteers working at the Olympic venues are college students, the majority from Beijing. Yet there are also blind masseurs volunteering to massage atheletes and journalists. There are volunteer retirees watching out for safety, cleanliness and traffic propriety in their Beijing hutongs. There are volunteers in the suburbs who man information booths 12 hours a day. This is a country of 1.3 BILLION people and service, as in people, is both plentiful (because of the numbers) and sincere (because service is drilled in from birth). (Photo: Suburban volunteers man info booth.)

Can London, our next Olympic host, match these numbers? Can any of us match the enthusiasm or sincerity these volunteers have shown the world in Beijing? I hope so. As we wind down to the closing ceremony Sunday evening I hope that the world says Xie Xie, or thank you, to all these volunteers. It's been a job well done, my friends.

(Photo: Young volunteers share a light moment outside the Olympics Sports Center.)

8-19-08: Track & Field Lessons, Surprises & Victories

(Photo: Runners collapse in exhaustion after the men's 1500 m. race Tuesday night at the Bird's Nest.)

After a day and half, we return to evening events at the Bird's Nest and lo! we find that the organizers have solved the scary entry problem. Remember my near death-by-crushing experience? Well, now the fence has been moved inward a bit, queue lines are clearly marked with tape and posts on the sidewalks and two gates, not one, are opened to participants to line up in security lines. What an improvement!

I also meet a daughter and her mother with a ticket I haven't seen before. Entry is for the grounds and parks surrounding the Bird's Nest, Water Cube and the National Indoor Stadium (where gymnastics take place). They plan to snack and stroll and watch events from various huge TV screens mounted on nearby buildings. They are excited to participate in the Olympics in their own way.

(Photo: The daughter-mother pair and their tickets to the Olympic grounds.)

The athletics events of the evening literally start of with a Bang! as the women's 200m. qualifier starts. We have the US, Jamaica and the first covered Muslim woman from Bahrain running with others, and the Bahraini wins the first heat! Immediately she kneels and kisses the ground before being whisked away for interviews. More Jamaicans, Americans, Russians and Brits win as heats go on.

The 5000 m. race for women is gruelling - 12.5 times around the track! Fans in the upper tiers of the stadium are fanning themselves silly because it is so warm, and these women are trying to finish within 14-15 minutes! In the first heat, the poor Malawian is lapped and almost collapses when she finishes, but the crowd cheers encouragement and claps loudly when she completes her run. In the second heat, one runner collapses off the track, in the field, and she writhes in pain. Poor woman. An American makes the qualifier - yeah!

Going on are men's high jump. The Briton is a charismatic soul who knows how to engage the fans. He gets fans clapping for him, he cups his ears for cheers (and gets them!) and the crowd is happy to please him. The Russians and German are more solemn; in the end, Russians capture gold and bronze and the Brit captures silver.

A brief survey of the male chromosone, whether at age four or fourteen or forty, indicates the coolest Olympic job seen so far has to be the guys controlling the remote cars which shuttle javelins, discus and hammers. Big or small, the boys drool over that cool task! Estonia, Poland and Lithuania eventually win in discus. The Estonian is so proud, he circumnavigates the track twice for his victory lap!

(Photo: Olympic fun! Remote control cars used to shuttle discus back from the field.)

Four heats of men's hurdles ensue. We see Robles of Cuba, Poland and the Netherlands win a heat. China cheers for Shi Dongpeng, while Americans cheer for David Oliver (see his blog at http://davidoliverhurdles.blogspot.com/) and both qualify! Shockingly, Qatar is disqualified in heat 3 when he false starts a second time. In the fourth heat, China fails to qualify but the US, France and Spain do.

More stars continue to either succeed or falter as the evening winds down. Dix, Bolt, Crawford, Spearmon, tiny St. Kitts and Nevis, they all qualify for the 200 m. men's final. Upsets occur in the women's 110 hurdles when American Lolo Jones, a favorite, clips something on the ninth hurdle (a foot? a knee?) and just like that goes from first to fifth or sixth. At race end she kneels in shock on the ground, head knocking against the track. I feel for her. In the 400 m., another American Sanya Richards was leading when suddenly outstripped at the end by Brit Ohuruoga and Jamaican Williams.

It's late and we must leave. We see Lord Sebastian Coe, a past Olympian, present medals to high jumpers. We don't see, but later hear, of his compatriot Tony Blair entering the Bird's Nest and also watching these events. All we know is that in the evening we share with the athletes what all of humanity shares: mistakes, endurance, joy, regret and satisfaction.

A Tale of Two Venues: the Bird's Nest & the Water Cube

Last night China clinched gold and bronze medals in women’s 3m springboard diving; Russia grasped the silver. The night was blessedly comfortable and those lucky enough to attend either the semifinals in women’s 3m diving or athletics at the Bird’s Nest roamed the parks as if it were a summer festival.

The Water Cube is seductive. It beckons to each and every photographer, amateur and professional alike, and pleases them all with its “bubbles” glistening like fish-scales, mutating from violet to blue to green before glowing violet again in the darkness. Yet, I don’t like the inside of the Cube. Women queue almost 30 deep for the FOUR restrooms available, inside which are 9-10 squat stalls. Music blares a bit TOO loudly after each and every dive – that’s twelve divers, five attempts each, with some additional breaks, for 60 or more deafening tunes over almost two hours. Fragrant perfume and odorous snack smells both attack my olfactory senses. It’s a tough night of viewing, folks.

I lament that I’ve forgotten my binoculars, as the divers appear smaller than my pinky fingernail from our seat location; yet, thankfully, the big screens show great slow-motion replays of each dive. I regret having NO knowledge of how to score a dive; yet, over the course of the evening, even I begin to catch on to the fluid perfection that Guo Jingjing, the night’s winner and new Chinese record holder for dive medals, displays in her dives. I cannot even begin to imagine the pressure each diver faces as she stands alone on the diving board, or as a camera looms in her face during each post-dive shower. Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia (Guo’s partner in synchronized diving) show neither pleasure nor regret over their dives; cameras show them impassive before and after each dive.

The entire Chinese audience acts as proud family when Wu Minxia and Guo Jingjing receive their medals with silver medalist Julia Pakhalina of Russia. The crowd joins in unison for the Chinese national anthem and more cheers finally bring emotion to Guo as she tries to hold back tears and smiles. People stay to the very end to photograph, greet, wave and applaud their new diving queens as they and Julia promenade before the crowd, holding their flowers tightly against their newly, and deservedly, won medals.

(Photo: Crowds trying to enter Bird's Nest security stations.)

This morning I realize that my own Olympic training is incomplete. All the meal planning, careful bedtimes and rousing wake up calls have not prepared me for attendance at almost daily Olympic events, most particularly this morning’s athletics at the Bird’s Nest following last night’s competition at the Water Cube. Only my husband is his usual cheerful self; the rest of us are sluggish and quiet (and yes, once or twice downright sullen) until we have completely awakened.

We arrive at the Bird’s Nest a little bit before the 9 o’clock start time, but we are not alone on this beautiful, clear morning. Hundreds are there with us, and I experience my first trickle of fear as people push and shove to get through the small gate opening that leads to the security lines. Inconceivably, about six young volunteers are on the inside limiting entrance to about twenty people at a time; outside there are no orderly queues and foreigners and Chinese alike surge and push to make the cut. As I clutch my son and yell to those behind me not to push, I think to myself, So this is how those tragic crushing accidents at soccer games in Europe have occurred! Once inside this gate, the eight double security lanes still move slowly. Tarps or mist machines cool the queues from the sun. I watch Lane 1, labeled for elderly or disabled, as various people, neither old nor infirm, attempt to use it and are valiantly turned away by two young female volunteers. I see one man in a wheelchair and marvel that he managed to get through that wild throng uninjured!

I like the Bird’s Nest. It also has an organic, appealing, unique architecture, but where the Water Cube teases, the Bird’s Nest delivers. Once inside the bottleneck security, there are lots of entries, lots of restrooms, lots of snack bars (you can complain about the snack offerings, but there is plenty of opportunity to buy them!), lots of seats and lots of stairways. We are a bit watchful of the sun. Thankfully, we are fifteen rows away and near the triple jump section and the start of the 200 m. race, but we see the sun moving inexorably towards us and don’t know if we’ll escape it or not. Those already in the sun either fan themselves constantly; hide under newspapers, hats or parasols; or give up and move, to where I don’t know.

On display this morning were qualifying rounds for women’s hammer throw, men’s triple jump, men’s 200 and 400 meter races, and men’s 110 meter hurdles. Big names were there like Usain Bolt of Jamaica, 100 m. champion and world record holder, and Jeremy Wariner, 400 m. world and Olympic champion. Probably the most significant events were tragic, though: the injuries of American hurdler Terrence Trammel and, more devastatingly to China, the injury to Athens gold medalist and national treasure Liu Xiang. Liu was in the final heat of the final race of the morning; he took three steps at a false start, and just stopped, turned, walked off the field and through a tunnel. The audience was shocked and didn’t know what was happening. Then, as the large screen showed him walking into the interior of the stadium, sitting and being approached by medics and security, a sorrowful buzz grew from an audience who had obviously pinned great hopes on him. Those leaving the Nest were a bit quieter than they might have been, as one of China’s great Olympic hopes was dashed by an injury.

8-16-08 Men's Ping Pong Semi-finals: A New Creature Emerges?

Remember that movie Gremlins? Those cute, cuddly creatures that suddenly turn unpredictably wild and scary?

Well, tonight at the Beijing University Gymnasium we experienced a new type of Olympic event, Gremlin-style. In the past, audiences (overwhelmingly Chinese) have been very politically, or at least Olympically, correct: they've cheered for the Olympics, or for both or either competing team, and even seemed to be a bit soft-hearted and cheered for the underdog to encourage good games. Tonight, the soft-side turned tough.

China was in semi-final competition with Korea in ping-pong, practically the national sport of China. Here there was no cheering for the underdog. In a sport where, my Inner Mongolian seatmate said, cheering is subdued and orderly (as in cheering for the players, but no more), suddenly a whole-hearted LOUD and repeated national cheer for Chinese players and the Chinese team continued throughout the evening. The cheering from flag-waving, red & gold clad audience members almost (but not quite) disregarded the regular postings on the large screen "No Cheering during Serve" and seemed to encourage the Chinese players and, in the end, out-psyched the Korean players (who, to me, seemed stronger in the beginning). An occasional English (with Chinese accent) cry of "I hate Korea!" was balanced by a Mandarin (with foreign accent) cry of "Korea is our friend! Hanguo shi wo pengyou!"

The crowd warmed up the cheers for Ma Lin; he won, then lost (twice), and then came back to win the fourth and final games to win the match. In the second and third games, the Korean player was strong. But he breaks in the fourth game, and Ma Lin, with HUGE crowd encouragement, wins that and the fifth game 11-5 to win the match.

Already pumped, the audience enthusiastically cheers for the next Chinese player Wang Hao. There are a few Korean flags in the audience, but their voices are not heard above the cheers of the home crowd. The serves of the players are amazing - serpentine twists of the wrist close to the body, a small drop and suddenly players are 15 feet away from the table, smashing and saving incredible shots! Gasps and cries flow from the crowd during the ebb and flow of each rally. Players sweat, grimace, position, and pump after successful plays. The officials, in contrast, sit impassively rendering points. Wang Hao successfully wins Games 1 and 2 for China. The Korean wins Game 3 11-6, but he seems to be faltering under the steady cheers for Wang Hao. Game 4, Wang Hao wins and the crowd goes wild!

My Mongolian neighbor says the crowd is too loud. The doubles team members are now on the court and, frankly, the Chinese look pumped and the Koreans anxious. The games are quick in China's favor: 11-4, 11-6, 11-5. In the last game I start cheering for Korea because they are scoreless and I always cheer for the underdog. I get dirty looks from my neighbors, but when I say (in Mandarin) I don't like zero scores, they shrug. They are confident it won't matter; and it didn't, except to me.

8/16/08: Water Polo = White Water!

(Photo: Italy scores against Germany, but falls in the end 7-8, Saturday, Aug. 16th.)


We meet the most seamless security check so far at the Olympic Park, south of the Bird’s Nest and housing the Yingdong Natatorium (for water polo and modern pentathlon swimming), the Olympic Sport Center Gymnasium (for handball) and the Olympic Sports Center Stadium (for modern pentathlon running & equestrian). Fans arrive to view both water polo and handball today. It’s a second beautiful blue sky day in Beijing and we can see the Bird’s Nest and Olympic flame clearly. We also discover we’ve received the worst seats so far! The Natatorium is a long rectangular building with a diving pool and water polo pool in the middle of facing stadium seating. We are against the wall, in front of the diving platforms and as far away from the water polo pool as can be. The seats are too small to turn our bodies the 40 degrees or so we need to even see the water polo straight on! As usual, there are many empty seats right in front the main pool, but the ticket checkers are very efficient at checking tickets and we cannot move. However, after MUCH asking, one volunteer leads us to a desk at which three young female volunteers sit. We explain we cannot see clearly, they look at our original tickets, and they write us a new form with new seat numbers. We go to the new numbers and VOILA! They are front and center at the main pool! I later ask these volunteers if all venues have this service; they say only those with known obstruction areas have this service.

Water polo is brutal. To our inexperienced eyes it is all referee whistles, near drowning, and white water! The first game between Germany and Italy is tough; one Italian looks as though he has a bruised cheekbone. The goalies engage in a lot of German and Italian yelling to their teammates. In the 4th Quarter, Germany has the lead 8-7. With only 2 minutes left, Italy has two more goal attempts and everyone is either holding their breath or screaming. Still, Germany holds fast: final score 8-7.

One of our seat neighbors is an American who since last fall has worked for Major League Baseball (MLB) in China. He’s a strength and conditioning coach whose job was to help train up-and-coming players in the China Baseball League (CBL). After a quick fall training, the promising team went to Arizona to play minor, minor league teams for the experience. According to the coach, the Chinese were blitzed. After a winter of more training, the team went back to the US again for more of the same, but did better (or, not as badly). Still, he noted a lot of challenges MLB has in China. First, baseball is not the norm in China. Basketball and football are much more common, in both rural and urban settings. As a result, the Chinese start later (at 10 years old or older). The skills levels are lower. Moreover, since China was not anticipated to be a medalist in baseball, the CBL allowed no publicity or coverage of the MLB’s work. Finally, it’s been noted that the Olympic venues for baseball (one practice field and two stadiums) are temporary. This guy said that after Taiwanese came to view the baseball facilities in Beijing and complimented them, an official was overheard to say, “Yes, we’re keeping one.” We’ll see!

The second water polo match is between Canada and Greece. Within the first four minutes, Greece is pounding Canada 4-1! Behind us is the family of Robin Randall, one of the Canadian goalies; we cheer with them and learn a lot about the sports from their commentary. Canada attempts many goals, but Greece plays a few surprises and overpowers them. Final score, 13-7.

Sadly, we have to leave and cannot stay for the US vs. Croatia game. Already the stands are flooding with red, white and blue. We learn later that the US upsets the favorite Croatia 7-5. It’s too bad we miss it! But we are having a marathon day of water polo, men’s basketball and team ping pong semi-finals today. We’ll see if we survive!

8/15/08: Women's Volleyball is a Smash

(Photo: Italy plows through Serbian defence on Friday, Aug.15th.)

Today we head over to the Capital Indoor Stadium to see women’s volleyball. Originally built in 1968 and updated in 2007, it’s an older facility on the west side, near the Capital Zoo, and again, the crowd is mostly Chinese. The facility is clean but one can see its age in the poor sound system and the squat toilets in the women’s restroom. In fact, many of the bathroom stalls seem permanently locked; are the catches just in the wrong position, or are people hiding in there? As the afternoon wears on, the floors become wet and one doesn’t see the constant housekeepers one sees at the new basketball arena.

Once again we are in the nosebleed section. I must remember to bring binoculars next time! Many people have difficulty understanding the seating indicated on tickets. I direct quite a few to two male volunteers across the aisle from me before I realize they are security people rather than volunteers. Perhaps I shown have known, as they seemed more interested in sitting and watching the teams on the floor than helping people!

The first game is between Poland and Venezuela. Venezuela has panache and verve, but Poland has a mostly impenetrable block and searing spikes. The red and white Polish fans wave flags and regularly erupt into “Polska” cheers. Poland decimates Venezuela 25-12 in the first game. Venezuela comes back and seems to be on the verge of taking over early in Game 2, and the crowd roars with approval each time a Venezuelan spike or block succeeds, but Poland slams back another and another spike and quickly outpaces Venezuela again. The Olympic mascots exhort us to do the Mexican Wave during a time out, but the crowd is slow to act and it’s a very limp wave. Poland again wins, 25-12. Things are getting a bit boring; one security guy is dozing while the other looks at a mini-TV. (Thought they weren’t allowed into the venues??) The Chinese fans have a soft spot for underdogs and cheer more and more for the Venezuelans as they make a grand effort and climb to 20 against Poland’s match point in the third game. Ultimately, Poland succeeds 25-20. The match is over in a quick 1 hour 10 minutes. (The average match is 1 hour 30 minutes, or 30 minutes per game.)

While waiting for the next match, I chat with Mao Fei Fei, rising senior at the Communication University of China in Beijing and a volunteer assigned to Photo Corps at this venue. He likes his job; he says some spots are more difficult than others, for example, the outdoor security line volunteers are exposed to heat or rain, or some floor volunteers must sit immobilized until they must act because they are close to the action (and cameras). The volunteers shift around, but mostly outside stay outside and inside stay inside. They work in twoshifts per day, arriving three hours ahead of the event.

The second match is between Italy and Serbia. Both teams look good on the floor, but the stats on the large screen show Italy is a bit older and more experienced with 29- and 30-year-olds. I vote to cheer for age and experience!! Italy immediately starts out with a BANG! spike and great drop but Serbia is not easily intimidated. Italy leads 14-10, then at set point 24-22 Serbia keeps delaying the inevitable, but finally Italy wins 25-23. In Game 2 I wonder if Serbia won’t get its groove, but Italy finds a weakness and serves three in a row to the same Serbian player and rolls to 10-3, and Serbia needs to call time out. Italy wins, 25-20. Game 3 is neck and neck and Italy wins again, 25-23. We head home exhausted from cheering.

8/13/08: Women's Basketball has its Chinese Fans

(Photo: WNBA and US Olympic Team star Lisa Leslie signs autographs after US win over Mali Wednesday night)

Women hold up half the sky, according to Mao. On Wednesday night the sky was the limit at the Wukesong Basketball Stadium when Australian, Korean, American and Malian women's teams faced off. Crowds queued deeply in security lines, as both baseball and basketball fans gathered to enter the shared Olympic grounds before 7 and 8 p.m. events.


Eighteen-year-old Tian Ye and his 10-year-old niece travelled from Henan Province for the women's basketball event. A ten-hour overnight train ride brought them to Beijing for a few days of Olympic events, but Tian Ye readily admitted basketball was his favorite sport. He described his hometown of Jiyuan as a known "basketball city," having what he describes as a world-class basketball stadium. In fact, Jiyuan originally hosted the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Henan Dragons before they moved to Shanxi Province and became the Shanxi Zhongyu team. [NOTE: This year the Zhongyu joined the International Basketball League (IBL) for the 2008 (summer) season to gain experience with American play. Past CBA stars include Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and Yi Jianlian of the Milwaukee Bucks.] Tian Ye enthusiastically shared his knowledge of the Australian team, his team favorite Lauren Jackson, her WNBA play in Seattle and more.


The crowd was quiet for the opening Korean national anthem, but as the Australian anthem played, voices singing in unison, first quiet, then louder, grew from the Aussies in the audience. Australia puts on a strong performance during the 1st Quarter, but Korea is tenacious. To my naive eye the Koreans seem to hit the 3-pt. shots more while the Aussies dominate under the net; as the game continues, the domination grows and the Koreans falter, missing shots and getting a bit slower. Australia wins, 90-62.


During the game groups of Chinese "cheerleaders", both male and female, bang their inflatable sticks and cheer for both countries. They all wear red T-shirts emblazoned with "Beijing Workers Cheer" in both Mandarin and English. I want to interview their leader: Who are they? What is their work unit? Are they assigned this "job" or are they volunteers? but I can't pin down this man.


While a night-life exists in Beijing, the average person is an early to bed, early to rise person. Just see how many people are in the parks between six and seven a.m.! The second game begins at 10:15 and at 9:50 people are beginning to leave. Tian Ye and his niece are among them. When I ask why they don't stay for a good game between Mali and the US, Tian Ye smiles and says, "Of course the US will win. It won't be interesting."


But the warm-up music is great and breathes life into both the teams warming up on the floor and the crowd. One of the American women does a dunk! Will there be more during the game? Both African and English tunes get pulses moving, and as cameras scan the audience a huge gasp and buzz go up as it recognizes American athletes in the atheletes' viewing section. I don't recognize them; are they hurdlers? sprinters? They are too far away for me to see clearly! I have to turn to young Chinese men nearby to ask and discover they are USA Dream Team players Chris Bosh and Jason Kidd.


Tian Ye was right and wrong. The US DID win (97-41), but I found the game interesting. This was Mali's first Olympic women's basketball team, and they might have been intimidated by their opponents, but they frightened the US at the start by leading 8-7 after just a few minutes. After a quick US time-out, the US team smoothed out their kinks and showed their stuff. The US relentlessly wears down their opponents; it regularly substitutes two or three players at a time. Their stats also show the all-around strength of the team; they ALL score. Mali has some spitfires, including Hamchetou Maiga of the WNBA Houston Comets, and she and others do their best to score. Sadly, one Malian goes down with an ankle injury and doesn't return to the game. I think her team misses her height and skills.


The Chinese crowd admires the skills of the Americans, especially Lisa Leslie of the WNBA LA Sparks. But they also cheer for the underdog and many claps and cheers go up to either encourage Mali or applaud a good play. At the end of the game, after many handshakes, the Malians join the US team for a very large group photo and ALL players are smiling. The Malians came and played their best, and that's all an Olympian can do, right?

Olympics & Business: A Mixed Blessing

Chris Brauteseth of the restaurant Pinotage and Winelink.com.cn (direct importers of South African wines), with partners Toby Cao and Amber Deetlefs, has experienced some of the ups and downs of doing business in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.

Among the successes: A celebration party for Canadian Olympic team flagbearer and Olympic gold medal winner Adam van Koeverden (1500m kayak race) on Monday, August 11th. The Canadians gave him a call three weeks before when scouting possible sites. After a wonderful meal, the Canadians settled on Pinotage and a group of more than 30 athletes, guests and family came to celebrate Adam's success. At the same event, Adam was bestowed the James Worral Flagbearer Award. James Worral, now 96, was the original flagbearer for Canada at the 1936 Berlin games. In addition to the Canadian celebration, Pinotage has hosted dinners for the New Zealand Embassy, the South African field hockey team and informal meals for the canoeing team. The restaurant highlights South African cuisine and was fully booked on August 8th, the night of the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics, and patrons enjoyed the large-screen broadcast amidst good food and wine.

The downside of the Olympics presents itself in ways both common and absurd to the businesses. New South African wines Winelink.com has imported have been sitting in Tianjin port since June 11th. Nothing can budge customs officials to loosen the stringent measures Beijing has decreed to limit possible terrorist dangers from port cities. Wine isn't the only victim of port security; one major European electrical manufacterer has had electrical parts and components held up as well for most of the summer. Amongst the absurd business disruptions Chris has experienced was the local police complaint that they were not involved in the security check carried out by the Olympic security force. Seems hurt feelings and turf issues are global, indeed.

Photo: Chris Brauteseth at his restaurant Pinotage in the Beijing suburb of Shunyi.

Sunday, 8/10/08 Men's Basketball

Conveniently and safely located across from Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army Hospital on Fuxing Road, the gold-mesh wrapped Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium is another of Beijing’s new Olympic stadiums and it’s next to the new temporary baseball stadium. Our family of four joined the throngs waiting to enter the stands, all of us excited to see some powerhouses play: Spain vs. Greece and Argentina vs. Lithuania. As the crowd flooded into the stadium at 1:30 there was a collective SIGH as cool a/c met hot bodies and throngs stood in line to buy drinks and food.

Our seats were in the upper nose-bleed section, mostly filled by Chinese, but even up high we could see well. These seats were a great $7 investment! (That’s what our seats each cost through the Chinese ticket lottery.) Mr. Zhang Jianxin near us brought his own designed fan featuring Olympic symbols and his calligraphy to celebrate the day. (See photo) One of the stairwell volunteers said she’d had her first day of volunteering Saturday; all volunteers are assigned one venue and occasionally have a chance to watch when they are off. Behind us was a group of mostly young women, collectively dressed in red miniskirts and gold polo shirts, all ready to cheer for the teams. Three young Lithuanian men decked out in complete national colors and crazy hats are roving for seats; they sit in front of us, to upper left, then lower right. My daughter and I have fun trying to find them periodically; it’s like “Where’s Waldo?” but with Lithuanians!

The screens and sound are state-of-the-art. One of the Chinese Olympic mascots (the five were once known as the five Friendlies and are named Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini, for the phrase “Beijing huanying ni” or “Beijing welcomes you!”) tumbles across the screen in a Pixar-like short to promote recycling and no flash photography. Boppy Greek music and cheers from our 3rd tier (infuriatingly, many seats closer to court are empty) greet the Greek team as they emerge and start their warm-ups. The Spanish team embraces each other in a circle and leap exuberantly before they quickly start layups – meanwhile the Greeks are STILL stretching. But during the game the teams constantly tussle for the lead and the first quarter ends more or less even: 18 Spain vs. 16 Greece. Between quarters the Beijing “dancers” come out for an embarrassing contortionist twist to – Beyonce? It looks like each dancer put on her bra and forgot most of her shirt; only about 2 inches and cap sleeves are there. Such strange outfits! People throng toilets and snack stands at breaks like these. Here Western fears that the toilets would be inadequate are unfounded. (However, bigger trash bins for used towels would be advised.) The snack booths, however, are hit-or-miss. First, the drinks are tepid. Second, some booths opened drinks in front of us and threw caps away. I asked if they weren’t worried about spills, but they said that was the policy. Third, things constantly sell out: no Snickers bars, no potato chips, no this, no that. At one point there were only “rice crisps” that taste like spiced, uncooked ramen noodles; cold, hard and sweet popcorn; and mystery hot dogs on a stick.

Both Greece and Spain have enthusiastic fans in the stands. Unbelievably, security let Greek fans bring in two large drums which the group of a dozen or so constantly use to drum up support and cheers for Greece. Frankly, no matter who starts a cheer, if it’s rhythmic or catchy the Chinese fans immediately join in. When one group of Spanish fans started the “ole, ole, ole ole” chant, it seems a collective breath was taken as recognition of a thousand World Cup and Fifa games was made amongst the Chinese. Of course they then joined in the chant!

The Spanish dominate the 3rd quarter with their shooting and suddenly what was a close game isn’t much any longer. Our Chinese cheerleaders behind us try to encourage them with “Greece, go! Go, go, go!” but it just sounds like “Grace, go!” to my ears. The Greek fans don’t give up easily and they loudly drum and, at one point, the stadium crowd all joins in clapping rhythmically as a Spaniard shoots a foul. He’s not bothered; the ball goes in Swoosh! Later, another Olympic volunteer arrives to talk to “our” cheerleaders and conscripts them to cheer “Olympics, go! Au yun, jia you!” instead of cheering for a particular team. Spain beats Greece, 81-66.

As the second game between Lithuania and Argentina begins, I wonder if two sets of basketball games are really going to work. It’s after five p.m. now and a few Chinese are leaving or else are asleep in the upper seats. The largely Chinese audience seems to gasp and sigh over Argentina, but the Lithuanian team seems like a well-oiled machine. They make few mistakes and keep their cool and by half-time lead 34 vs. 30. Almost every Lithuanian player has scored, in contrast to the Argentinian team, where most points seem to come from Carlos Delfino, Manu Ginobili and another player or two. The Argentinians are the cute, wild boys; their longish hair and half-shaven beards complete their bad-boy image. The Lithuanians are crisply clean-cut, led by their purely bald coach. While the occasional tattoo (including a Chinese character for “fortitude”!) peak out on Lithuanian arms, they really seem a tight unit indeed.

In the second half Argentina finally starts making a comeback, but they are still making a few mistakes and Lithuania relentlessly keeps making 3-point shots. Lithuania passes so well that Argentina doesn’t see the 3-point shot setup. And I finally figure out why Fabricio Oberto of Argentina is at last scoring well in the 2nd half – he’s FINALLY pulled back his long hair so he can see! He fiddled so much with it in the first half, I’m surprised his coach didn’t cut it himself!

Finally, in an agonizing final four minutes, Argentina catches up and there is breathtaking and breathstealing scenes as the teams struggle for the win. With a tie score of 75-75, the crowds screaming (mostly encouragement to Argentina) and 2 seconds left, in a remarkable set up Lithuania scores 3 points AND gets a foul! Final score, 79-75!! We are hoarse with glee as we root for the underdog Lithuania. What a wonderfully exciting first venture into Beijing Olympics!

8/8/08: Opening Ceremony of the Olympics

Everyone on Friday August 8th walked around Beijing with bated breath. Years and months of gestation were finally giving way to the real Olympics, and at 8:08 p.m. China gave birth to the Olympics with a vibrant BANG of fireworks and drums, invoking imperial celebrations and an ancient culture with a twist of modern technology. Truly, the vibrant blend of modern and traditional captured the nature of this Chinese host nation. While the seemingly Han Chinese children dressed as Chinese minorities accompanied by goose-stepping PLA army members taking the Chinese flag was a bit creepy, other images worked well. Thousands of drummers drummed with precision with strobe drumsticks; an ancient scroll “unrolled” and human modern dancers lithely made brushstrokes with their bodies. Scholarly robed men and human-scaled tiles formed characters of “peace” and “harmony” and images of the Great Wall and plum blossoms waves. Chinese opera, of course made its appearance, as well as the Hindu “celestial maidens” or Apsaras famous in ancient Buddhist murals in Dunhuang.

Beautiful colors and haunting flute music heralded the Silk Road; one lone woman dancer atop a “floating” tent carried by hundreds of men. The sheer numbers of young men (and some women) hired for this performance suddenly personifies the enormity of the scale of human life required to build the Great Wall, Imperial Palace and other ancient Chinese sites! Modern and ancient, it works.

Colors fluidly create currents and waves as dancers with multi-colored electrified jackets take the floor. The forms are mesmerizing and the acrobatic creation of the Bird’s Nest, as the National Stadium is called and where the opening is taking place, is amazing. Cirque de Soleil has nothing on these acrobats!

The symbols of peace abound. Peace IS an aim of China and it is lovely to see the dove exhibited. In China, nationalism always seems to trump peace, but the average Chinese vows peaceful intentions.

Taiqichuan, ancient martial arts exercise, again appears, first with a woman! Her image is echoed with cool digital panels around her…. And the power and fluidity of her movements stream in seamless sound and image coordination….. The movements and music build, they blow in the stadium rafters until they cascade in torrents upon and around the spectators!

More lovely children appear, all Han Chinese from appearances….. And now there is strong drumming again, more taiqi masters, and stronger, stronger, stronger movements and music (and hordes of Men once again…..) The children chant and paint a natural landscape upon an immense floor scroll, and dancers run with precision with the weather invoked on the large arena surround screen…. Perfect circles, perfect precision…Children shoulder their paintbrushes and birds of many colors fly out to circumnavigate the arena screen, welcoming the children’s artful landscape…

China’s extraterrestrial hopes and dreams emerge as a new world rises up through floor; it’s the ‘Olympic Dream’ -- NO, it’s OUR world! The roar of Chinese crowds greets well known Chinese singer Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman, already a household name in Chinese households who love operatic singing. Now, a visual global village pops up as umbrellas unfurl with kids’ faces from around the world – as one journalist notes, eat your heart out, Benetton! …. Fireworks! Sarah sings a bit in Chinese, Liu Huan sings a bit in English and the crowd goes wild. A few more questionable minorities… I hate that! and the “show” ends, but the real Olympics begin as the athletes march out.

The teams seem to be marching out in no obvious order, but in fact I think that’s cool. Then I learn they are marching out according to the order of brush strokes in the Chinese characters of their country’s name, and that’s even more cool! The music does not seem to be linked to homelands, either. At first it bothered me that the music did not coincide with the teams/regions… but then I grew to like the globalized nature of it. Israelis jump for joy amidst Latin music…. Hong Kong and Taipei march to African beats. Scottish bagpipes wail alongside African and E. Europe teams. Cool!

Smiling Japanese athletes are welcomed with loud Chinese clapping…. And an enormous roar of approval and applause welcomes “Chinese Taipei”. Propaganda at work…and working.

Look at the crowds, feverishly fanning themselves. I believe that the Chinese hand-held fan is a must pack item for attending Olympics events as a/c is either minimal or non-existent. The leaders in the stands look hot and not all utilize their Chinese fans. Meanwhile every scan of Hu Jintao shows him in his Western suit, perfectly still and composed.

And the teams march out.

Denmark, you look good! Bahrain, why must you post a large photo of your king on your flag? (You are the only one it seems ) … Cuba is warmly welcomed by the Chinese and TV hosts again mention China and Cuba’s strong alliances and history… Oh Canada, what a rainbow! From your leader in the stands, with a black woman at his side, and your Sikh turbaned athletes, to your colorful outfits, we love you. You epitomize a rainbow better than the US! Hungary rolls out in red and white, but the women athletes look like they’ve been hit with exploding cows! It’s the only thing that explains the red & white pattern of their outfits ….

It’s 10 o’clock and many major countries are not yet represented…. Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Switzerland, US, Mexico, Norway, UK, Russia, not yet shown…. Those athletes on the floor must stand in the heat; one can only hope there is water and their excitement transcends tiredness. At this point I think the most constant and famous parader is the camera! Almost every athlete carries either camera, cell phone or camcorder…. A roar as a glimpse of the US flag is made…. Go USA! You look very smart in your blue suits and white berets!

It’s 10:50 and I’m exhausted! Just watching every team is both numbing and exciting…. Big ones like Italy, Germany, Mexico, Norway, haven’t shown up yet. Everyone is hot and tired in the arena, at least in leaders’ section! Who is the cute flag bearer for Monaco! And Prince Albert is in the stands…..;) The Aussies are so exuberant!

And now, finally, music matches the country… CHINA appears, with Yao Ming bearing the flag and a small boy carrying Olympic and Chinese flags marching at his side. Who is this small one walking beside Yao? (I later learn he is a small "hero" of the Sichuan earthquake, rescuing some of his classmates immediately after the earthquake struck.)

Every event in China requires a speech. It is late, but the stands are still full. Liu Qi, head of China Olympics, your speech is too long! Pray God it is NOT translated into English & French. Jacques Rogge, I loved your speech. WE share all those dreams, the wishes against doping, the code of friendship and mutual respect.

Finally, the former Chinese gymnast & six time gold winner Li Ning is hoisted in the air to “run” with the torch along the arena’s circular surround screen accompanied by images of torchbearers from throughout the international torch relay. The torch lighting erupts in an awesome conflagration which in turn touches off a blast of fireworks that incite awe and giddiness – the thump, thump, thump of the fireworks reverberates throughout Beijing, announcing the successful birth of the 29th Olympiad. Go Games!