Various People & Places from Beijing

The Olympics are now a week over. We can't believe it. What's this country going to do now since it was so singularly focused on this event? Time will tell, and what it does we will tell you...

So I had better get the rest of my pictures out there. So in no particular order, and without repeating pictures from previous posts on the Olympics, here they are:


The best shots of the Olympics are the night shots... then you don't see the grey skies of the smog

Security:

These army guys were everywhere in Beijing -- and yes, they are Chinese Army and not police. I just really wonder what they would have done if something actually had happened. They just stood at their posts... straight-faced and watched. They had no weapons and didn't even have radios.

The Chinese even thought these guys were somewhat of a joke. Many of them took pictures in front or next to these guys, again as they stood straight-faced.
This may be one of my favorite pics from the Olympics. Here you have four Chinese Army guys and then you have fellow Olmsted Scholar Phoenix parading behind them. You can see that one of the guys is about to crack a smile. If they only knew that an American Air Force Captain was dancing behind them... Here comes the army marching onto the track. The marched so proudly as they took their posts. You can see that every-other seat is empty as this detail marches out. That's because this detail is filling in those seats that the marching detail that came in the opposite direction left. That way everybody could see the army marching in up close. They then sat in place, watching the crowd for two games over the next five hours...
You can see the army guy guarding the line that ropes off this corridor at Summer Palace. We could walk up to the line from either side, we just couldn't cross the line. So instead, everybody walked around. We never figured out the purpose of this guy and his line...

Communism stresses the community. What could bring the community together better than squatting and pooping next to each other, giving each other your "undivided" attention:


Air conditioning

It was hot, but who needs air conditioning when you dress this cool? Can you imagine what the swass must be like on this mom's arm?
Olympic Spirit

Non-Chinese were popular with the Chinese. I have no idea how many pictures I took with people who just wanted a picture with a foreigner. If you had a foreign flag, you were even more popular. I walked up this street, and back down about an hour later. This guy was still taking pictures with random people...

Here is a group of Germans. Again, with their flags, they were wildly popular.

The Olympics would be such a fun place to come with a large group of crazy people. Perhaps a future family reunion? A group of friends from the past? I can't imagine that the hosts in 2012 (London) will be that interested about seeing Americans, but perhaps in 2016? The final four cities for the 2016 Olympics are Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and Chicago.

This is a picture from the men's semi-final game between Nigeria and Belgium. The Nigerian team was so much fun. After each goal, they got together and then one of them touched each one on the head, like a televangelist, and the teammates fell down one-by-one. You can see them falling in this picture, it was pretty funny. Nigeria went on to win the silver medal in the next game.

There was another Olmsted Scholar family (also Air Force) at this game... Barry's family from Nanjing. We were planning on getting together with them after the game. Silly us didn't even check where our tickets were. Amazingly our tickets were right next to each other! I guess we can thank the government here for that... I think putting our tickets made it easier for the folks "watching" us to keep an eye on us if we were together.
Chinese people are the the world's fastest sleepers. This gal's head was bobbing a couple of minutes after she sat down. Three stops later, at the end of the line, I woke her up so she could get off the train. That's quite a talent!

With gas prices at all-time highs, the Chinese are doing their part to conserve fuel. These scooters are all-electric. Here is a fuel-efficient family model:
So in an effort to live as the locals, here I am with fellow Olmsted Scholars Jade and Phoenix, and Phoenix's husband Cliff on our electric bikes. Cliff is doing his best impression of a Chinese photo (see below about "Striking a Pose" for more details).
As we were walking on this street to one of the soccer games, we saw this gathering of people...
... as suspected, they were watching Yao Ming and Team China playing basketball:

Workers Stadium is where the soccer games were held. Here's a picture when we entered...

... and when we left. As you can tell, the smog wasn't nearly as bad on this day as you can see a bit of blue in the sky above and the moon in the picture below:

Workers stadium in Beijing. The big section of yellow are volunteer fans. The government gave them free tickets and shirts, and in exchange they cheered for both teams. It was kind of funny to see, but a bit superficial and creepy as well...

The pregame ceremonies of the games took at least 20 minutes. It felt as if each game was a championship game...

These kids were hanging out outside of the beach volleyball venue. The skateboard they were using was interesting to say the least... it only has two wheels. Rocking the board back and forth with your feet "powers" the board to move. You won't see them putting a foot on the ground to speed up. Has anybody seen these before? If not, anybody interested in opening a two-wheel skateboard store in a mall for Christmas this year?!

Here's the outside of the church President Bush went to in Beijing...
...and here's a picture on the inside. I think the Olympic logos of years past make a nice touch underneath the picture of Jesus being sprinkled:

You may have seen this brand throughout the Olympics. It looks like "Lining" but it is actually the name of a person "Li" is the family name and "Ning" is the given name. Li Ning was a Chinese gold medal winning gymnast from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He is the same person who lit the Olympic torch in the Opening Ceremony here in Beijing.
Li Ning is now doing pretty well, being the president of the sports apparel company that bears his name. Many of the Chinese teams and some of the foreign teams wore this brand during the games. NBA star Shaquille O'Neal even has a shoe contract with Li Ning.

Does anybody have/wear Li Ning apparel? If so, where did you get it?

Has anybody even seen this brand in the States? If so, where? I'm interested in hearing when the first sighting will be.

New meaning to the term "tourist trap." You definitely felt trapped in some of these market areas...

This is one of the premier spots in Beijing, close to Forbidden City at the start of the popular Wangfujing Street. You can see this the location of the flagship Olympic store and a huge TV where crowds gathered to watch the games. It is also home to McDonald's!

These food items make me laugh. They have knock-off pictures of Donald Duck on the packaging and what are they selling? Duck's feet... Mmmm, delicious!

Most of the Olympic advertising that I saw in China featured both China and the US together. Looks like the want to make it a competition between our two countries...

Finger painting

This artist took finger painting to a whole new level. He dipped the side of his hand in to the black ink to use for larger areas, then used his pinky fingernail for various details.

I was fascinated by him and watched for a quite a while. I ended up buying two of the works I watched him paint...

Strike a pose

Chinese love taking pictures... of themselves! Whether it grown men taking pictures by themselves with Cinderella at Hong Kong Disneyland or here at various sites, it's generally not with friends or family, it's by themselves. It's all about me!

And it's not good enough just to take the picture, you have to strike a pose. Many Chinese hold up two fingers when having their picture taken. I asked several folks why they held up two fingers. Sometimes I asked if it was because they were #2. Some said it was a "v" for "victory," to which I asked victory over what? Nobody said it was the hippee sign for peace. So hold two fingers up, for no meaning, it just makes you look cool...

(I also like the above picture with the basketball court on the Forbidden City grounds)

Sunny days

Westerners lay in the sun to get darker, Chinese use umbrellas to keep their skin lighter...

They're 16!

The plan is that our kids won't date until they're 16 years old. Even if the Chinese government gives them passports stating that they're 16, they're not dating until they are actually 16. As for their women's gymnastic team being 16, you make the call...

Four star toilet

I was actually kind of scared to try this. I had never used a four star rated toilet before. What further service could they provide that I hadn't seen before. Would they insist on wiping? I'm happy to report that there is nothing unusual to report. I just wonder what a one star toilet looks like...

The government controls what the government wants to control

The shop below is on the grounds of Forbidden City, after you've paid your money and given your entrance ticket to get in. So these vendors, and what they sell, are directly controllable.

See the white hats below? The hats with the flying Air Jordan on them?

Yup, they are fake Air Jordan hats... unbelievable, being sold on a government-owned tourist attraction. I'm sure Nike/Jordan would love this "Sport" brand with their logo...
You know what I didn't see in Beijing? I didn't see any fake Olympic stuff... no fake hats, shirts, toys, etc. I just shows that if the government wants to control it, they can. As long as it's only foreign companies losing money from counterfeit and pirated material, who cares right?

And finally, Ryann's first Olympics! Adayla and Tally stayed with Ayi while the three of us went to the soccer game. Here's a picture of Morgan & Ryann...