Wo buhui yong kuaizi.: Torch Relay and THE FINAL COUNTDOWN to 8:00 08/08/08

Well, it’s official. I’ve caught the fever.
20 hours and counting until opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games!!!

The mood in the city right now is hard to describe, but pretty incredible - something in between electric and euphoric, and expectedly so. These games seem to be one of the biggest things to happen to China since the 80’s, and the people here have been doing everything they can for the last seven years to ensure that they’re an impressive success. Buildings have been razed and re-raised, subways built, the public “educated”, signs posted, people evicted, venues constructed, menus translated, anything “unsightly” plastered with a “One World, One Dream” Banner, factories shut down and cars taken off the road in an attempt to reduce pollution, and that’s just the beginning… Everyone is Beijing is excited and doing their part, including the members of “community watch” teams, people young and old with Yanjing Beer provided t-shirts and red arm bands, who are posted about every 40 yards over the entire city to take down anyone who tries to disrupt the “harmony” of the games. It’ll be interesting to see how it all turns out, and I’m sure the Western media will find things to criticize, but no one can say that the Chinese aren’t giving all they’ve got to put on the best and most impressive games they’re capable of. World leaders and foreigners have all arrived – we spent the evening people watching in Wangfujing, where we heard probably about 15 different languages being spoken in a span of 15 minutes – and security is in place. Add to the normal, everyday chaos which might as well be the thesaurus entry for China tens of thousands of jet-lagged, lost, excited, and just generally overwhelmed foreigners. Most Beijingers have the day off tomorrow. It’s like being backstage in the final minutes before a huge production. As one of my favorite Chinese friends says before he’s about to do cool tricks with the hackie-sack birdie, “It’s SHOWTIME!”

I got really excited after the Olympic Torch Relay passed by my office yesterday afternoon. I have no idea why they chose the street next to my building as part of the route (it’s in the middle of a (still very crowded) nowhere), but I was really lucky they did. About 1:30 in the afternoon, everyone left their computers, clamored to get the free flags and noise makers being passed out by volunteers and sponsors in the office lobby, and we were escorted to designated spots along the route to line it in red and cheer (“Zhongguo Jiayou!” the national cheer, of course). I’ll let the pictures describe it better. I also included a couple from our visit to the venues the other night. The buildings are pretty spectacular.

I strongly suggest you tune in to watch tomorrow night and throughout the next couple of weeks. The stakes are high, and from what I can tell, it’s going to be quite a show.