Mixed Messages in Beijing

I went to view the Opening Ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics last night. Since I couldn't afford/get tickets, I watched the CBC feed from the BC Pavillion beside Tiananmen Square. Canada Olympic House, which supports Canadian Olympians' families and friends abroad, threw a party and arranged the feeds. Actually, they fed us as well: BC salmon, prime rib sandwiches, stirfry and ribs, plus dessert, popcorn, wine and beer (Budweiser, not Labatts or Molsons *sigh*) . All for free which was a very nice thing indeed. I may have gained a pound or two.

Highlight of the evening: lots of proud parents/brothers/sisters in attendance, cheering anything Canadian and singing "Oh Canada". The people at COH really did a great job.

I stayed long enough to watch Canada, and more importantly, Avianna enter the stadium. I videotaped the monitor and then viewed/rewound, until I was sure that I had found her, with her hat on sideways. Before I could text her that questions, she called me from the floor of the stadium. Here first words: "We made it, hon. We made it to the Olympics. " The only call that I've received that was better, was when Irina called me to tell me that Avianna won Gold at the Pan american Games, winning the Olympic quota for Canada.

So, I found that Avianna was wearing her hat sideways, along with Johan Sauer, because they hated the hat but HAD to wear it. The side benefit was that it helped me find her in the crowd of 331(+/-) Canadian athletes.

That being seen, my evening was complete. (There was an on air interview afterwards with Avie which I missed, but that's life.) I decided to get home, which wasn't going to be easy. I'm living on the west end of Beijing and Tiananmen Square is east/central Beijing. Unfortunately, while China wants to portray itself as a world player, its paranoid about people acting freely. As such, they locked down the core. You couldn't get into the streets around Tiananmen Square. The subway stops around the square were all closed. Police and military were everywhere.

Since I couldn't walk up to the Tiananmen East subway stop, I decided to go east and north to Wanfuxing (sp??) stop. I walked east for a quite a distance until I found a street heading north. As I walked up there, it got weird. First, there were police and military about every 20-30 metres, 1 on each side of the street facing each other. Occasionally, there would be a plainsclothed "volunteer". Also, I should mention that there were the odd white van filled with military, who could quickly arrive where they might be needed.

So, I got almost all the way up to the subway line, via a long street with no cross roads, when a police van issuing commands started driving my way. everyone turned around and started walking south. Not me: I wanted to get outta here, so I kept northward. Finally, a military guy comes up and points south, when I was about 60 feet from my destination. He wanted me to walk 20 minutes south, and then go eastward again and circle back north, adding about 45 minutes to my walk. I didn't like that, so I played dumb (which I am very, very good at.)

I told him that I wanted to go to go north to the street. He smiled and pointed south. I said that I needed to get to the subway. He smiled, nodded and implied "Too bad..." Finally, I asked where the subway was. He pointed in the direction that I wanted to go. Immediately, I said "Ahhhh, xie xie!" (Ahhh, thanks!) and casually walked past him toward my goal. I was thining that this was either going to hurt or get me out of there. He said something and I kept walking. I guess that the overriding issue was not to offend westerners, so he let me past.

I then wandered into another bunch of police (not military this time) and they weren't happy to see me coming through their blockade. Again, natural stupidity saved my ass, as I asked where the subway stop was. The female officer told me were it was and I thanked her in Mandarin several times. Off I went. at this stage, even though I was out of the blockade, I ran a gauntlet of police who were stationed along the road every 10 feet. These guys weren't messing around.The only time that I saw anything like this, was in Athens as the riot police rolled out to hit a protest somewhere in the city. Even then, the Chinese presence made the Athenians look like amateurs.

Finally, I got on the almost empty subway and managed to get a seat (rare). The government has been discouraging participation in the games for the most part, restricting access or making it impossible to join in. The torch relay through the city was not open to common people. essentially, it was a coreographed event for the safe attendees. Lien wanted to see it but was denied. The opening was done similarly. As such, for the average Chinese, the Olympics is a TV-only event. I saw groups of people huddled around sets as I walked home. This left the streets virtually empty. Sort of a "Dawn of the Dead" creepiness filled the air.

I made it back in time to watch the Flame being lit. Talk about impressive. All I could think is that whatever Vancouver does, no matter how much it spends, it will look bad in comparson.

This morning, I woke late (yeah!) and Lien took me on a tour of the neighbourhood. We watched Tai Chi sword and staff in the park. As well, some guy was very proud to display his kungfu to me. Apparently, there aren't many westerners dropping by. It was too late and hot to join in, so maybe we'll be back in a few days after Avie's events to join in.

After the park, I went to the local market. Very cool. Food, clothing, services, everything was right there. Instead of purchasing breads and such as usual to bring home, we picked up some thousand year old egg and spoke with some of the shopkeepers, then headed off to a little restaurant. They made deep fried bread and wontons right there. We bought some and then headed indoors (they had A/C!!!!) for our meal. Again, I was a novelty. It was fun, filling and very tasty.

Eventually, we returned to the house, for me to work, and for Lien to meet up with some friends before her expedition to the range. Travelling within the city is screwy. Taxis and private cars aren't allowed near venues. Buslines are iffy and volunteers don't know enough. As such, it is a pain to get anywhere. (Another part of the plan to keep the masses away and watching the TV, which is double-plus good.) the ride to the range from the apartment is about 10 minutes. She's been gone almost three hours. Makes one question the Beijing Olympic motto: "We are ready!"

PS: Life improved dramatically 2 hours ago. I found the coffee in the apartment, that we left in April. Yes, its instant,but it is caffffffffffeinnnnnnnnnnnne.