Bet this hasn’t happened anywhere else. From UCAN: In mid-July, all parish priests and Catholic volunteers in Beijing joined workers of other religions to practice terrorist prevention at a local mosque. [Shanghai Scrap will offer a reward – something of value – for photos of this event.] [UPDATE: No, SW, it does not sound like…
All posts in Olympics
Two Days Out – That’s Right, TWO days out.
Up in Beijing, they need to wait three more days for the Olympics. But down here, in Shanghai, the fun begins on Thursday, with a soccer* double-header at Shanghai Stadium. Rightfully, the world’s attention has been on Beijing and its preparations (see Fallows on Beijing, four days out). Nevertheless, based upon the number of people…
The Olympic Scrap (Peddler) Crackdown
Over the last week I’ve received at least one email or phone call per day in regard to the crackdown/ban on Beijing’s scrap peddlers during the Olympics period. As I’ve said to those who ask, I’ll say to those who read: I don’t plan to arrive in Beijing for another ten days, and until then,…
Welcome to China: No Politics, No Cocoon.
Jay Weiner of MinnPost, an online news site based in the Twin Cities, has covered every Olympics dating back to Los Angeles, at least. He’s a very good, very respected writer, and he’s just arrived in Beijing, to this welcome: … [a]s I stood in line to have my passport checked, a police officer approached…
The Electrified Olympic Spirit
A couple of days ago I took a walk around the Shanghai Stadium and environs with the intention of getting a look at the security presence in light of recent news that the Shanghai police had broken up a terror ring that was planning an attack on the venue during the Games. I must admit…
Shanghai Can’t Sell Out.
Last week, the Phase Four Olympic ticket sales in Beijing produced long lines, short tempers, scuffles, and at least one detained camera crew (some additional photos can be found here). Beijing’s Olympic authorities were muted in their condemnation of the incident, preferring instead to point out that – with the sale of the last 250,000…
Olympic Air Quality? Don’t Forget Hong Kong.
Before I get to the meat of this post, let me state one thing clearly: I don’t relish the idea of an Olympics held in a Beijing choked by smog/fog. Like any other sports fan (and I’m a big one), I’d like to see the Olympics take place under skies so blue that the excess…
Shanghai Pudong: Same as it ever was!
I was out of China when, two weeks ago, the Shanghai Airport Authority announced that it was immediately implementing new, Olympics-related security procedures at the city’s two airports. Nothing in the reported accounts of these procedures indicated that they were directed at incoming passengers. But, keeping in mind that these regulations come in the wake…
The Return of Olympic Hostess Voodoo
Back in February Shanghai’s Xinmin Evening News ran a short item in regard to the selection criteria being used to find forty college-aged Shanghai “beauties” to serve as Olympic medal hostesses in Beijing that was quickly picked up – in English – by China Daily: According to the requirement, candidates should be between 18 and…
Fuwa Designer Has His Cake … and, well, you know the rest.
Well, well. Today, Han Meilin, the famously grumpy designer of the 2008 Olympic mascots, the Fuwa, provides an interview to the Wall Street Journal in which he claims that the universally reviled mascots weren’t his fault: After China’s Olympics organizers gave him the assignment, folk artist Han Meilin initially sketched out five children representing the…