Olympics Day 3
Woke up today and and made my way into downtown. First stop was Tiananmen Square. Predictably, security was significantly tighter than in other areas. Rather than hand checking bags, there were x-ray booths at every entrance, in addition to a fair number of police and security guards on patrol.
Additionally, there were a number of gardens and fountains in the square, which were clearly placed there very recently and beautifully maintained.
Something I found shocking or interesting was the lack of foreign tourists in the square. Maybe it was lunch time or they were watching the Olympics, but proportionally, there were far fewer foreign tourists that I previously had anticipated.
Walking out of the square, I proceeded to go to a side street parallel to Qianmen Road East. It was here that the Beijing Police Museum was located along with the People's High Court. Alongside the one of the streets were police and security cars in a row (they were empty, pictured below). I did get someone with a safety volunteer badge to pose for a photo though. The man in white and his friend (below), happily posed after smiling and pointing to their arm bands, saying "public safety volunteer." The neighborhood was so quiet, one could have thought it was any ordinary day, though with such buildings in the area, I'm sure things don't get too exciting. It was here that I saw my first SWAT vehicle, a black Hummer. I was too scared to take a photo though.
I next went to a hutong nearby which has been in the process of being razed for at least the past year. What caught my attention was that the outside walls were newly painted and there was an abundance of grass and new trees planted on sidewalks (none of which had been present a few months ago), but upon entering nothing had changed (save for a few more demolished houses/shops, when compared to a few months ago). Perhaps fewer people lived there, as they had probably moved out, but life went on as normal, quietly and peacefully. I saw groups of senior citizens speaking in groups, but decided not to bother them with annoying questions about the Olympics or taking photos. It was here that I felt a sense of solitude in the middle of the city. Silence enveloped the surrounding area and save for an occasional security volunteer and a few Chinese flags (both pictured below) one would have thought nothing out of the ordinary.
On my taxi ride back, I did get to pepper my driver with questions. his response was similar to most people I've spoken to about the Olympics. He's a little busier with work, traffic is better due to restrictions, but he really hasn't been affected personally. Though he was proud China was hosting the Olympics and it showed the world China was developing.
As expected, traffic was significantly heavier on the 2nd and 3rd ring roads, particularly around the Central Business District and Tiananmen, though the only private vehicles on the road had license plates ending in odd numbers. Air quality was good, though not as good as yesterday. There was definitely some haze/smog in the distance.
Additionally, there were a number of gardens and fountains in the square, which were clearly placed there very recently and beautifully maintained.
Something I found shocking or interesting was the lack of foreign tourists in the square. Maybe it was lunch time or they were watching the Olympics, but proportionally, there were far fewer foreign tourists that I previously had anticipated.
Walking out of the square, I proceeded to go to a side street parallel to Qianmen Road East. It was here that the Beijing Police Museum was located along with the People's High Court. Alongside the one of the streets were police and security cars in a row (they were empty, pictured below). I did get someone with a safety volunteer badge to pose for a photo though. The man in white and his friend (below), happily posed after smiling and pointing to their arm bands, saying "public safety volunteer." The neighborhood was so quiet, one could have thought it was any ordinary day, though with such buildings in the area, I'm sure things don't get too exciting. It was here that I saw my first SWAT vehicle, a black Hummer. I was too scared to take a photo though.
I next went to a hutong nearby which has been in the process of being razed for at least the past year. What caught my attention was that the outside walls were newly painted and there was an abundance of grass and new trees planted on sidewalks (none of which had been present a few months ago), but upon entering nothing had changed (save for a few more demolished houses/shops, when compared to a few months ago). Perhaps fewer people lived there, as they had probably moved out, but life went on as normal, quietly and peacefully. I saw groups of senior citizens speaking in groups, but decided not to bother them with annoying questions about the Olympics or taking photos. It was here that I felt a sense of solitude in the middle of the city. Silence enveloped the surrounding area and save for an occasional security volunteer and a few Chinese flags (both pictured below) one would have thought nothing out of the ordinary.
On my taxi ride back, I did get to pepper my driver with questions. his response was similar to most people I've spoken to about the Olympics. He's a little busier with work, traffic is better due to restrictions, but he really hasn't been affected personally. Though he was proud China was hosting the Olympics and it showed the world China was developing.
As expected, traffic was significantly heavier on the 2nd and 3rd ring roads, particularly around the Central Business District and Tiananmen, though the only private vehicles on the road had license plates ending in odd numbers. Air quality was good, though not as good as yesterday. There was definitely some haze/smog in the distance.
posted by Batcha at
2:58 AM
1 Comments:
China, congratulations!!!!
"08-08-08" Olympic Games!!!
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