Olympics Day 5
Note: No photos today, I'm afraid.
"When the Olympics were in Seoul, you knew it. It was a very festive atmosphere all over the place. Beijing looks very quiet compared to what I see when I have visited other times for work. It seems like nothing special is going on, but it is much quieter with far less cars and people on the street," a colleague of mine noted.
And it seems to be very true. Special thanks to him for beautifully dumbing down my blog into three sentences.
Last night, I decided that I wanted some kebabs. I took a cab from the Bird's Nest to my old neighborhood restaurant, hoping to get some quality food and some good conversation with the owners. I got there at about 1215 AM and saw that the street was completely dark and empty. No activity, whatsoever. This being summer, it's very common to see people sitting on stools, drinking beer outside and chatting well into the night while munching on kebabs. The old neighborhood was no exception, and my favorite restaurant is usually open until 130am. As I stayed in my cab and looked on in surprise, the driver remarked, "must be the Olympics."
I was puzzled to say the least.
Today it dawned on me that last night, I had been near Beijing Normal University, where team USA is currently residing. I have heard from friends who are currently students there, that university is a fortress and one cannot get into the grounds without proper ID (something to do with team USA or being affiliated with the university). My guess is that authorities want to keep the area safe and quiet and have closed down surrounding areas early in the evening.
Another aspect I referred to in yesterday's post (when talking about construction) was the lack of availability of certain goods. Apparently there are numerous checkpoints outside the city of Beijing in which the flow of goods and people are heavily restricted. I had lunch with a friend a few days ago at a relatively upscale Japanese restaurant in downtown Beijing. My friend ordered something that the waitress said was not available. She tried to order another item only to be told that it too, could not be prepared. As my friend looked up, mildly irritated, the kind waitress pointed to a number of dishes that were currently unavailable. The reason, she said was, "due to the Olympics."
We ate our lunch with puzzled looks on our faces, though its a bit more clear now.
"When the Olympics were in Seoul, you knew it. It was a very festive atmosphere all over the place. Beijing looks very quiet compared to what I see when I have visited other times for work. It seems like nothing special is going on, but it is much quieter with far less cars and people on the street," a colleague of mine noted.
And it seems to be very true. Special thanks to him for beautifully dumbing down my blog into three sentences.
Last night, I decided that I wanted some kebabs. I took a cab from the Bird's Nest to my old neighborhood restaurant, hoping to get some quality food and some good conversation with the owners. I got there at about 1215 AM and saw that the street was completely dark and empty. No activity, whatsoever. This being summer, it's very common to see people sitting on stools, drinking beer outside and chatting well into the night while munching on kebabs. The old neighborhood was no exception, and my favorite restaurant is usually open until 130am. As I stayed in my cab and looked on in surprise, the driver remarked, "must be the Olympics."
I was puzzled to say the least.
Today it dawned on me that last night, I had been near Beijing Normal University, where team USA is currently residing. I have heard from friends who are currently students there, that university is a fortress and one cannot get into the grounds without proper ID (something to do with team USA or being affiliated with the university). My guess is that authorities want to keep the area safe and quiet and have closed down surrounding areas early in the evening.
Another aspect I referred to in yesterday's post (when talking about construction) was the lack of availability of certain goods. Apparently there are numerous checkpoints outside the city of Beijing in which the flow of goods and people are heavily restricted. I had lunch with a friend a few days ago at a relatively upscale Japanese restaurant in downtown Beijing. My friend ordered something that the waitress said was not available. She tried to order another item only to be told that it too, could not be prepared. As my friend looked up, mildly irritated, the kind waitress pointed to a number of dishes that were currently unavailable. The reason, she said was, "due to the Olympics."
We ate our lunch with puzzled looks on our faces, though its a bit more clear now.
posted by Batcha at
3:18 AM
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