Farewell Beijing

First appeared on August 27th, 2008
in The Lebanon Reporter

The games of the 29th Olympiad came to an end Sunday with a truly remarkable closing ceremony. Before the Olympics even began we were of the opinion that China was not a worthwhile host given their disgusting record in the arena of human rights. While our opinion of the Chinese government remains unchanged, we were captivated by everything the Beijing games brought us.
Simply put these games were spectacular. In every phase and fashion Beijing left us wanting more. Between transportation, security and event scheduling the Olympics are no doubt a logistical nightmare for host nations and yet the Chinese pulled everything off so marvelously.
It is estimated China shelled out 40 billion dollars to put on the summer games. And from the opening and closing ceremonies to competitions amongst athletes inside state of the art facilities, it appears to be money well spent. In fact Beijing’s version of the Olympics may do more to resurrect the stature of the games than anything we have seen in the last 20 years.
With the exception of a few protests and one journalist being detained, the summer games were not marred by the ugliness of any international incidents- though the potential for it was obviously great. This is either a credit to the effectiveness of the authoritarian regime that rules China or perhaps we are beginning to see glimpses of a new era of tolerance from the Communist party.
China has long been a mystery for those in the west given how painstakingly choreographed and limited the flow of information to the outside world is. The media control is so tight at times that if a guy was writing this in Beijing chances are some government goons would have already kicked down his door and tossed his laptop in front of a speeding rickshaw by now. What these games have revealed however is that the Chinese are actually part of a vibrant society living inside an exciting and beautiful country.
Early on Michael Phelps looked to be the only story in town but by Friday night it was clear these games had produced so many dramatic moments that they would live on in history forever. Jamaica’s Usain Bolt dominated the sprints, winning one race by more than a car length. And by “car” here we mean stretch limo or 11 Smart cars for our environmentally friendly readers. Despite running up against the best China’s pre-school gymnastics program had to offer, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin both managed to win gold medals as well.
And, outside of Al Gore’s claim he invented the Olympics, perhaps the high point of the games for Americans came when the USA Men’s basketball team, millionaires who are larger than life to some, all hung their medals around the neck of head coach Mike Krzyzewski in a show of solidarity. Seeing those superstars caped with U.S. flags and jumping around like giddy schoolboys is enough to make even the crustiest and cynical of Americans well up. Rumor has it Michael Moore even asked to borrow Sean Penn’s hankie when he saw it.
While there were the expected controversies, the drama did not begin to approach the spectacular level of competition and overall showmanship of Beijing’s Olympic effort.
Now the world is curious to see where China goes from here. Though they are the most populous nation on Earth and home to one of the fastest growing economies, we still view these games as their coming out party. For so long now many have overlooked the sleeping giant and future superpower that is China. If you doubted the Chinese before, don’t make the same mistake twice.