I was in China (though far from Beijing) for the Olympics, and it’s hard to convey just how meaningful and exciting the event was for ordinary Chinese people. The improvements that people have seen to their lives over the past decade are absolutely astounding, and Chinese people are proud of what they have achieved, even with the faults that everyone is well aware of. Nobody had to be forced to give their best for the opening ceremonies. People were freely competing for the honor of being involved in one of the biggest events the nation has seen in modern times.
While China has some pretty big problems, it’s not like the place is North Korea where you get thrown in a camp for the slightest provocation. The idea that Chinese people march in lockstep is laughable. China is huge, and full of unruly, opinionated people with a strong distrust of authority and a habit of protesting with whatever means are available to them, as Beijing desperately tries to maintain some kind of order using the clunky, outdated ways they have to wield power.
So yeah, my vote is for China. I don’t think an Olympic game has ever touched so many people so deeply.
Tastes may vary of course. However, to describe it as “pedestrian” is frankly laughable. I’m as cynical as the next man and particularly so where my my own country is involved but the opening ceremony was by far the most entertaining one that I’ve ever seen. Imaginative, inventive and amusing but hey…it passed you by. Can’t please everyone.
True that tastes vary. But, Beijing was a case of doing things which have never been done before and peoples jaws did not lift from the floor all evening. London? “Eh, lets get this over with”.
I’ll admit that the Torch lighting ceremony was cool.
Same here. The funding issue was very badly handled and the government is pouring more millions of taxpayer money to convert the stadium for the use of billionnaires. Not happy about that.
But it was a great games all around, and apart from the last five minutes the opening ceremony was awesome - moving, deeply inventive and a warts-and-all tribute to real British culture (both the solemn and the silly). HUGE props to Danny Boyle for that. Now if only he’d left out Paul Fucking McCartney, it’d have been perfect…