In Tokyo now
Hey All,
I'm in Tokyo, Japan now staying with my college friend Shuichi near Shibuya. If you've ever seen pictures of the massive intersections in Tokyo, that's where I am. Shibuya is effectively the Time Square of Tokyo. It's like being back at home in NYC. Time Square is right out the window.
Here's an interesting news article I just stumpled across: China Frees 3 Canadia after Tibet Protest. The group was arrested the day before I went to the Great Wall of China in the same spot that I went to. Supposedly, she hung a banner that says "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet" off of the Great Wall. This was the talk on the ride to the wall and on the wall itself the day that I went. The "One World, One Dream" is the official slogan for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The group was also staying at the hotel close to where I was staying in Beijing.
I suspect that in the runup and during the Olympics, there will be numerous protest groups using the Olympics as a platform to progress their messages ranging from global warming to Tibet to Human Rights in China to etc. I predict that the Chinese officials will use strong arm tactics to restrict these types of protests. And in doing so, they will further the messages of these groups and present a bad public image to the world through the Olympic Games. The Olympics is about openness and bringing people together. However, from what I saw during the One Year to Olympics Celebration, the Chinese government is going to have a hard time meshing the goal of openness and togetherness with their agenda.
The One Year to Olympics celebration was hosted in Tiananmen Square (and other places in cities in China). They had guests and dignitaries from throughout the world attending the events. I saw limos pulled up with American flags, Italian flags, Israeli flags, and a whole host of others. It was a spectacular event with Tiananmen Square and the gates to the Forbidden City backdrop lit up fabulously. They even had an amazing firework show. The only thing missing were the people. The 5 block radius from the site was on a security lockdown. Chinese police, swat, and military were on site holding people back at least 5 blocks away, a point that you couldn't even see the lights from the events. I had rented a bike that day and was able to ride by Tiananmen Square and get some good pictures from nearby. But the moment you got off your bike to take a picture, the police officers and military security would come over to you to usher you out of the area.
Living in NYC, I understand and have seen the need for security for large public events, such as New Years Eve in Time Square, the NFL Kickoff Event in Time Square, a multitude of events at Radio City. What is interesting is the different approach that the Chinese take to these public events. For example I would say the NFL Kickoff Event in Time Square pretty much mirrors the One Year to Olympic celebration. Both are trying to get the general public excited about the event. What was different was that the Chinese kept the (common) people out and the even in Time Square was open to the masses (granted with security and bag checks). I think the Chinese had a great opportunity to include the masses in these events. Even if they needed (for security purpose) to keep such a large security corridor (5 blocks), they could have set up large LED television displays and speakers for the people that came out for the event. In addition, they had already closed the roads (remember, the road running through Tiananmen Square is about 14-18 car lanes wide), they could have let the people stand out in the streets to watch the events on large televisions instead of pushed back on sidewalks and alleyways with no views of anything. Bag checks and corral systems that have been employeed in other events throughout the world could have been used here. This would have allowed the general masses to "participate" in the celebration rather than being pushed aside.
Beijing residents are giving up a lot to host the Olympics. It is a great opportunity for the city and the country as a whole, however, Beijing-ers are making most of the sacrifices. During my stay in Beijing, I had the chance to bike around the city. Biking was the best way to get from place to place in Beijing. It also gave me a great opportunity to view the parts of the city away from the major tourist sites. On my way from the Forbidden City to the Temple of Heaven (a couple of kms south), I passed by an area about the length of 4 football field long with what looks like modern remakes of ancient city walls. On the walls were pictures of old Beijing. What was interesting and unique about this was that it was too new to be real and that it was about 15-20 feet high. I found it highly curious. As I biked down the boulevard, I saw that every 20 or so yards, there were gates with a guard standing at attention. Eventually, I found an open gate and was able to peak inside of the walled off area. It was the demolition of old neighborhoods that go back hundreds and hundreds of years. It seemed like the destruction of that area was to create a wider boulevard and green parks south of the Qianmen (Front Gate of the old city)
Before I had arrived in Beijing, I had read and heard about Beijing's push for modernization. And how this push was relocating hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes that they've had for hundreds of years. But it didn't really feel real until I saw it first hand. The entire area looked like a WWII war zone. Buildings were half torn down with bricks laying all over and pipes still poking out of the skeletons of buildings. I was able to get a picture of it from one of the unguarded gates.
There was also another building that stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of a freshly green park. There were a bunch of people standing outside the front of the building reading some articles and handwritten posters. I read the one that was in English and it described how the family living in that house had been there for hundreds and hundreds of years and are physically squatting in the house so that the government can't tear it down.
Over the course of the last couple of years (especially since the announcement of the 2008 Olympics), there have been many efforts to rebuild Beijing into a truly international city fitting of a capital of such a large country. Through all this, Beijing residents have had to sacrifice the most. This is why I found it quite ironic that Beijing residents were effectively locked out of the Olympic pre-celebration while large groups from other provinces were all in attendance. I just hope that once the Olympics actually comes around, China will embrace that openness and togetherness that the Olympics represents.
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Hey, don't get me wrong. I don't fully agree nor disagree with the modernization in Beijing. Some of the stuff that they are doing are truly awe-inspiring at such a grand scale. Some, if not all, of these projects needed the power of a Communist party/system to coordinate and put into effect. (There would be a huge uproar and protest if Mayor Bloomberg decided to raze East Village and Harlem to put in larger streets and green parks.) Some of the architecture and engineering is actually quite advance. Old buildings and neighborhoods sometimes have to be cleared out of the way to advance the city. However, the cost of it is that all these old neighborhoods (hutongs), once bulldozed can never be brought back.
In my tours through the sites and the reading of the history, there was one point that mirrors this. At the beginning of the Communist rule in 1949, the leadership decided to raze the ancient city walls around Beijing. It was only recently that they regret destroying such a historic part of Beijing. These hutongs, once removed, will change the look for Beijing forever. I am not saying for better of worse. Only time can tell.
Disclaimer: The point of this post wasn't to point out how bad China is; it is quite the contrary. So little is known about China from the West. Whenever we hear about China, it's always about human rights abuses, unchecked imports, communism and other "big bad wolf" stories. Once you get to spend some time in China, you can really appreciate what it is going through, such as the difficulties of balancing communist ideals vs modernization and joining the industrial world. I especially think that, if done right, the Olympics in 2008 can really open the eyes of the world to China.
That brings me to another point. Outside of China we don't hear a single thing about Olympics 2008. But in Beijing, it is everywhere. It is the conversations on the street. There are Olympic souvenir stores at every single tourist sites in Beijing. Taxi drivers will talk about it immediately. China, Beijing and the people are relying a lot on this Olympics, more than we could ever imagine.