Beijing '08: Live the Olympics

I saw the phrase, “Welcome the Olympic Game, Pay Attention to Civilization, Set Up a New Trend," on a red and white banner draped across a bridge. It is a perfect image to fit the metaphor I heard the other day about China. Siok Siok Tan, director of the documentary Boomtown Beijing tells me that China is like a teenager who constantly checks herself out in the mirror, waiting for the world to tell her what she looks like. She explains that the biggest change in Chinese people is a new self awareness of how the outside world perceives them and a desire to reinvent their identity. This couldn’t be clearer to me as I’ve been going around the city during the period of Olympics. Read more...