{"id":19,"date":"2008-07-22T13:34:35","date_gmt":"2008-07-22T17:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=19"},"modified":"2008-07-22T13:34:35","modified_gmt":"2008-07-22T17:34:35","slug":"olympic-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/olympic-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic Lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>Olympic Lockdown<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">July 20<sup>th<\/sup> marked the start of Beijing in Olympic Lockdown Mode.<span> <\/span>For approximately the next two months, the city will turn blue in the face while attempting to hold in its proverbial gut while showcasing itself to the world as a sleek, modern, clean, and efficient capital city ready to assume its place among the world\u2019s great powers.<span> <\/span>If all goes according to plan, the air will be clean, the traffic negotiable, athletes will make their venues on time without gridlock, there will be no protests or demonstrations, undesirable elements will be keep out of the city, tourists will gasp in wonder from hotels without vacancies at the architectural marvels of the new city, and all will be green and harmonious.<span> <\/span>That, at least, is the idea.<span> <\/span>And the restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the city with their all-or-nothing plan are what will make it all possible. Here I\u2019ll address two <em>Au Yun Hui<\/em> problems and their \u201csolutions\u201d as dealt with by the powers that be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Item number one on the list, a two part quandary: improve air quality from pea-soup pollution (<em>wuran<\/em>) levels to something close to breathable, and reduce traffic (<em>duche<\/em>) from snarled congestion to somewhat tolerable.<span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Solution:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin-top: 0in\" type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Highly polluting factories in      Beijing were forced to shut      down earlier this month, while cement and steel plants and chemical      factories in the surrounding provinces have been told to scale back      production some 30% by July 20<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Antiquated heavy industrial      trucks (some dating back to the \u201860\u2019s and \u201870\u2019s) which could otherwise      only ply the roads at night were banned from entering Beijing      on the 1<sup>st<\/sup> of July.<span> <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">All construction projects in      the city (which kick up incredible amounts of dust in addition to other      undesirables) were halted on the 20<sup>th<\/sup>.<span> <\/span>Several new billion dollar lines on the      city\u2019s metro system were opened on the 20<sup>th<\/sup> to help ease the      burden on the public transport system.<span> <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Depending on odd and even      license plate numbers, half the cars (not including taxis) are banned each      day from the city\u2019s roads, with a fine of \u00a5100 fine imposed for      violations.<span> <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">An Olympic lane on the major      thoroughfares will allow official Olympic vehicles to bypass regular      traffic, allowing athletes to make their game times but cutting down      available lanes for other traffic by 1\/3 or \u00bd, depending on the road.<span> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Item number two: Keep out undesirables and ensure a safe Olympics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Solution:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin-top: 0in\" type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">A crackdown on visas for      foreigners ensuring that those already in the country legitimately must      jump through <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/time\/world\/article\/0,8599,1819373,00.html\">diplomatic      hoops<\/a> to remain with <a href=\"http:\/\/cnreviews.com\/beijing\/china_visa_problems_one_world_one_dream_but_no_visa_20080721.html\">no      guarantee<\/a> that they will be able to do so.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><a href=\"http:\/\/english.people.com.cn\/90001\/90776\/6446323.html\">Security      checkpoints<\/a> set up on roads leading into the city with police boarding      buses and inspecting private vehicles entering Beijing      and performing metal and ID checks on both Chinese and foreigners, with special      emphasis on ethnic Tibetans and Uighers (profilingwhat?) who might,      theoretically, have something of an agenda to pursue in Beijing.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">A battery of surface-to-air      missiles set up not far from the \u201cbird\u2019s nest\u201d National Stadium.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">One particularly irritating measure      for local students has all universities (including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinadaily.com.cn\/olympics\/2008-07\/09\/content_6831595.htm\">my      own<\/a> ) closed to everyone but students and employees of those      universities. Gone be the days of riding through BLCU for a car-free      shortcut to the <em>Wudaokou<\/em> subway station.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left: 0.25in;text-align: justify\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left: 0.25in;text-align: justify\">The measures taken have inspired some to warn of a \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.canada.com\/topics\/news\/story.html?id=f1d2a2d1-12a0-4830-b374-e92963129b55\">Fortress Beijing<\/a>\u201d mentality overtaking the host city which could prove to be security overkill. Furthermore, in addition to the installation of some 265,000 security cameras (<em>Da Ge<\/em> is watching), restrictions on foreign media have ensured that should anything \u201cembarrassing\u201d occur, the only people who will cover it will be Beijing friendly or censored.<span> <\/span>While I try to avoid touching on political issues here, Op-Ed pieces like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2008\/07\/17\/AR2008071702679.html\">this one<\/a> in the <em>Washington Post<\/em> complaining of heavy-handedness and stage management on the part of the central government are hard to argue with.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left: 0.25in;text-align: justify\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left: 0.25in;text-align: justify\">And indeed, stage management has been the operative phrase for this coming Olympic Games.<span> <\/span>The environmental cover-up (it is nothing less) may prove successful but when the Olympics are come and gone, factories will once again kick into overdrive, cars will return in swarms to the streets.<span> <\/span>Significant protests may be avoided, but in the end, domestic grievances will remain unsolved.<span> <\/span>And while the whole country holds its breath for two months, perhaps the happiest people will be found after the Games have passed and millions of Beijingers will breathe a sigh of relief that they can finally return to life as normal, sans <em>ma fan<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong>Words to Know<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u00c0oy\u00f9nhu\u00ec<span> <\/span>Olympic Games<span> <\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"tcsub\"><span style=\"font-family: SimSun\">\u5965\u8fd0\u4f1a<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">W\u016br\u01cen<span> <\/span>Pollution<span> <\/span><span style=\"font-family: SimSun\">\u6c61\u67d3<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">D\u01d4ch\u0113<span> <\/span>Traffic Jam<span> <\/span><span style=\"font-family: SimSun\">\u5835\u8f66<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">W\u01d4d\u00e0ok\u01d2<span> <\/span>(Area in Haidian District, Beijing)<span> <\/span><span style=\"font-family: SimSun\">\u4e94\u9053\u53e3<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">D\u00e0g\u0113<span> <\/span>Big Brother<span> <\/span><span style=\"font-family: SimSun\">\u5927\u54e5<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">M\u00e0f\u00e0n<span> <\/span>Hassle, troublesome, bother<span> <\/span><span> <\/span><span style=\"font-family: SimSun\">\u9ebb\u70e6<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Olympic Lockdown July 20th marked the start of Beijing in Olympic Lockdown Mode. For approximately the next two months, the city will turn blue in the face while attempting to hold in its proverbial gut while showcasing itself to the world as a sleek, modern, clean, and efficient capital city ready to assume its place&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/olympic-lockdown\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2659],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","tag-chinese-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}