As reported by Xinhua, “Good Luck Beijing” international boxing invitation tournament was held in Beijing’s Worker’s Indoor Arena (BWIA) from 17 to 22 November. It’s among a series of test events for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, featuring 76 boxers from 18 countries and regions, including 12 from China.
BWIA, renovated in 2006, will be the venue of the invitation tourney as well as the Olympic boxing and Paralympic judo competitions in 2008.
The six-day event expected 23 medical workers from eight hospitals and 450 student volunteers from 11 universities, according to the organizers.
As the venue is next door to where I live (and work), I wanted to see how it was now after repair. Not too bad, simple but certainly fits the bill. Some improvements in signage are due (try to find the toilets – you circle around clueless) and hopefully security screening will be beefed up to avoid long waiting lines. This time, no problem as the gymnasium was maybe filled for 10% only. We bought 3 tickets of RMB 20 each and spend part of the afternoon of 18 November.
See here the picture gallery (and all others) – click on this link:
http://homepage.mac.com/bjprc/PhotoAlbum12.html
2008 Beijing Olympics
1 Nov 07 – C-Zone by S2M Group
The Conference was again organized in the Crowne Plaza Park View Wuzhou Hotel, near the Birds Nest.
The organizers did their best to make it a cool and interesting event but I feel the hoopla around the 2008 Olympics is cooling down. The theme “Enhancing the excitement around the Games” was maybe a bit sarcastic – not so many people turned up. Pity, S2M had transformed the usually drab meeting room into a mini-stadium, even with a mini running track, probably at great cost.
Di and the Torch Relay; the creative setting (with empty seats…); Sandy Hollway
I attended because my good friends Sandy Hollway and David Churches (Sydney 2000) were speakers. Pity again that the people who should note down every recommendation Sandy gave were not there.
As for the overview of the Torch Relay (Ms. Di Henry of Maxxam International), I feel it is a bit too gigantic and too crazy schedule. Good luck to complete that program without too many glitches.
Olivier Strebelle in the Olympic Green
The project large sculpture “The Athletes Alley” is progressing well.
On 10 October the whole team, including the artist, went to see the exact spot where the sculpture will stand. The group is pictured at the “observation spot” and you can see the view towards the sculpture, a view from the last statues group towards the observation spot (so far you can’t see the group anymore). As well as shots of the temporary weather station, with the temporary venue in the back for the grass hockey.
At a later date, on 2 November, I led former Ambassador Ms. Claire Kirschen to inspect the same location, together with Ms. Kristine De Muylder, general manager of Europalia. Claire is one of my oldest acquaintances in Beijing; we first met in late 1980 when she was Minister Counsellor at the embassy. Later in the nineties she came back as ambassador.
Claire, Kristine and others on location in the Olympic Green
Now she is the General Commissioner for Europalia China, the Cultural and Artistic Festival Europe – China that will take place in Belgium sometimes in September 2009, for several months. Claire and Kristine were in China for a series of contacts for the festival. Claire is also a close friend of the artist Olivier.
Birds Nest, pollution and construction
I participated in the IOC World Conference in Beijing at the end of October, more about that some other day. It was not exactly “a good day” for Beijing. The whole IOC top management experienced the horrendous pollution. API levels shot up to 300 in some areas. Some days later the index went even higher.
Kind of difficult to say all is well when the Beijing Airport is closed due to the pollution. The other pic was taken around the same period, 3rd Ring Road looking south from the Sheraton Hotel. The PTFE roof of the National Stadium is now also becoming visible, filling up the gaps between the huge steal beams.
See also pics taken from about the same location but on a real nice day, just a couple of days later.
Returning there for another conference I was amazed with the speed of construction. Suddenly, out of nowhere they had build a large part of the bridge that will connect the 4th Ring Road with the side road of the Bird’s Nest. Only in China really.
Of course the massive construction is one of the causes of the pm10 pollution, partly due to the trucks and partly due to the construction dust.
South African Ladies in Beijing
On 24 October I was invited to give a presentation to a delegation , organized by the Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management, Johannesburg, South Africa. The topics, as usual, ranged from the preparation for the Beijing Olympics to women in China and doing business here.
The group of executives: all ladies from the banking sector. My presentation turned out to be totally improvised and the paper I was going to use stayed in my hand and was never opened. The debate was quite lively and the ladies had some pretty sharp questions.
Refreshing challenge for me, and pleasant company. Much nicer than some of those “seasoned executives” I described in an earlier entry.
Thanks to the South African Embassy for the arrangements and to Ms. Belinda Goddard and Prof. Ben Anderson (lucky guy!).
Again I wonder, where are the European delegations… At least one from Copenhagen is expected later this month.
Some of the participants.