Not exactly the Sunday I had planned. Woke up with one more attack of the Beijing disease, i.e. cough, sore throat and feeling lousy. I am repeating myself – living in Beijing is really bad for your health. I blame the pollution, the stress, the bouts of depression, etc. Not good for your immune system and worse for your respiratory system. Guess I will have to really stop smoking my favorite cigars. I’ll miss them. Try to sleep more (good luck). Get less stressed (good luck again). I already stopped any outdoor exercise and recently tried to be very careful in the gym – avoiding massive sweating while running, I can lose like 2 liters in one hour…. and staff has to mop the floor next to the treadmill!
I miss my days in Mongolia next to Lake Toilogt. No mobile, no e-mail, no pollution. Peace.
There is always a bright side to misery. I went through a mountain of unread newspapers and magazines and let my iMac run through test programs for nearly 24 hours (TechTool Pro4). Seems all is OK now and the disappearing act of my iDisk on the desktop seems to be solved.
We had a wonderful blue sky, some clouds that disappeared and then in the evening suddenly one of the most violent rain and storm I have seen over here.
This Monday morning, blue sky, seems it will be a hot day. I continue coughing, taking medicine fit to cure a horse while having bouts of fever. In my pajamas. Another advantage working in a “SOHO”. And the iMac seems fine, at least for now.
Letting Steam Off
9 August 2007 – Olympic fatigue?
Previous postings have been modified “by request”.
So one year minus one day to go for the 2008 Olympics.
For me, Olympic fatigue.
I was lambasted for airing my “criticizing views on the preparation” on my blog. I thought I was neutral, certainly overall more positive than other (foreign) observers and experts. Also trying to convince local authorities to change their attitude in the interest of Beijing and China.
Well, seems Chinese don’t read well and don’t grasp the nuances of the English language; locals see some words in my blog and get unhappy.
In the past days I have been bugged by many journalists. Some come with tricky questions that I will not even print here. I try my best to defend Beijing and answer in a balanced way. Seems a rather futile exercise in trying to play the substitute PR agency of Beijing.
Then, journalists misquote me, like in part the SCMP.
More, what does it all bring to me? Headaches. Misunderstandings.
So, if one is looking for “insight” in the preparation here in this blog, sorry. Wrong address. Please read China Daily, look up BOCOG’s website (apparently efficient and impressive according to a “survey”) and watch CCTV and BTV.
Yes, we are all fully confident the 2008 Games will be the best ever in history and everybody will be in full admiration. If the IOC is happy, so be it.
Anybody who is still interested in my insights, I do discuss them – for a fee.
As for the journalists, well, the press and media centers, gracefully set up by the Beijing Government, will fully attend to your needs.
And I will be busy preparing for the next marathon and trying to finally improve my Chinese.
Beijing versus Hangzhou: poor Beijing!
I went for a quick trip to Hangzhou on Friday, to join the Lenovo Torch Tour. I did not visit Hangzhou for many years but went there several times in the past, starting in the very early eighties. Coming from polluted, dusty and chaotic Beijing, something close to a shock.
Yes Hangzhou was hot, hot, hot. Temperatures went close to the forties in the shadow and the Lenovo event – held outside – was a real endurance test.
But what made such an impression was the city overall. Clean, organized, pleasant traffic, modern, attractive. Plus the charm of the famous lake. Reminds me of Switzerland where so many cities are close to perfection.
clean streets – Hangzhou Stadium – sight from Nade Hotel
In Beijing, roads are dirty, sidewalks are a mess, the surface of the roads are often pretty bad and overall the streets are chaotic and messy. Pavements, street dividers, sidewalks, walls, houses all show marks of poor maintenance and the use of doubtful material. Like the thousands of “parking meters”, never used, broken down: the company that made the deal must have some excellent guanxi or what? Compare that to Hangzhou. I suggest Beijing officials in charge of polishing the image of the capital before the 2008 Olympics make a fact finding tour to Hangzhou (without lavish banquets). Let them walk around the city, look at how are the streets are so well maintained, no rusty and broken down fences, damaged lighting, no ugly overhead cables hanging everywhere, good signage (most with English text), modern public transport.
I was given a tour around the city including the industrial and commercial areas. Whaw.
Long way to go really for Beijing. Coming back here, I immediately smelled the pollution, noticed the lack of vivid colors (due to the particles hanging in the air). The mess on the roads – just walk on Gongti Bei Lu.
Returning from a developed country to a much-to develop other country.
Not to wonder Hangzhou gets many top scores in surveys of Chinese cities.
Don’t look for me!
Well yes. I am going to disappear for two weeks, starting this Saturday 30 June. heading to somewhere in Mongolia where there is no e-mail and no mobile.
It’s going to be a real adventure. I really need this crazy break and I am curious myself how I am going to go through those two weeks filled with the unknown. Well unknown except for the ultra-marathon at around 2,000 meters. And Mongolia’s National Day celebrations.
The right moment for some extracts of my two favorite Flemish poems from the Middle Ages:
Het daghet inden oosten,
Het lichtet overal.
Hoe luttel weet mijn liefken
Och waer ick henen sal
Egidius, waer bestu bleven?
Mi lanct na di, gheselle mijn!
Du coors die doot, du liets mi tleven.
The energy police: again?
See other article from “Beijing Today” of 16 June: Beijing sends in the energy police
Quick, check the thermostat – the energy police are on patrol. Businesses in Beijing will have to be more aware of their energy use after the city formed a team to monitor energy-saving practices in response to the central government’s calls to cut consumption in big cities, state media reported. It quoted team leader Huang Qian as saying the “energy-saving police” will check if energy consumption in offices, hotels, schools, shopping malls and other big buildings meets national standards. A special phone number has been set up so the public can report buildings that fail to conform to the rules, Xinhua said. End of article.
OK, isn’t that great! But in the usual “transparency” the “special phone number” is not mentioned. For obvious reasons, the former vice mayor kindly and officially explained to me the energy police has no legal power to enforce the regulations. That was in 2006. At least he was one of the few officials to give a clear answer. I doubt today things are better. I’d love to denounce a couple of buildings, especially in winter time when you are dried out by hot air of 28 to 30C. Like in Powerhouse Gym.
As far as I know, the rules-to-be set indoor winter temperatures at 20C max and summer temperatures at 26C max. Yes, I know, hard to imagine in Beijing.