From Beijing, an unfiltered view on business and economy.
Some of the pics are screenshots from CCTV and other sites.
I am waiting for more…
Here the “report” on the preparation for the Parade! More to come later – watch this blog!
All foreigners (the ones on the float) were called to assemble at the Great Wall Sheraton at 1:30am. Sun and myself skipped that as the group proceeded to Gongti North Gate at 2:20am – next to where we live. We then went through security, the typical Chinese confusion. We were told no cameras etc. But ordinary pens were confiscated, making some foreigners upset as nobody told us and some of the pens were valuable. No discussion. Ditto for all magazines and newspapers. But, many did bring a camera and took then in, I was very upset as I did not bring mine… I managed to take some pics with my mobile. Not great but better than nothing.
We then got a huge plastic bag with food (don’t ask for details) and water. We then had to wait inside the stadium on the (dirty) chairs. No problem for us – we had brought enough tissue paper. And my iPod to kill the time (I listened to 3 Chinese lessons). Then I discovered Chinese had brought big black markers… Pens and stuff were OK as long you were not a foreigner…
We were there till 5am when we proceeded to our float – all floats were stored inside the Gongti area, then left through the east gate to Gongti Dong Lu, Dongdaqiao Lu, then Jianguomenwai, Jianguomennei and finally Chang’an in front of the International Hotel where all floats were parked next to each other in 3 columns. Ample time to walk around, look at the floats, chat and go the toilets (installed on the walkways).
Valerie had a different schedule: she had to be at Chaoyang Park East Gate by 6am, from there proceeding to the side of Chang’an where the group of foreigners and Chinese walking around our float would join us at a certain point – to form a “matrix” – a big square surrounding the float. It was hilarious (?) to see the Chinese well disciplined and marching in formation – the foreigners could not be more chaotic…
In the morning we had a drizzle, the float was wet. Pollution was pretty bad (AQI of up to 240). Slowly the sky cleared, the clouds disappeared and gave way to the bluest sky I ever saw. And the AQI dropped to 30. (I got a sunburn on my face from the strong sun…)
All floats were parked behind the military vehicles (see them in the distance). Impressive was the see till the very end of Chang’an Avenue with the mountains in the back.
At 10am the Parade started but our float started moving at around 11:20am. The rest is “history”.
Some people were unhappy with the choice of the foreigners who were on the float. I give no comments…
Overall the experience was unique and moving. Our float had a tremendous success with the other participants, we waved to all other participants who were very excited – girls would wave, shout and dance when we passed. Everybody seemed ecstatic to participate, indeed all Chinese felt it was an honor to participate, despite the long training and waiting. It seems over 200,000 participants were involved. As such, big success.
Thanks to Michael Crook for the group picture, taken during (one of the…) rehearsal on 25 September.
The group, a few missing
See here below Letter to the Editor, International Herald Tribune (IHT), 15 Sept 09.
I don’t disagree with the writer for most of the criticism and thus feel no need to comment. What’s wrong with it, is the typical one-sided analysis of China, lacking balance in assessing the positive and the negative. I can as well frame it and put on my wall because this is what western media mostly show or write.
When I look at other countries today around the world, I see much worse. The IHT is at least fair in giving a neutral view on the dramatic situations in Africa, Asia and … Europe and the USA. Those countries also cozy up with despotic and despicable countries for oil, regional power, business and else. In so many countries minorities are slaughtered every day. Look at discrimination and infighting in our “advanced” Europe.
Pollution in some countries (even sometimes in USA!) also reaches alarming levels that are either ignored or covered up. Europe and USA has so much more cars. On top of that, they are very happy to sell their cars (including the monstrous Hummer) to China. So, Chinese cannot have their car like in the western world? Are they all supposed to stick to their bikes? See here some figures of car ownership in the world:
Car ownership/1000 people: USA & Japan (>450); China (20); India (8) – 17,000 new private cars on the road in China per day. Just imagine China goes from 20 to 100 – that’s 5 times the today amount of cars but still way below USA and Japan.
It’s all a lot of cynical one-sided hypocrisy.
I can give Mr. Hewitt some nice destinations to spend his holidays. Lucky at least he is not a woman. He might end up stoned, raped, receive 60 lashes, maimed. But hey, there is oil over there, never mind.
I can only recommend to him: don’t go to Wal-Mart or whatever. It’s all made in China. (handy profits for the MNCs, all quoted on U.S. and EU stock markets.)
We here do criticize China too. We are not blind but we also look at the bright side.
One party of autocrats
Thomas Friedman (One-party democracy,” Views, Sept.10) writes “One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages.” This statement is, to be kind, scandalous. China is a police state. China’s leaders have brutally repressed the populations of Tibet and East Turkestan for many decades. The Chinese leadership strongly supports regimes in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Myanmar and North Korea that have consistently ravaged their own people. China is itself corrupt. Nearly unabated air and water pollution devastates the health of the Chinese people.
Mr. Friedman’s argument for the “enlightened” nature of the Chinese leadership hinges on its embrace of renewable energy technology. It should be noted, however, that China continues to build scores of new coal-fired power plants annually, while the nation is in a headlong rush to put hundreds of thousands of new cars on its new roads. And, for my money, its rush to nuclear power does not in the least indicate the requisite thoughtfulness and attention to environmental protection that would allow its leadership to be called enlightened.
William F. Hewitt, New York
I started writing this on 20 August, had to stop because the Internet was lousy and my laptop is an antique (if on the Internet). So here comes the report, a bit late.
In my quest to write my book (Don Quichote fighting windmills comes to mind), I try to disappear from time to time to be a recluse. In August that led me to a place at the very end of Pinggu County, near the border with Tianjin Municipality. I was in a tiny village (1 road basically) that sits next to the dam of the nice Haizi Reservoir (Jinhai Park) that is said to deliver BY PIPELINE water to Zhongnanhai.
Near the dam there are some impressive guesthouses, mostly from Chinese organizations.
