Posts Tagged ‘Beijing’

For Sale: Cars used by the media during the Beijing Olympics

Kudos to FTV for this very interesting report from Beijing about the sale of vehicles that had been purchased by international media organizations for use during the Olympic games:

Some 130 cars are being sold at the location featured in the report. The cars had been purchased new by media outlets such as the BBC, and after 2-3 months of use, they will be sold to new owners at a price cut of 3,000 to 5,000 dollars. Some of the buyers are seeking cheap new cars, while others like the idea of owning a vehicle that contributed in some way to the Olympic Games. One man even said he wanted to keep the Olympic stickers on the car he bought!

Japanese reporter eats insects

One of NTV’s reporters in Beijing goes to a local food shop and tries to eat cicada on a stick:

Beijing Olympics – shirtless men, fake products, and Potemkin facades

Yesterday evening’s FTV news broadcast looked at Beijing’s preparations for the Olympics, focusing on some of the negatives. Below the video embed are some screen captures and explanations of what is being described in the video.

The clip begins with footage of what looks like a normal building. However, closer inspection reveals that it is in fact a painted facade attached to the exterior of an incomplete building. The building was supposed to have been a hotel, but its construction was delayed and it failed to open in time for the Olympics. Authorities have added the fake exterior to improve Beijing’s image to foreign visitors:

Also featured in the report is a 3-meter high “culture wall” that has been erected along the official Olympic marathon course. The wall blocks the view of old slum neighborhoods, something visitors might find unsightly.

Japanese reporters go to one of these neighborhoods and witness many men walking around without shirts. The government has told Beijing residents that they must not go around half-naked when the Olympics start, and the men say they will put shirts on when the time comes.

While filming the segment, street vendors approached the crew and offered to sell them official Olympic souvenirs. They purchase the products and take them to an official Olympic merchandise store for verification. The cheap-looking products are confirmed as fakes, and a staff member tells them not to buy Olympic products that don’t have an official holographic label.

The Chinese government is supposedly taking action against creators of fake Olympic products, but with less than a week until the games start, it’s very likely that many tourists will run into fakes.

New sidewalks crumble in Beijing ahead of Olympics

FTV’s latest report about Beijing making final preparations for the Olympics was filmed at a spot in front of the Bird’s Nest stadium where a newly built sidewalk has begun to cave in:

According to the reporter, such crumbling sidewalks are not an uncommon sight near the Olympic venues.

Protests Hit Nagano Relay

The Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay is underway, and there are reports of minor disturbances:

• Not long after the 8:30AM start of the relay, a Japanese protester threw something at the torch runner. Police blocked it and arrested the man.
• Around 9:00AM, a protester dashed into the road and was tackled by the police.

Update: Here’s a slightly better video of the few disruptions that took place during the relay and some news links.

The man being carried away by police while screaming “free Tibet” was a Taiwanese citizen. The four other protesters arrested were Japanese. There were also incidents in which Chinese students were injured in attempted attacks on pro-Tibet protesters:

At least four people were injured in the scuffles in the mountain resort of Nagano, where more than 85,000 people packed the streets including Chinese students who turned the town into a sea of red national flags.

After relative calm elsewhere in Asia, the torch met at least hundreds of protesters here ranging from Buddhist monks and pro-Tibet demonstrators to nationalists, who provocatively waved Japan’s old imperial flag.

Protesters threw trash, an egg, a tomato and flares as the torch was paraded through the streets despite more than 3,000 police guarding the route, who had raised security to a level usually accorded to Emperor Akihito.

[...]

China is killing Tibetans, who are a very peaceful people, so I hate the Chinese government,” said Hisakazu Hattori, a 21-year-old student.

Another protester, Mitsuru Ishikawa, said he feared China’s rise.

“China wants to conquer the world. I’m afraid that China will conquer Japan in the near future,” Ishikawa said.

Furious Chinese supporters in turn surrounded demonstrators waving Tibetan flags. In one brawl the Chinese charged with flagpoles and were kicked by anti-Beijing demonstrators until police intervened, witnesses said.

At least four Chinese were injured, none of them seriously, said the fire department of Nagano, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics some 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Tokyo.

Mainstream international media coverage of the relay

• Protesters jeer Olympic torch in Japan (CNN-IBN)
• In pictures: Olympic torch in Japan (BBC)
• Torch supporters, protesters mark Japan relay (Reuters)

If NTV’s report is to be trusted, the Chinese media’s coverage of the Nagano relay was 100% positive. A heavily edited video of portions of the relay that did not have any Tibetan flags in the background was shown and there was absolutely no mention of protests.

Irene has kindly brought to our attention a YouTube video and 2-channel archives that give a firsthand account of the relay from the perspective of Japanese protesters:

It wasn’t the total chaos that some had predicted, but protesters seemed to have made a bigger impact in Japan than in the other countries the torch passed through in the last week. The torch travels to South Korea tomorrow, where North Korean defectors have vowed to interrupt the relay in protest of China’s repatriation of refugees to the North where they often face execution.

Zenkoji Temple May Not Host Torch Relay Opening Ceremony In Nagano

More problems for the Nagano torch relay:

Zenkoji Temple, designated as the starting point for the Nagano leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay, is considering withdrawing from hosting an opening ceremony for the event, sources familiar with the situation said Thursday.

Officials at the Buddhist temple have apparently informed Nagano city’s committee which is in charge of organizing the March 26 torch relay that the temple is considering whether or not to host the opening event, the sources said.

The move came in the wake of the disruptions during the Olympic runs in London, Paris and San Francisco caused by demonstrators protesting against China’s recent crackdown in Tibet.

The torch relay in the central Japan city that hosted the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games is scheduled to start at Zenkoji Temple at 8:30 a.m. and about 100 people are to run a total of 18.5 kilometers.

Opening events, including a torch-lighting ceremony, are planned at 8 a.m. at a special event space which is to be set up between the temple’s main building and a gate standing near the building.

The sources said the torch-relay organizing committee is also considering changing the relay route or cutting it short.

It is also being reported that Coca-Cola Japan has withdrawn its sponsorship of the Nagano relay.

Update: The rejection has been made. There will be no opening ceremony at Zenkoji Temple. [hat tip to John K]