I'm just starting to finalize my plans for a 3 month trip across Asia this summer, starting in Japan and perhaps making it as far west as India, but I'm really quite open to ending wherever.

Anyway, just wondering who else was thinking about going to Beijing for the Olympics?

i'm all booked to go there for 2 weeks, getting the trans-sib there. should be amazing to see.

Cool, I'm planning on getting to Beijing around the 18th and traveling from there. My plans to do so are currently around 50%.

With Chinas human rights reputation, I would rather boycott the whole Olympic venue there. Nothing against the Chinese culture, people and country it self, I believe it's unique, worth visiting and I'm sure I'll travel it my self one day. But right now? Starting with the invasion to Tibet and destruction of about 90% of this ancient, (quite) peaceful culture. Unforgivable to the communist party, which is still ruthlessly at the power.
Just recently, people are locked down in whole, fenced building blocks - like some kind of unregistered prisons, off limits for any foreign reporters, only because they dared to challenge the system. They ware unlucky enough to live within the newly planed Olympic area, for generations, and because they are unwilling to move, they are beaten, threaten and locked down. Some "disappeared" too. Does the history repeats it self here?
These ones who will work or attend at the games are trained and must obey strictly rules how to appear, how to behave and how to smile properly in the presence of foreign cameras, reporters and us, the foreign visitors.
What benefits is the whole "show" gonna have for a common citizen? Not sure... What does the party hopes for right now, when China is about to become the next world "superpower". More power? Maybe. But there will be only peanuts left for the common Chinese people. Maybe some crawling pride too.
So to me the Olympic games are slowly losing its original spirit. They are more and more oriented on prestige and material gain of few selfish beings.
Even in to the sport it self creeps the rotten spirit of cheating and greed. In the form of steroids and other illegal substances. Though I do not deny the majority of athletes trains hard and fair to be part of this ancient competition, and you guys will proudly enjoy cheering up athletes representing your country. To me all the effort putt together just bypasses too widely the whole joy and tradition of the Olympic games.

I agree. However, there is a lot of shit that goes on in the world, and honestly, my dollars aren't going to the communist regime in the same way that money spent on Chinese products, natural resources, etc. Sure the Olympics are jaded, and honestly I'm not going there for the Olympics, it just happens to coincide with when I hope to start my trip. So why the hell not?

Stephen

I see where you're coming from but if we all had this attitude where could we hold the olympics (Greece,Aus, US, Spain are hardly angels). They're no saints in this world. Also without this olympics a lot of the issues involving China would not be coming to the forefront.

Mexico did something similar back in '68...they wanted to reduce crime before the games so they just took all the criminals, killed them, and buried them in the hills...these mass graves were found later on...

I think this was the olympics with the famous Black fist pump (for all you sports buffs or elder statesmen)...so i think that was overlooked by the fist pump...

post 1300 wahooooo!!!!!!!1

i'm only 25 so maybe a bit young for the history but wasn't it students who wanted to protest against their govt who got killed.

I agree, there's probably no such country left where the OG would take place without any troubles. Just some troubles are less provocative then others. Anyway, have a great trip trough China, with games or without and don't let people like me spoil your joy guys...

I'd avoid it like the plague. I'd imagine prices would be jacked up sky high.

I'm going for the ping pong. Go with a beer hat and a t-shirt emblazoned with a big old american eagle. Give all the Chinese a taste of what a real American is.

quote:

Originally posted by blueatjustchill:
i'm only 25 so maybe a bit young for the history but wasn't it students who wanted to protest against their govt who got killed.

Yeah, that was the Tlatelolco massacre, just days before the games. They still don't know how many students were killed there.

Personally, I think it was a travesty that China was awarded the Olympics.

I'm hauling the whole famn damily into B-town on 22Jul08. Starting out in North Carolina, USA on 24May and head'n East. Leaving Beijing before the games though. Going to do the 10k hike from Jinshanling to Simatai, our own little marathon, a little rowing in a park, and maybe an expressive/interpretive dance in Tiananmen Square, lest we forget.

Felix, man, your always there with some inconvienient truth Oh yeah, that one's taken, but quite appropriate given the fact that China's shutting down a significant portion of it's industry in an effort to improve air quality [a little known concession required to get the games]. Look for many shortages & rising prices here. China's largest blast furnace has been continously operating for 35 year will go cold for 3 months!

I don't see anything terrible about visiting China as an individual, just that the rulers in Beijing do not deserve the legitimacy that being awarded the Games bestows on them.