Beijing putting on the final touches for Olympics. Amazing set of photos.

[Lex]

Found here:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/07/beijing_2008_preparations_thre.html



Such as:


Paramilitary policemen take part in an oath-taking ceremony to ensure the safety of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games outside the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, at the Olympic Green in Beijing, July 16, 2008. (REUTERS/Joe Chan)

[LynneSin]

1. Still not watching the Olympics - Beijing should have never been selected

:grr:

[Lex]

2. Well, okay.

But anyway, the photos linked are very good.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Where would you have held the Olympics?

[SidDithers]

32. The runner up city for the 2008 games was Toronto...

Which would have been fine with me :)

Sid

[Deja Q]

14. Well, the world offshores everything else to them.

:shrug:

[Clovis Sangrail]

3. I can see why it's called 'grey'jing /nt

[Lex]

11. The pollution situation

is truly scary for the athletes I believe.

[Clovis Sangrail]

12. the comments section here

has a http://www.nowpublic.com/life/olympians-fight-beijing-smog-insulting">bunch of links to pictures people have taken of beijing like this:



the big architecture is nice, but there's no way I could live in that kind of smog
I really feel bad for the athletes...
a chance to compete in the olympics... but at some cost to your health

on edit:
forgot the link

[tridim]

4. I remember when we used to have great architecture in the US.

I hate to say it, but China and The UAE are beating the crap out of us.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Indeed

[Hav]

10. .

That might be true but I think there are architects from several countries and not only from China behind all these new buildings, maybe even from the US.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. Their architecture is amazing

Wow.

[Xithras]

34. It was designed by a Swiss firm and a Chinese artist who hates the Olympics.

Not exactly "Chinese architecture". The Chinese artist actually refuses to be photographed with the thing.

[alcibiades_mystery]

35. Not sure what the quotation marks are for

Since I didn't day it was "Chinese architecture." Don't give a damn one way or the other "what" it is. I likes it. That's all.

[snooper2]

8. Hmm, I forgot the number...

How many people lost their homes over this again?

[Hav]

9. That's the other side...

Today I read that for the new gigantic airport alone, some villages had to be "moved".

[mainegreen]

13. All things aside, I really dig those street lamps.

Looks like giant plants.

Very cool.

[Deja Q]

15. I agree - they are cool. Stylish, artsy, and purposeful.

[alfredo]

16. Here's the interior of the Velodrome

Not near as pretty as the one in Athens

Athens

[tridim]

18. I can't believe they even bother to still build velodromes

What a waste of resources for a sport that about 100 people in the World participate in.

[alfredo]

26. In my town we have nearly that many participants. It's still a

big sport world wide.

It's had its problems, but they are fighting the doping scandal. Look at the US teams, the newer teams have a zero tolerance policy toward doping. When Ricco on the Duval team got caught last week, the sponsors pulled the whole team. In the past the team would carry on, now the owners are less tolerant of doping. You dope, your whole team suffers. There will still be cheats, but the sport is getting tougher on them.

I saw something encouraging when Ricco was expelled. Fans booed him. Show no sympathy.

[begin_within]

17. And check THIS out:

They did a "dress rehearsal" for the fireworks and light show on July 16th. Go to this page for photos:

http://www.fireworkstown.com/NewsDtls.asp?Id=2970

[SoCalDem]

19. signs up too

[Radical Activist]

20. No car bombs?

Funny sign

[SoCalDem]

21. I think the sign means no smoking in cars, but they ended up with something else

A tourist to China posted that one on a blog..

[exothermic]

37. No ejection seats in the city limits!

:evilgrin:

[Disturbed]

25. I will not watch a minute of it.

:boring:

[Radical Activist]

22. How do we classify China. Fascist?

I'm not sure how you classify a centralized state economy that abandons any pretense of being a proletarian revolution. There needs to be a new word for it.

[Codeine]

33. Fascist works for me. nt

[Terran]

23. There are some excellent photos

Particularly the ones of people. The architecture? yeah, it's interesting, if inhuman-looking.

I had to note this caption on one of the pics:

The International Olympic Committee recently praised Beijing for setting a "gold standard for the future" in its preparations for the Games, which begin in less than a month.

That's nice. I wonder if the IOC is aware that part of those preparations included making tens of thousands of people homeless with little warning, and then jailing those who dared to complain? Seems to me the IOC is very good at looking the other way here.

[AlCzervik]

24. My husband took this one in Shinzen China a few years ago on his first trip.

make what you want of it.

[Lex]

27. Those 2 look like airline pilots.

The male one looks a bit like a young Bill Clinton.

Excellent pic. Thanks for posting it! :)

[Kaleko]

28. Frightening

The new world order Chinese style.

[Dukkha]

29. the Beijing Olympic Topiary Gardens are amazing!

http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/stunning-beijing-olympic-topiary-gardens/art

I love the Chinese & their culture. Their government can bit me.

[Lex]

31. Wonderful!

The first one is so great, but they are all wonderful. :thumbsup:

[ColbertWatcher]

30. Those buildings are amazing. Thank you for posting. k+r n/t

[otohara]

36. Amazing Photos

Thanks for posting...