China, or should I say the People’s Republic of China, the name echoes a mixture of mystery and intrigue. This country populated by more than 1.3 billion people holds ancient secrets and recent political controversies notably with the imminent Olympic Games. Between the invention of writing and paper and the secrecy of a communist state that controls the internet, China is a country worth looking into.

 Having travelled to China, a year before the Olympics, Beijing, Shanghai and many of the other cities hosting the Olympics were in effervescence trying to get buildings done in time and their people civilised to Western standards. Already last year there were TV ads telling people not to spit, to be respectful of one another and basically make sure that anyone coming for the Olympics would think how great China is as a country.

 And it is! But not for the reasons they would like it to be. It is for the loaded and fascinating culture it has; may it be the temples and the religion, the nature, its poets and thinkers and of course the food! Ah, how I long for a bowl of noodles from Xi’an!

 Brieg Lemétayer, resident in Beijing for the last two years and student in Chinese and English at the University of International Business and Economics says: “The Chinese are well-know for their lack of manners which can be a shocking experience for a foreigner. The Beijing Government wants to make of its capital a show case of the country by educating its population”. He goes on explaining how every eleventh day of the month Beijing follows a ‘day of politeness’ where there should be no insults, no fights, respecting queues in the metro and so on. Queuing is a big problem for tourists in China, since it might take you some time to realise that to get on or off a train or a bus the rule is that there are no rules. Another maybe off-putting aspect of China is the public toilets which can be smelled sometimes from around 200 metres away and are often without doors. These along with a modernisation of the whole city are being reviewed.

 It seems easy to criticise China as their appalling history of human rights violations are hard to comprehend from a Westerns perspective. However, regarding China’s history it also questionable how the Olympics committee tolerate the stories regarding the Chinese state’s approach to making China ready for this major event. 

 Wu Jianmin, former Chinese ambassador to France and President of the Chinese Foreign Affairs University said in a conference in Beijing that for China hosting the Olympics is “a dream old of a century”. He also insists on the fact the games will be an opportunity for China to promote peace, development and cooperation in an ever changing world.  Wu Jianmin believes that his country shares universal values but that there is no existing model of democracy.

 The reality is China is a country which has a lot to offer through a rich history and the incredible warmth of its people. And through this aspect, China will be a great addition to the history of Olympic host nations.  

 Before I arrived in China I had been warned that language would be a barrier, but we always found our way, as you can get far with a few glossaries, sign language and a smile. The only exception was in one restaurant were we pointed at a picture with a prawn stir-fry and got fried peanuts instead. I still wonder how that is.

 It is mainly the younger generation which speaks English since they learn it in school just as we learn Spanish or German and you can always be sure that wherever there’s a bargain to be made, there’s someone to shout you out a price in English or whip out a calculator to haggle.

 There is however one obvious major worry surfacing the debate regarding the Chinese Olympic Games, and that is the problem faced by the capitalist invention of industrial activity, resulting in a grey blanket of pollution covering the major cities.  

 When we first landed in Beijing, the air was smoggy and hot and my first thought was, I’m definitely in Asia, but then I wondered how the athletes participating in this summers Olympic Games were going to cope. During the four weeks I was there in July, blue sky and sun were present for a total of three days. The rest was a hazy, grey and humid cloud. 

The Olympics are only three months away and it will go ahead despite the criticism the event has faced. I am certain that China will pull it off in the same degree that Athens did four years ago by proving the opposition wrong. China has announced plans to halt the traffic and the construction a few months before the start of the games in order to improve the air quality.

An amazing way, to say the least, which the Beijing Government has resulted to ensure a blue sky the next day is by shooting chemical rockets that will disperse the rain clouds.

However, while we can leave China after the 16 days long event is over, it is important not to forget the lasting implications for the Chinese people. It is doubtful that their quality of life will improve although our image of China might change. People have lost their land, human rights violations will continue with a new and improved blessing from the west and the massive grey cloud of pollution will again surface.   

Brieg Lemétayer says: “The wealthier Chinese are going to get the most economical advantages from the games. The more conservatives and communists Chinese fear the consequences of such an opening of their country. And finally the poorer population which is brought in from the provinces for labour will then be asked to leave once the games start”.

So now all which is left for us to do, is to wish that the superstitious date of 08.08.08 will bring China as much good luck as they hope it will.