Reflecting on Beijing 2008

I’ve been back in the US for about four days now, and believe it or not — I’m beginning to miss China. The politics, lifestyle, even the food I can live without, but the people — I miss the locals most of all. There have been many questions about my experience — from the immigration officer at the Chicago airport (it went beyond the obligatory business/pleasure question) to my family and friends back home — I’ve answered them several times before, but I will answer them here as well.

Q: Well, how was Beijing? Should I go?

A: After spending two months living in Beijing, I’d hesitate to recommend the city to tourists looking to soak up Chinese history and culture. Sure — there’s plenty of that in Beijing, but there’s so much more to China that you won’t be able to see through Beijing’s environmental and propaganda haze. I came to tolerate life in the city towards the end of my journey, but only because the Olympics were in town, and many familiar Western conveniences became available, such as an Apple Store and Cold Stone. Unless you speak Mandarin, communication with locals is almost always impossible. Some are learning limited English, but are unable to pronounce words correctly due to a lack of native speakers to practice with.

For photographers, Beijing can be a great place to shoot on clear days, but unfortunately, the sun only breaks through the clouds every so often. If you’re only in town for a week, you may not have a single day without a hazy blanket to get in the way of you and that perfect shot. The Chinese make incredible subjects, and are generally more open to photographers than Westerners. Unfortunately, I think much of this comes from a fear of confrontation, especially when they’re unable to communicate with the foreigner behind the camera.

Q: What was it like to work at the Olympics?

A: I can’t even begin to describe the Olympic experience – it was so incredible to be able to work alongside the world’s top photographers, reporters, and athletes. Just being around the athletes was a thrill – there were so many, from almost every country in the world. There were also plenty of opportunities for staff and journalists to mingle with athletes outside of the competition venues, especially towards the end of the Games.

I had a fantastic time working at the Olympics, and would do it again in a heartbeat. I’ve never been around people from so many diverse cultures at one time, and I really enjoyed watching how each responded to life in Beijing differently. The athletes and journalists rarely left the Olympic venues to explore the city, but when they did, I was more than happy to act as their guide.

During the first week of competition, I answered questions for photographers at the road cycling course (and ended up doing quite a bit of computer troubleshooting as well). A few days after road cycling, I transferred to indoor volleyball, where I worked as a flash quotes reporter, interviewing athletes in the mixed zone alongside reporters from around the world. Often, we had to work through translators — it was really an experience unlike any other.

Q: Can I work at Vancouver 2010 or London 2012?

A: Honestly, I’m not quite sure. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) required the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) to hire native English speakers from overseas only because very few were qualified in China. Fortunately for the next Winter and Summer Games, that’s not the case — both will be held in countries where English is the official language. If you’re an expert with relevant experience, feel free to contact VANOC or LOCOG for more information about joining their staffs during the Games. I’d certainly recommend giving it a shot — working at the Olympics is an experience like no other.

I have a few regrets about my experience in China. Some are less significant, and were only realized when I read the United Airlines magazine on the flight back to the States. I can’t believe I spent two months in Beijing and only visited half of the locations they suggested in their cover article. I never made it to the restaurant, Made in China, but I certainly heard great things. My biggest regret, however, is not taking more time to travel around the country. I visited Shanghai and Tianjin, and made a side trip to the suburbs with Vincent Laforet, but I really wish I had taken more time in the beginning of my trip to explore other parts of the country. Some friends flew to see pandas in their native habitat near Chengdu, or visited the Terracotta Army at Xi’an. I’d love to visit China again at some point in the near future — but I don’t think Beijing will make it on my itinerary.

This marks my final post to Behind the Lens at the Beijing Olympics. Thanks for visiting, and feel free to continue sending questions or adding your comments to individual posts.

IOC Addresses Internet Censorship Issue

If you’re not in Beijing, you may be tired of hearing about restricted Internet access. But for those of us here, or arriving in the next few days, it’s definitely a hot issue. Kevan Gosper, the International Olympic Committee Press Commission Chairman, held a press conference today to discuss the issue with journalists. Gosper recognized that the Internet access restrictions that journalists are currently facing are not within IOC guidelines, but stated, “A working group has been established with BOCOG to start examining sites one by one.”

In a statement released yesterday, the IOC said “the media should be seeing a noticeable difference in accessibility to web sites that they need to report on the Olympic Games.” It’s clear that the issue is not being overlooked now, but I think it should have definitely been resolved before journalists began to arrive. Reporting on the Olympics has already begun, and the Internet has been a key reporting tool in the 21st century.

In a separate press conference held on July 30, Sun Weide, Vice-Director of Media and Communications for BOCOG, stated, “we will be providing full access to the Internet to facilitate your reporting during the Olympic Games. Your reporting job during the Olympic Games will not be affected in any way.” But when asked about whether the government would be monitoring foreign journalists’ Internet access, he failed to provide a clear response. “The use of the Internet in the MPC follows the rules and regulations of the IOC. We provide you with the facility for the use of Internet for your reporting.” As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, for complete peace of mind and unrestricted access, only surf the Web and send email after connecting to your corporate VPN.

Source: Olympic News Service.

CNN Report: Hotels To Monitor Internet Use

With a little over a week until Opening Ceremony, the spotlight on Beijing is shining brighter than ever. I’ve been cautious on the Web, only posting to this blog through a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection with an IP address in the States. Was it overkill? Apparently not. A CNN article recently confirmed my fears — that without an encrypted connection, it’s very likely that someone could be watching my every move. According to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, the government has ordered hotels to spy on their guests, subjecting them to “invasive intelligence gathering”. This report has not yet been independently confirmed.

If you’re traveling to China with sensitive information on your computer, it would be best not to connect your personal computer to the Internet at all. If that’s not an option, only surf the Web through a secure VPN connection. If you don’t have access to a corporate VPN, I’d suggest signing up for a personalVPN from WiTopia before you go to China. Another advantage of using a VPN to surf the Web — the Great Firewall of China falls down in your own little bubble.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, access to this blog, among others, is blocked from within China. If you’re setting up a personal blog before your trip, consider using Blogger.com, which as of now is accessible from Beijing. If you wish to view our Beijing Blog from within China, you’ll need to connect using a VPN or through web-based proxy such as PHProxy. Note that while you can use proxy websites to visit other blocked pages as well, I’m only providing this information so you can access the content on our Beijing Blog. You may also wish to print out relevant posts before you leave for Beijing, so you have a hard copy with you at all times. You’ll find it difficult to make printouts in China, as hotel business centers will often only allow you to print from their own computers.

Thanks for the heads up, Eric and Kyle.

English in Beijing Not Quite Right

There’s no question that Beijing has gone to great lengths to make the city far more appealing to foreigners, but somehow hiring a native English speaker to help translate signs was overlooked. Billions have been spent on construction and other efforts to modernize the city, but the broken English seen in print throughout the city will leave a lasting impression on visitors, long after the Olympic dream has faded.

I’ve begun to stop noticing grammatical errors, translating subconsciously, but occasionally I’m completely unable to decipher notices and even some store signs. To me, it seems like such a simple fix — native English speakers should have been hired to travel throughout the city as consultants, editing signs, brochures, and museum placards. So many times I’ve wanted to pull someone aside to show them that something’s just not right with their sign — there’s still time to fix many of these errors — but getting through to the right person is nearly impossible.

The Great Firewall of China

It hasn’t been around for nearly as long as the Great Wall of China, but the infamous “Great Firewall of China,” as it has come to be known, has been blocking controversial websites for years. Website restrictions have been relaxed in recent months as part of an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), making some previously blocked websites now accessible. You can now access most English language content on Wikipedia, and every international news outlet’s website I’ve visited has been up and running. The one web genre that remains blacklisted is that of blogs, and my Beijing Olympics blog is no exception. I’ve been able to access the page required to post, thank goodness, but the lovely presentation you see here renders a “server not responding” message from within China. If you plan to blog while in Beijing, avoid using hosted blogs such as TypePad and WordPress — consider hosting the blog on your own server instead. Registering with Blogger.com is another option, as the site is
currently accessible from within China.

I don’t think I could have made it through the past two weeks without the ability to read my own blog (and your comments), so luckily I found a little loophole that enables the blog to load. I’ve been conflicted about whether or not to post instructions for accessing this blog (and others) from within China, so I won’t go into much detail, but as you won’t be reading this unless you’re outside the country or have found a loophole of your own, I think that no harm can be done by sharing my little trick.

For staff photographers and other corporate types, your corporate VPN (Virtual Private Network) should be accessible from within China. Accessing blocked sites is as simple as connecting to your VPN and surfing the web. If you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, VPN is likely not an option — use a proxy website (BlockingBuster worked well for me) to access this blog from China. If at all possible, talk with your IT department about VPN access, as this not only enables limitless access to the web, but all web sites seem to load faster while connected. VPN also adds another level of encryption, which comes in handy when using public networks.

Calling the USA from Beijing

There are several options for calling back to the States. If your family is on the East Coast, they’ll be 12 hours behind, which seems to work out fairly well for talking every day. If you have a reliable Internet connection, Skype to Skype calls are free and sound fine — if both parties have webcams you can video conference for free as well. You can also purchase Skype Out time, allowing you to call phones in the U.S. for 2.4-cents per minute. Unlimited monthly service (to the U.S., China, and other countries) is also available for $5.95 per month with no contract required. Skype’s website is accessible from China, so you can purchase call time once you arrive. If you don’t anticipate having much time at the computer, long distance calling cards (called IP cards in China) can be purchased for far below face value (about 30 CNY for a 100 CNY card). IP calls are deducted as local calls from your China Mobile cell phone. A variety of cards (probably hundreds) are available at newsstands and convenience stores — be sure to purchase one for calls to the U.S. The two IP cards below have worked well for me, so considering purchasing these if possible.

Calling with China Mobile

Be it ordering from a menu at lunch or buying a SIM card at a cell phone shop, the language barrier makes getting answers difficult. After a week of visiting multiple stores, I was finally able to find a salesperson that spoke some English to explain China Mobile’s prepaid phone plans. Like everything else in China — cell phone service is very affordable. A prepaid SIM card (without talk time) should run you about 50 CNY ($7.30). A reseller will probably ask for as much as 300 CNY, so be sure to negotiate a lower price. Pricing is all about your appearance, so dress down and leave the cameras at home whenever making a purchase. Per minute rates (within Beijing) are 0.25 CNY ($0.04) during the day and 0.12 CNY at night (I was told 9PM-9AM). Incoming calls are free. Text messages (SMS) cost 10 CNY ($1.46) for 120, 15 CNY for 200, or 20 CNY for 300. While some SIM cards may include prepaid time, top off cards are likely required. My SIM included minutes so I haven’t needed to top off, but it’s safe to assume these can be purchased at far below face value as well I’m told these should be purchased at face value. Consider asking the shopkeeper to help you add value to your SIM to be sure the card is authentic.

There are literally thousands of GSM cell phones available in Beijing, ranging in price from 400 CNY ($60) to 10,000 CNY or higher. But buying a phone here can be pretty risky if you don’t know what you’re doing, so consider picking up an unlocked phone before leaving your home country. If you’re on an AT&T cell phone contract in the States, customer care (611) can help you unlock your phone for use with another SIM card. As a last resort, your AT&T SIM (and phone) may work in China, but calls will cost $2.29 per minute regardless of whether you’re calling within Beijing or back to the States. The advantage here is that you’ll be able to receive calls to your AT&T phone number while in Beijing.

Besides helping with phone calls, your cell phone can also provide address information to your Cabbie in Chinese. Sending a text to Native Beijing’s SMS service (13466660777) can provide you with the address for virtually any business in the city — simply type the business name followed by a ‘c’ (for the address in Chinese). This has proven to be a lifesaver on several occasions.

Updated 7/23/08 8:07PM: I spent two weeks without Internet access on my phone as I wasn’t even sure it was available with a prepaid account. It turns out that adding GPRS is as simple as texting "gprs20" to 10086 — that’ll add 50MB of wireless web access for 20 CNY a month (about $3). Sweet!

A Visit to Chinese Media Outlets

Today I visited two of the country’s largest media organizations — People’s Daily and Beijing Youth Daily. A state-owned newspaper, People’s Daily has a daily circulation of roughly 3 million. The newspaper acts as a medium for the Communist Party of China to provide information about its policies and opinions directly to its citizens. There’s even a new section of the publication’s website (that launched this week) dedicated to content written by members of the party. Beijing Youth Daily, with content directed towards a younger audience, provides information to Beijingers, and includes more local stories and less government policy rehashing.

Both publications are looking for ways to produce original content during the Olympics. Beijing Youth Daily is even offering a weekly magazine for China’s tens of thousands of Olympics volunteers, including information from past Olympics and profiles of current volunteers. Below I’d like share some excerpts from an article titled “Basic dialogues for Olympic volunteers,” allowing you to draw your own conclusions.

• “English is so important in China right now.” — “I think so too.”
• “Do you agree with my opinion?” — “Absolutely, I agree with you.”
• “China is developing so quickly.” — “Exactly.”
• “Chinese food is so good.” — “I feel the same way.”
• “China has a lot of problems.” — “I don’t think so.”
• And another about Chinese food: “Do you like Chinese food?” — “Sure. I’m crazy about it!”