Let the Games Begin

As many of you may remember, the 2008 Olympic Summer Games were held in Beijing, China.  Official reports claim that China spent ~$15 billion dollar on the games.  However other analysis indicate that the country may have poured over $40 billion into the infrastructure and the production of the games, and much of that investment was seen through the incredible capital improvements that were made throughout Beijing (hotels, highways, stadiums, etc.).  The structures that housed the Olympic Games included the notable sports stadiums with very descriptive names such as the “Water Cube” and “Bird’s Nest”, where Michael Phelps and others made Olympic history.

I have had the opportunity to visit Beijing twice and make stops in the Olympic Village both times.  The real beauty of the village comes at night when they illuminate the buildings at night.  Take a look…



The water cube is now open to the public (admission fee required).  The facility has been transformed from an Olympic Pool to several lap pools and a children’s water park. 

The Bird's Nest is a fascinating structure.  It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 games and now is a popular concert and event venue. 

 

The Olympic Torch is an exceptionally large structure.  I would guess that it is about 40 feet tall.

A view from the Olympic Park.  You can see the Water Cube with the Pangu 7 Star Hotel behind it. 

Lastly, I could not possible leave a post without another shot of some fine Beijing cuisine.  Since I have had my fill of Asia's best organ food, I decided to pass...

Chinese Fire Drill…Literally

Each day in Shanghai is rather full of sights and experiences that are comical, appalling and heart-warming.  Earlier this week, I took part in an actual (you’re not going to believe this) Chinese fire drill.  I was sitting at my desk, immersed in constructing action-packed, McKinsey-esque power-point presentation when a loud alarm started sounding followed by what appeared to be a very agitated Chinese woman hollering orders into the PA system.   After looking around the office, I observed several colleagues getting their coats on and heading for the door.  I deduced that we must be having a fire drill and headed for the stairwell.  The stairwell was rather crowded and there were individuals with megaphones directing individuals at each turn…which made it rather loud (as you can see by the individual covering her ears).

As we descended the stairs, I thought “we can’t possible be going down all 30 flights of stairs…”  However, after about 26 flights, I realized that I was mistaken.  To give you some perspective, my office is the top of the first tier.  So if you look up the right side of the photo below, you we are in the first corner protruding from the building.

It actually was quite a nice walk, aside from the exceptionally eager individual who persistently gave me gently pushes all the way down the stairs.  I think the poor girl was just a little claustrophobic, and she was quite happy to get outside. 

One of my favorite sights was the subtitle on the evacuation sign.  Up until this point, I was actually concerned about the smog – it is nice to see that I have nothing to worry about.

Once outside, the fun really began.  I located my Italian team-member (the panicked Caucasian gentleman in the center of the photo below), and we began to observe the festivities.  There was a small group distributing some fire/fire drill information which looked rather informative, but was only in Chinese.

A few moments later, the local fire department took advantage of the sizable audience of recently evacuated patrons and decided to display their fire-making and fire extinguishing prowess.  They first lined up the security crew and they did several movements in unison.

Following this, the fire department filled a couple of burn barrels with scrap 2x4s, plywood, and plastic, doused it with Kerosene, and dropped in match.  Smoke billowed out of the barrels and settled over the crowd.  The only concern was the how close the dude with the gas stood to the fire, but after several minutes he backed away and set container at a safe distance.  The fires burned for a time, and then the leader of the fire troop gave an informational overview of a fireman’s tools.  The audience was rather attentive throughout, especially when the fires in the barrels were put out using several fire extinguishers…whose powder settled over the crowd as well.

I was comfortably seated back in the office a few moments later…smelling of burnt plastic.  All in all, it was just another fascinating experience…

A Walk along the Wall

Prior to arriving in China, I discussed the trip with many people.  Nearly everyone who I spoke with asked me whether I would have time to visit the Great Wall.  Those who had never been to China had heard of its splendor, and those who had seen confirmed the magnificence of the structure. 

I was able to travel to Beijing on a work-related trip recently.  During this trip, I was exposed to the healthcare environment in Beijing, which was an experience in and of itself.  Put simply, despite all the current turmoil and political debate regarding the problems with the US healthcare system, we have LOTS to be thankful for…for instance: clean floors, functioning toilets, etc.  However, I digress…

I was able take a tour for a day-long excursion to the great wall.  As I approached the entry point, I could see portions of the wall snaking through the mountains.  There is something surreal about seeing one of the wonders of the world that’s hard to wrap words around.  The details regarding the construction of the great wall are incredible.  The actual construction of the great wall (actually great walls) took place over literally thousands of years and claimed nearly one million lives.

 

  

 

  

 

The history of the great wall is rich with wars, romance, conquest and loss.  However perhaps the most impactful thing that I noticed (outside of the structure itself) was the tiles that you walk on as you climb the wall.  They are made of stone, and there are deep curves in many of them.  These curves were not part of the original construction, but rather due to the millions of people who have climbed this structure over the last several hundred years.

We walked to about 10 towers on the wall which was far more challenging than I originally thought.  However, I will chalk this experience up with some of the more cherished in my life – it was incredible.  To be clear, it doesn’t hold a candle to seeing my wife on the end of the aisle on that fateful Saturday in the summer of 1997, the birth of my children, etc…but nonetheless it is on the list.