10 Years Today: 2008 Beijing Olympics Hype as It Happened
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an event that was to encapsulate China's world power dreams and a moment to prove itself on the international stage through the innocuous and peaceful conduit of sport. More importantly, it was a time for the Chinese government to be vindicated for the rapid economic growth that it had so ardently orchestrated over the previous 30 years, an ambition that had been doubled down on by a singular event in 1989 that threatened to topple the Party, and whose action at the time had cast a dark shadow over the country in the eyes of Western powers. Despite any ongoing social ills, the Olympics gave China an opportunity to shine again.
For many outside the country, it was first time that China had been represented by anything other than its political face, with civilians and Olympians alike sharing the limelight to paint in the gaps of the one-dimensional picture that critical news only often allows for. For those in Beijing, it was an electric, if not completely hectic, transformation of the capital; a time for locals to feel proud and visitors to be wowed. Grandiose displays in the stadiums went head-to-head with a vast project to clean up the city's image on the streets, all the while China greeted anyone willing to listen with a jubilant (if not entirely overplayed) "Beijing huanying ni!"
One word, one dream: "Jiayou!"
As we move closer and closer to Beijing's second chance at sporting glory, this time on the slopes, in the rinks, and on the tracks of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, we take a moment to look back at some of the news that was gripping Beijing ahead of its first round in the sporting spotlight one decade ago.
Blow Up the Olympics
Just
under a year prior to the Olympics, it was announced that Cai Guoqiang,
China's godfather of all things pyromania, was recruited to oversee the
fireworks display at the opening ceremony (if you haven't seen the
touching account of his Sky Ladder creation, put it on your to watch
list). Additionally, director Zhang Yimou was cast as one of the head
artistic directors of the event.
thebeijinger.com/blog/2007/09/06/blow-olympics
Great Balls of Fire
Unfortunately,
that wasn't the only news blowing up at the time given that the Peking
University Gymnasium, planned to be the 2008 Olympics ping-pong venue,
caught fire one month before it was set to be complete. Luckily, hordes
of firefighters rushed to control the blaze and no casualties were
reported. At the time, the fire was unofficially blamed on faulty
electric welding.
thebeijinger.com/blog/2007/07/05/great-balls-fire
Ten Do's and Don'ts in Olympic Prep
As
excitement built for the Olympics, so did the government fervor to
civilize the people. Instructions on how to present a good face went
into overdrive and culminated in road-side do's and don'ts lists that
included tidbits of wisdom like: "Do try to learn as much as you can
about Olympic regulations" and "Don't buy or sell pirated goods".
thebeijinger.com/blog/2007/10/21/ten-dos-and-donts-olympic-prep
Where have all the Billboards Gone? and Where Are These Olympic Scratchcards From?
While
Beijingers' minds were being cleansed of the urge to spit and graffiti
on everything, the city's environment was also getting a scrub with the
airport expressway's once-defining billboards, flogging everything from
jewelry to real estate, being taken down on orders from the government.
In the meantime, 5 kuai Olympic scratchcards were unleashed on the
public, leading us to ponder, "Ever wonder where Beijing's getting all
the money to build such architectural marvels as the Bird's Nest
(estimated at costing around RMB 3.5 billion) and the Water Cube (about
RMB 1 billion)?"
thebeijinger.com/blog/2007/07/04/where-have-all-billboards-gone
thebeijinger.com/blog/2008/06/19/olympic-scratch-cards
Materialize your Olympic Dream
If
it wasn't scratchcards you wanted to spend your money on, there was
plenty of other Olympic-branded tat to buy up, including man bags, pinky
rings, and even an 18-karat gold-plated Olympic edition cell phone.
With junk like this, it was easy to get distracted about what the Games
were really about: the cute, cuddly, omnipresent,
shoved-down-your-throat-every-10-seconds Fuwa, of course (which could be
yours fashioned out of jade for the modest price of RMB 290,000).
thebeijinger.com/blog/2007/08/01/materialize-your-olympic-dream
Questions, Questions, Questions
Let's just say that there were still a lot of unanswered questions six months prior to the big day.
thebeijinger.com/blog/2008/08/02/questions-questions-questions
Images from the Opening Ceremony from Around the Web and Inside the Birds Nest
And
boom, it was here! Drummers in diapers and fake fireworks galore meant
the beginning of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. All joking aside, the
opening ceremony was truly a spectacle to behold and it had much of the
world in awe with what could be achieved when one country had so many
people at its disposal.
thebeijinger.com/blog/2008/08/12/images-opening-ceremony
thebeijinger.com/blog/2008/08/09/what-opening-ceremony-looked-inside
A Look at the Highlights of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing
And
then it was over. The Olympics and the Paralympics passed with nary a
hitch and it was back to normal life for the laymen and women of China,
except now they had been afforded a wave of pride courtesy of the home
athletes topping the gold medal tally, 42 in total, 12 more than their
nearest competitors, the USA (in yo face!). Here we took a moment to
recap some of the best moments from during the Games.
thebeijinger.com/blog/2008/08/26/flashback-look-highlights-2008-olympics-beijing
What's Next for the Olympic Venues?
No
sooner had the Games finished then the discussion about what was to
become of the official stadiums had begun. Thanks to the power of
hindsight (with regards to examples of monumental wastes of money at
previous Olympic Games), 11 of the venues used during the event were
previously standing, meaning that only 12 of the 31 venues were new,
including the Water Cube and Bird's Nest. Another eight were temporary
venues, which included the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, still
accessible to this day.
thebeijinger.com/blog/2008/10/20/what-next-olympic-venues-chaos-water-cube
Now that you've been suitably reminded of what Beijing was like during the 2008 Olympics fever, you can continue the excitement by reading through our buildup blogs for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, a mere four years away. Zhongguo jiayou!
Images: insidethegames.biz
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