YOG success bodes well for Winter Olympic bid
- By Mitchell Blatt
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 5, 2014
Similarly, Beijing also greatly expanded its subway system before the 2008 Olympics. Now China is bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which would take place in Beijing and Zhangjiakou. There are plans for a 40 minute high-speed rail connecting the two cities and a push for improving Beijing's air quality more quickly.
If it wins the bid, it is a given that China will put its best face forward, as it has done in the past. It seems China still wants to prove itself to the world, and you can see that anywhere you go. New skyscrapers use innovative designs and reach for the record books. Consumers are anxious to try new fashions and products, and guests always receive a warm welcome. As a matter of Chinese culture, everyone wants to have face, and this causes Chinese people to be hospitable to guests.
Whatever it is, we know that China doesn't take an international event lightly -- not just the Olympics, but also the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, and the horticulture expos China often hosts, among many other events. Everyone is still excited for hosting another Olympics; the government put the level of public support for the Games nationally at 96.3 percent in the questionnaire it submitted along with its bid. (In 2008, Pew Research, an American think tank that carries out global surveys, found that 79 percent of Chinese said the Summer Olympics was "important to me personally.")
Beijing's previous experience hosting the Olympics not only leaves it with expertise but also venues. According to the plans, the Beijing National Stadium (aka the "Birds Nest") would be used for the opening and closing ceremonies, the National Aquatics Center (the "Water Cube") would be used for curling, the Wukesong Sports Center would be used for ice hockey, and the Capital Indoor Stadium would be used for figure skating.
Surely Oslo, Norway and Almaty, Kazakhstan, the two other finalists, will also put their best face forward as they compete to win the privilege of hosting the Games. The vote takes place on July 31, 2015. If I were a voter, my choice would be Beijing and Zhangjiakou.
Mitchell Blatt is the producer of ChinaTravelWriter.com and an editor at a map magazine in Nanjing.
Opinion articles reflect the author's own opinion, not necessarily that of China.org.cn.
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