Being a girl who's lived in Los Angeles for 7 years, you'd think I'd be immune to traffic.
Beijing is definitely the Asian reciprocal of LA, I've once again taken rush hour traffic into account as I plan my daily schedule. I'm not looking forward to when they take off the odd-even license plate system (which is going to be September 20, the end of the para-Olympics). Cars have gotten increasingly cheap that people just buy a second car to go around the inconvenience cause by the regulation. With the influx of households with 1+ cars, I can't imagine the amount of traffic on the street after the 20th. At least here I wouldn't be the one driving. Maybe with more cars on the road, my taxi drivers won't be able to drive like maniacs on the streets, then I can finally arrive home at the end of each day without headaches.
Apparently one of the main reasons Jamaicans have been winning a lot of the sprints is because of this fast-twitch muscle they were blessed with.
From the Slate: Jamaican Me Speedy
We've been slow on the blogging cause D and I (she came up to visit me in Beijing) have been busy watching the Olympics.
Anyway, D noticed an article in the New York Times that made us so mad. Yet again, NYT has decided to step on China as hard as possible.
background: Liu Xiang, the Chinese star athlete who had a World Record in hurdles, had to pull out of the race today but he has been suffering from major injuries in his right leg. The whole nation is sad that he had to pull out of the race but the general sentiment is that we're proud of him and of all his has achieved and hopefully he will regain his health soon. In other words, a different picture than what NYT decided to paint.
Two quotes that angered me the most in the article:
1. "Liu's body had failed, which, in the eyes of many Chinese people, meant they had failed, too."
- that's not true. Yes, his body went through injuries, and the Chinese people are sad that one of the best athletes in the world cannot represent China to compete in this historic and brilliant event. But we don't think his body that "failed" to let him compete in the race translates to Chinese people being hit in the heart by the feeling of failure.
2. "A visitor to China wanted to hug the horrified fans and say:
It's all right. Your athletes are leading the Olympics in gold medals by a huge margin. Your young people are the sweetest, most prepared volunteers any Olympics has ever seen. Your government has organized an efficient Olympic Games."
- I personally don't appreciate the quote from a visitor who had wanted to say "your young people are the sweetest and most prepared volunteers." I'm sure this person is really nice , but for NYT to put it in a widely circulated article.. it's like saying to the world: I'm sorry you can't compete in this international event, but gosh darn-it, your mama bakes the best cupcakes.
Here's the article if you want to read the whole thing: A Country Feels a Hurdler’s Pain
I really don't know what the New York Times is trying to pull with their article "Chinese Man Kills Relative of U.S. Olympic Coach," when even Fox News knew better than to try to antagonize an entire people ("In-Laws of U.S. Men's Volleyball Coach Stabbed in Beijing, 1 Dead"). Apparently NYT has tried this before with something like "Gay Man Abducts Baby" then took out the word "gay" after people started complaining.
I just found out that China has the world largest Artificial Weather Program. To prepare the city for the Olympics, China made it rain to clear out some smog and to cool the city down. The government shot pellets filled with silver-iodide particle in the air. Moisture tends to gather around silver-iodide, thus creating heavy clouds and rainfall.
The cooler weather made it possible for my 2 hour hike up to the peak of XiangShan (aka Western/Fragrant Hills). XiangShan is a mountain North-West of the city center. It's been the inspiration for many renowned Chinese poets dating back to at least the 1200's.
Beijing from the peak of XiangShan:
This city is huge.. I couldn't capture the whole thing with my little camera.
The Chinese Olympic Dolls (wasn't too fond of them at first, they've kind of grown on me now):
I have never had a delay-free experience flying out of JFK, but it has never been QUITE this bad (you can probably already tell that this is going to be a rant). I was supposed to leave on a 2:55pm flight. At 2:30pm they told us that the plane was diverted to Newark due the weather (which boggled my mind because it was nothing but nice and sunny outside the window). They said it was going to be a three to four hour delay. I was pretty miffed already at this point because I think more than the average person I really HATE wasting time this way. At 4pm they told us that the plane wouldn't be getting here until earliest 4am, but more like 5am - that's 15 hours after the original departure time!!! >=O
Thank god I managed to get into the lounge, so at least I have a couch to sleep on until 4am. Also there's free wireless which is how I'm writing this rant post right now. It's a little funny because there are a number of people from my flight in the lounge who it seems, like me, have opted to sit around for 12 hours, and the lounge is feeling a bit like a refugee camp.
There is one thing I guess I'm glad about. I overheard a couple of conversations where people on the same flight as me were saying something along the lines of "If our flight is delayed so long, I won't be able to get in to work on Monday!" I suppose when you have a lot of work on your plate you would want to get it done instead of having all that productivity and time snatched away from you by stupid airport delays. I'm just glad my worry is "If the flight is delayed so long, that'd be one whole day gone from my one-month holiday!"
I feel like Tom Hanks in The Terminal! But I really shouldn't complain because people face much worse delays during the holiday season. BUT THIS IS NOT HOLIDAY SEASON!!