What is the story behind Beijing 2008?

Question

Can anyone tell me the facts of what happened behind the scenes at beijing? People being moved out of their homes, put in prison, menus changed etc

Answer 1

China is a total dictatorship.  It's kind of like what happens when our president comes to your neighborhood.  They pretty much kick you out of your own house until he's gone.  In this case, it's 2 weeks.  They want to pretend to the world that they're not that much traffic, smog, etc.

Answer 2

As soon as the games end, the government will allow the smog to return.

Answer 3

it's basically what happens when corrupt nations are allowed to run the games. they walled up the poor parts of the city so that tourists cannot see the weaker side of beijing. they've also silenced political opposition using brute force ever since china became a communist nation. they have even blocked certain web pages in the building where the press gathers

Answer 4

I live in Beijing at the moment and I can tell you that the city has changed a lot. I lived here for a year 2006/2007 and just recently returned to a city that has changed so much. The pretty postcard version of the city that is being presented to the world is far from the Beijing that I remember. The street vendors, beggars, prostitutes and other "undesirables" have been forcefully removed. How or where they are is a mystery but I guess most of them are hanging around the countryside somewhere. Also, most factories in and around the city have been shut down to reduce the smog which has put a lot of people out of work for the summer.

There are 3.3 million less cars on the streets every day now which is great for me because I no longer have to sit in mile long traffic jams!

Menus haven't changed that much although more restaurants offer menus in English now but that was bound to happen soon anyway...

Taxi drivers no longer smoke in the cars or hark and spit out the window which is great.

In other words Beijing is a great place for foreigners at the moment but it's a different story for the people who come to Beijing from different parts of China to find work. There is no work here for them anymore and they are not welcome here.

Oh yeah, last week I went to Chengde which is a five hour train ride from Beijing. There me and my friends had a hard time finding a hotel because the government has banned a lot of hotels from having foreign guests. I guess they are scared that we are going to start a free Tibet riot or something...Anyway, I was furious!!

Anyway, that's a bit of what's going on over here....

Answer 5

...i know as they were getting ready for the olympics they put a lot of people homeless... like A LOT.. millions.

it was so sad.. in fact, i watched a video of it on yahoo...

here is something similar.

Answer 6

It seems like a big disaster to me....maybe they should have had it somewhere else!  

Answer 7

The honest answer is that: you won't find any "facts" about China here on Yahoo! Answers anyway. All you'll get will be rumors and myths.

Just enjoy the Olympics. Chinese will be fine, with or without people from western countries digging around for "facts".