the birds nest and the water cube

So... today after getting back from the Ming Tombs, I decided to go straight to the Olympic Green to photograph the Water Cube at night. I got there at dusk and the cube wasn't lit up, so I started to walk around the Bird's Nest. I haven't been inside the stadium, and I really wanted to. I was thinking about jumping the fence to get in, but decided against it (lots of CCTV cameras). I walked around and I found an underground tunnel, unguarded, with an open door. I walked, went down a lot of stair, got lost, and took a turn, and ended on the running track of the Olympic Stadium!

There are a lot of cranes in there at the moment, pulling down the centre thing that was used in the closing ceremony. I went in, sat down for a while and took some photos, before I was told that wasn't allowed. Curiously, the security guy that told me I couldn't take any photos didn't notice that I was not allowed to be there!
This is a photo standing on the curve just before the 100m start. The extinguished Olympic Flame is to the right.

It was pretty cool to be able to stand on the running track. It was also really exciting and nerve racking to sneak into the stadium! I walked past a lot of security guards, but I reckon as long as you act like you deserve to be there, they will see what they want to see.

But I did end up photographing the Water Cube, and here are some shots. There's a selfie in there, just to prove that I'm not using stock photos!

the ming tombs

Today I went to the Ming Tombs, where the emperors of the Ming Dynasty are buried. It was really exciting because I took public transport there the whole way. It wasn't really rural China, but it was out of Beijing and the mountains were all around. It was pretty cool to be on a bus going through orchards in China! In the last few days I feel like I've been beginning to understand what Beijing is really like. 

Anyway, I caught a two buses up there (thanks for the Lonely Planet book Fel!). Changing buses was interesting because it wasn't at the same bus stop, but I got there! It took about two hours all up. This is the soul tower of the Chang Ling tomb.

There are 13 tombs in all, though only three are open to the public. Of those, you can only get into the actual of one. I went to two tombs. They all have a soul tower, whichy is what you see here.
I think this is an original... it's the had that Emperor Weling was found in when the excavated his tomb. Pretty old!

This is the underground tomb. It was actually a little disappointing, but that could be because it was looted in the Cultural Revolution. Also, when they were excavating it, they put all the treasures in a warehouse that had a leak... nice way to ruin priceless stuff.

These are replicas of the emperors and empress's coffins.

I was really happy to be able to get there and back by bus. I got off a little village half way between the tombs and the interchange and had a massive lunch. I really liked getting off and on where I pleased and exploring out of Beijing a bit.

beijing temples

Yesterday I headed off to the Lama Temple, a Buddhist temple in Beijing. Apparently it's the most similar experience to going to a Tibetan temple without having to endure the border checks and general oppression. It was an interesting building. I once again got an audio guide, so I learned a lot about it. It used to be an imperial building, built for some cousin of the emperor, but then got turned into a temple.

For a fee, you can ring this huge bell. I gave my camera to a guy standing around, and he didn't quite get it, but you get the gist.

Lamaism is a type of Buddhism, and originates from Tibet. There were Tibetan prayer wheel around, and I burned some incense for Buddha. There was incense offering everywhere, so it was actually a very smoky environment. I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside the buildings, but there were a lot of statues of Buddha, including one about eight metres tall.
I lunched at a vegetarian restaurant I found - that's rare for Beijing. I was looking for a little bar in a hutong that Lonely Planet said was great, and I found it! I was so happy, but it had shut down. Afterwards, I went to the Confucian Temple, which was just across the road.

Here's a photo of me and Confucius, or Con as his mates call him.

And here's a photo of Confucius's student kneeling before him...
It was an interesting place, but I was pretty tired afterwards. It was interesting to learn more about Buddhism and Confucius. 
That night I went to a bar to watch the Opening Ceremony. Unfortunately we got there pretty late and missed most of it! I saw a few fireworks, but we weren't really near where the main ones were. But we sure could hear them.

the forbidden city

Today I went to the Forbidden City, which is where the emperors used to live before the revolution. It was pretty impressive, very very big. If you've ever seen the film the Last Emperor, it's shot a lot in the Forbidden City.

This is the throne of the emperors. The photo doesn't really capture it, but it looks pretty cool.

There are a lot of stone courtyards in front of different buildings. I got an audio tour guide that told me different stuff about each spot I was in. So I learned a lot... which emperor did what in each building. It was pretty weird to hear about how one building was the traditional spot for emperors to spend their wedding night, and then peer inside and see their bed...
I picked a ripper of a day for it! There are lots of collections of treasure of the emperors, and a hall of clocks. 
I walked around the Forbidden City for a few hours listening to the doover, and then climbed this hill out the back date that was formed by the earth they removed to dig the moat around the palace (you just don't get enough moats now days). Beijing is almost completely symmetrical, at least in the inner part. Behind the Forbidden City from this direction is Tiananmen Square. The the right and just below the horizon, you can see the Grand National Theatre, which is the big egg shaped building.

Afterwards I was pretty hungry, so I looked in my Lonely Planet and found a place to eat not too far away. It was in the back streets, or a hutong, and so I walked through these tiny little alleyways for ages. Some of them were so narrow, three people couldn't walk abreast in them. These kiddies stopped me to have a chat. They were very cute, and I wanted a photo of them skipping, which is what they were doing before we started talking. But little kids being little kids, they wanted to pose!

It was really nice to be able to pick out a place to go, and get there. In the last few days I feel like I'm really beginning to understand Beijing. A glass of Sangria was pretty nice after a hot day of walking around. 

selfies

Weightlifting has finished! So for the last few days I've been unwinding and catching up with Fel's (and now mine, I should like to think) friend Dave, who lives in Shanghai, but has come up to see some of the Games. It's been pretty nice to catch up with someone here. We went to a restaurant, and got given an English menu, a beer was 20RMB. We thought it was a bit expensive, and Dave, who speaks fluent Mandarin, asked for the Chinese menu. As well as having a much bigger range, the beer on it was only 4RMB. So always good to have a Mandarin speaker.
We had a lunch before the last day Weightlifting. It was really good, and nice and relaxed. I got given a cool hip flask with Chairman Mao on it! This is Jane, who was the ONS Manager at Weightlifting.

And here's Robert, who is from Melbourne. He won the Silver medal in the Men's 84kg Weightlifting at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. He was the Sports Information Specialist. His role was to write event previews and reviews, and help us out with information of the sport.
This is Dennis, who was the ONS Reporter. His role was to manage the Flash Quote Reporters in the mixed zone, though because he's Russian, he ended up doing a lot of interviews with athletes who didn't speak English. A positive effect of the Iron Curtain is that all those countries speak Russian as a second language, and so we were able to get quote from athletes that we otherwise would not have heard from.
After work, we went to KTV, which is a karaoke place. It was a fun night, but everyone was pretty tired, so we didn't stay out too long. They had mirrors on the roof!
This photo doesn't really relate, but it's from the lunch with the Weightlifting team. I reckon it looks like Star Trek food...
So I fly home in under a week. I'm going to try to go on a bit of a short trip. I talked to Dave about good places to visit. It's just a matter of getting around to it. There's lots of stuff in Beijing that I want to do too, so I'm not sure. 

the olympic green

Today I got a pass to go to the Olympic Green. It was pretty cool to see the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. I'm hoping to go back at night time and take some photos at night, but for now, I give you the Olympic Green.

a day in the life of a flash quote reporter

Every once in a while, a Flash Quote Reporter has to work a 14 hour shift. Not everyday thankfully, but once is enough!

A day in the life of a Flash Quote Reporter begins at around 7 o'clock. The FQR has breakfast, usually consisting of yoghurt and a bit of fruit. This FQR has trouble with Chinese breakfast, which consists of dumplings and deep fried stuff. 
The FQR heads down stairs, but not before checking the rug in the elevator - the only way he can keep track of the days - to make absolutely sure that he really needs to be up at this time and can't go back to bed.
The FQR, and any other sod who was unlucky enough to pull the 14 hour shift for that day, jump in a cab and head to their venue. In this case, it is the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronomics.
Upon arrival, a FQR makes a coffee and looks up the contenders for the morning's session. The FQR looks for who might be a good interview in Group B. Group B is on in the morning, and is basically for the the lifters who aren't really a medal chance.
Two FQRs need to be at the venue in the morning for Group B, just in case something amazing happens. It's not out of the realm of possibility, a guy won silver from Group B in Athens. But, Group B being Group B, not much of the media is interested. A FQR spends a large part of his time in the mixed zone. The media stand on the left side of the barrier, the athletes walk down the right. Although I don't have any photos of it, when the Chinese athletes won Gold, the mixed zone was incredibly packed. A FQR can have a lot of difficulty getting in and out of the mixed zone. Not so in this case.
After Group B, there's lunch. After lunch, all the Chinese guys in the venue, put their head down on their desk and have a nap. Some FQRs have tried this.
After nap time, a FQR has another coffee, a relax, perhaps listens to his iPod, and looks at the form of the lifters in the first Group A session. There is usually a Women's Group A that starts at 3:30, and a Men's Group A that starts at 7.
The other FQRs come in during the afternoon, and everyone receives a briefing from our manager, Jane. We're assigned what we will be doing for that session. We are usually either targeting a specific athlete in the mixed zone, standing behind a journalist in the broadcast mixed zone (where we can't ask questions), attending the press conference, being a general rover, or sitting at a computer in the office being the copy taker.
FQRs have a 10 minute deadline from when the athlete speaks to submitting their work. So everyone is in a rush. And while this FQR doesn't like being the copy taker, it is a good system to speed things up. The deadline for Press Conference quote is 20 minutes.
After the afternoon session, a FQR has dinner. Quite often the line is very long, and the food really is pretty bad. But there's lots of rice, so there's always something that's edible.

After dinner, there is another session, and a FQR does it all again. He usually leaves at around 10pm and gets home around 10:30. After a quick chat with the doorman, he heads up to his room.

The FQR might be in the mood for a beer as he checks his email and the headlines, and then goes to bed. Luckily, no FQR has to do 14 hour shifts back to back, so he can sleep in tomorrow!

the people you see

Jaques Rogges, President of the IOC came into weightlifting the other day. Didn't get to talk to him, but someone snapped off a photo.

And the guy in the suit is Prince Albert II of Monaco. Apparently he was voted the world's most eligible bachelor a few years ago. I guess owning a country makes up for a lot...

the cover up

There's a lot of this going on in Beijing. Notice the big, ugly construction site being almost completely covered up by a huge image of an inspiring athlete. Much more 'in  the Olympic spirit' (whatever that means).

Personally, I wouldn't call the Olympics a failure if there were a few construction sites around. I don't get it, to be honest. There are some things that must be hidden, must be fixed straight away. And yet, the things that people are actually likely to care about are not negotiable.

I suppose, to an extent, this is not a new phenomenon. Athens shot stray dogs before their Games, and Sydney swept up its homeless people. But it makes me think that the Olympics, not just Beijing, have missed the point.

opening ceremony night

Josh, my friend from Newcastle and I decided to go to Tiananmen Square for the Opening Ceremony. We assumed that there would be big screens there. There weren't.

Getting there was a hassle. Well no, not getting there. The cab dropped us off just around the corner, and having explored a bit before, I knew exactly how to get there. There were a few problems. The police were blocking off every way to get to the square, for reason I could not see. They told us to wait for a minute. After about ten minutes, we decided to subvert 'the man,' and walked a longer way around. We got into the square through a special media entry. Josh had his accreditation with him (note: we're not actually accredited journalists). I didn't. But I did have my kind of professional looking camera with me, and as they waved him through and tried to stop me, I pointed to him and said "with him." I couldn't really believe that it worked!

While it was busy, it wasn't as full as I thought it might be. In one part of it, there was a bit of a chant going on. People were jumping up and down and waving little Chinese flags. It was pretty intense. 

But, there were no big screens. So we got out of there and hot footed it back to the uni where we watched the rest of the ceremony on a big screen in our favourite restaurant with some other Newcastle people.