Red Heart

(Jim's experience maybe is common during the Beijing Olympics. But his story reflects the culture differences between the States and China, or more about the the chaos brought by the games...)

Heavy rain were nonstop pouring. In front of the Workers Stadium, Jim waited more than half an hour for a taxi. He finally decided to give up and just walk home. Seeper on the street ran into his shoes, cold and wet, just like his mood at the moment.

"Not able to enter the bird nest, but finally I saw an Olympic boxing game, " he said.

Jim Wang, 26, is from New York. When he was nine he emigrated from Shanghai to the United States. Then he speaks English everyday. His favorite food also changed from steamed bun to steak. Luckily, he did not forget Chinese. Right now, he's an economics majored PHD student in Colombia University. Jim could have a bright future after graduation. However, he thought of returning China one day. " The Olympic Games is a great evidence to show China's development. There are tons of opportunities in this country," he said. Not yet fully made his mind, Jim planned to come back this summer and watch the Olympics, hoping to eyewitness the new era of China.

During the Olympics, it is said that there are about 450,000 tourists coming from overseas to watch the games in Beijing. Among them, many young Americans are just like Jim, who views China as an opportunity. After one hundred years, in another side of the Pacific Ocean, offspring of the China dragon, got recalled by its power. This August, they'll gather here to catch up a big party, feeling the heat of the Olympic Games and the China heat.

However, the desire to watch the Olympic Games is not so easy to achieve--booking tickets, collecting tickets, finding accommodation, and identifying venues. Jim realized that he will spend lots of money and face enormous difficulties. But he wanted to try for his dream. Because it is not convenient to get the Olympic tickets in the United States, one month in advance of the games started Jim flew to his relatives' home in Shanghai. He made attempts to get good tickets, but minor luck came. In the end, he found that there were many tickets sold through EBAY. Handball, football, and boxing tickets were still available. Although they were not the popular games, they were still interesting venues. It was good deal for each ticket costing less than one hundred dollars. He quickly tracked six tickets and purchased them.

"Now journey to Beijing," Jim said in great joy. Till then he was one step closer to reach his dream.

Jim turned on his computer to search for hotels. Then he got shocked. During the Olympic Games hotels price in Beijing growed enormously. Even some low standard hotels were charged as much as the Hilton Hotel at the Time Square of New York city. As his research went on, he got upset. He saw a special notice at Ctrip, the largest online booking hotel website in China:

“From June 30 to September 30, a male and a female guest to stay in a same hotel room together have to show valid IDs, as well as legal documents for marriage proof ."

Jim was confused. The first thing appealed to him is the concern of privacy. Then he thought about the Chinese government's hard takes to prevent terrorism during the Olympics. "Shouldn't the state think more about terrorism rather than interrupting someone's privacy? A real terrorist should be able to afford two hotel rooms," he raised many questions.

Jim did not want to book a hotel any more. He got on the FACEBOOK, to look for friends who currently stay in Beijing. Then he sent them group mails and see if they could allow him to stay temporally. One friend wanted to help, but Jim had to sleep on the floor. "I can do anything for seeing the Olympics," said he. He started packing.

Bumpy on a long-distance train for one night, Jim arrived Beijing. "Absolutely the real capital, the atmosphere here is so different." He was happy to see flowers, Fuwa, and the banners of "Beijing welcomes you". This wiped away the unhappiness and tiredness – he sat on a packed train just like a migrant worker, as aircrafts from Beijing to Shanghai were all full during the Olympic Games.

"The bird nest, the bird nest" Jim repeated. He took out the prepared map and was headed off to the bird nest. "I want to take a stream of shots," he said.

After all the complexity he finally reached the front gate of the Olympic park where the bird nest is. Watching the surging crowd, he also stepped up the pace. Suddenly, a security guard stopped him. "You do not have a pass!" the guard said. Jim looked around and found whether a 70-year-old elderly, or 17-year-old boy, all hang a yellow card with photos. Jim said he is an overseas Chinese who came all the away from the United States and wanted to see the bird nest. He groped for his American green card. "You speak Chinese. Are you really an overseas Chinese? Again, I only allow people with passes to enter this park before the Olympic opening ceremony. After the games start I'll accept tickets as well,"the security said coldly. "Please just let me have a look and take a few photos," Jim begged. The security guard still rejected him.

Jim was very frustrated. The bird nest, one most unique architecture in the world and a symbol of the power of China, now is blocked from him by a gate. He dreamed of seeing it. "I have to look for a way," Jim made his decision.

At night Jim's friend took him to a Peking roast duck restaurant. Cheered up slowly, and he was able to eat half of the whole duck. "Beijing is nice," he said. Arriving home he felt so tired that he fell asleep once his head touched the pillow.

He woke up very early the next morning and quickly made phone calls to the ticket seller. He checked the received tickets and felt so annoyed as if he stomach would be exploded. When he was in a hurry to book the tickets, he did not notice that none of the venues would take part in the bird nest. He dialed 12308, the Olympic counseling hot line, selected Chinese service and asked if he could enter and take pictures of the bird nest with non-bird nest venue tickets. The answer was no. He did not want to give up, dialed the number again. This time he used standard American English and tried the same question. But the answer was the same.

Jim tried EBAY again to see if there the bird nest venues tickets left. Soon he lost hope, as the cheapest ticket was 2000 dollars. "Thar's my one month expense living in New York. I can't be so luxury," he said shacking his head. Thinking for a while he remembered that his friend John may have bird nest venue ticket. Jim wondered if he could borrow the ticket and just go to the bird nest for photos. He started to ring John, explaining carefully about his eagerness to photograph the bird nest. Ultimately he was rejected. Jim lied down on the sofa, and stayed still. Disappointment smothered him like tides.

He did not understand why by all his efforts he still could not watch the bird nest. That modern architecture standing in the open air, in fact is impregnable fortress, a distant prohibited place.

When his mind is more clear, Jim made a decision to sell most tickets in his hand, leaving only the boxing tickets. "If I can not get to the bird nest, to see any game is the same, “ he said. “ Fighting is fun. I want to see fights."

At 7pm on Sunday Jim was sitting inside the workers' stadium. He had a mixed feeling. On one hand this is not his most desired result, on another hand, after all, this is an real Olympic game. His attention was quickly dispersed by the absolutely beautiful stadium. At the center of the roof a hundred or so poles lifted a light, looking like a giant flower basket. At the middle of the light it is the Polaris, reflected by changing laser lights, which turned to different shapes and colors – like the waves and the snowflakes; in gold and purple. The shines dazzled people. This stunning stadium can be compared to excellent ones in the United States. Jim wondered how much money to spend to build this. It is said that the Chinese government spent fortune for the Olympic infrastructure, spending 6.4 billion USD.

Just then, the announcer said the first game started. Chinese cheering squad shouted out loudly. The audience joined hoorays. Jim also felt the excitement. At the boxing stage, Ghana's athlete in red aggressively attacked the Germany athlete who's in blue, punching on his head, to the left and the right. Their boxing gloves rapidly moved. Jim's heart was like dragged by some magic, jumping up and down.

"I want to come back one day. I want live next to the bird nest and watch it very closely,” he said.