In Beijing: Not So ‘Sanitized’ After All?

Good news for anyone who’s been worrying that preparations for the Beijing Olympics might wind up turning the city into a slicked-up, modernized, westernized shadow of its former self.

I’ve only been here a day, but that’s been long enough to realize that a) even large, modern Games-affiliated hotels have unexpected power outages, and staff that don’t speak a lick of English; b) there are still plenty of fried scorpions and cockroaches for sale from street vendors; and c) yep, there are even some nonsensical English-language signs that survived the cull.

Sure, the authorities did their best to tidy up—but there’s still plenty of room for adventure in Beijing.

Related on World Hum:
* In Beijing: The Inescapable Games
* In Beijing: Red Tape and Roadblocks
* In Beijing: A Rainbow of Nations

Photo by Eva Holland

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