In Beijing: Not So ‘Sanitized’ After All?

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  08.08.08 | 8:19 AM ET

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.

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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

Tags: Asia, China

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for In Beijing: Not So ‘Sanitized’ After All?

nope 08.21.08 | 5:53 PM ET

lol chinese people don’t eat fried scorpions and cockroaches, therefore they aren’t sold in China. especially fried.  don’t be racist.

oh, and you try writing in chinese. Bet you can’t writebetter than Chinese people who don’t understand english writeenglish.

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