jeanne boden

olympic beijing - burning flame

olympic beijing - press in the bird's nest

olympic beijing - public in the bird's nest

olympic beijing - public in the bird's nest

olympic beijing - volunteers

olympic beijing - volunteers

olympic beijing

There was the China before the Olympic games and the China after the games. Nationalist feelings are strong in China and the position of China in the world is on many Chinese minds. With all eyes focused on China in 2008 the tension about 'hosting the best Olympic games ever' was rising in the months before August. But all went well and there were many things to be proud of. It is amazing how strong the impact of the central government is and how far it reaches. But it is also amazing how almost every single person in Beijing and far beyond participated in making the games into a success.

olympic beijing - make up

Last year - 2008 - was dominated by the Olympic Games. I found it astonishing how much impact the hosting of an international event can have on a country so vast as China. I suppose this meant a step further in the 'opening up'. With all critical eyes in the globe focused on China, the country was more than ever aware of it's face. The Chinese government used it as a discourse of 'one nation'. Slogans, books, the media, schools, the business world, and in the end - as a result of all the campaigning - all the Chinese people participated in the 同一个世界，同一个梦想， 'One World, One Dream'. I went to the Bird's Nest one afternoon, and although watching sports was something I never did, it overwhelmed me. This was not about sports, this was an exhibition of power. 

What also astonished me is how a country prepared for something in the way China did. I was in China when the announcement came that Beijing would host the Olympic Games in 2008. This was in 2001. The whole country celebrated for days in a row: this meant a global recognition China had longed for for a long time.