Beijing has more of everything
July 3rd 2008 23:15
Chinese anti-terrorist training
Picture: Xinhua
Beijing is planning for the Olympics by, amongst other things, preparing a welcome committee for would-be terrorists, telling the President of France that he's not welcome, and annoying just about everybody seeking a tourist visa.
Chinese police and military are undertaking special anti-terrorist training which, judging from the picture below, is both efficient and futuristic. The French leader, Nicolas Sarkozy, has threatened to boycott the Olympics opening ceremony, a gesture aimed at putting pressure on China to be nice to the Dalai Lama during current official talks. A consequent poll of Beijingers shows the locals are strongly suggesting Mr Sarkozy shove his threat up a baguette and stay home. And increased security is causing long queues at Chinese embassies dispensing tourist visas, with one Australian telling a television journalist yesterday, "If I didn't have friends in China, there would be no reason to go."
Really.
I visited New York for the first time about 10 years ago and, after a life-time of expectations, the city had a lot to live up to. Of course, New York laughed at yet another innocent visitor. It didn't so much live up to my expectations as fling them, redefined and refined, in my face.
I had been living for some time in Hong Kong, and I'd been told that the two cities had similar energy. That was true, but as vibrant an over-achiever as Hong Kong is, it can't compete with something the size and stature of New York. I'd been to London and New Delhi and Tokyo - nothing really can compare in sheer everythingness to New York.
Can it?
In 2006 I visited Beijing for the first time and, from my Westerner's perspective, it out-New Yorked New York. It's a big statement, but it feels true in every sense.
Forget 12 million people - try 20 million. Forget Fifth Avenue - it's noisy and drab compared to Wangfujing. Central Park may be bigger than Tiananmen Square but it's less impressive. And what can New York put up against the Forbidden City?
My most enduring memory of Beijing is travelling down a 700-year-old cobbled street with 700-year-old buildings on either side. The buildings house restaurants and cafes and Fendi and Gucci shops, and the atmosphere is richer and thicker than anywhere I have ever been.
Beijing didn't bother laughing in my face - its supreme self-confidence leaves it indifferent to innocence. And it didn't so much live up to my expectations as shove them, redefined and refined, up my baguette.
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