Beijing

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9,000 Plan Olympic Weddings
 9,000 Plan
 Olympic Weddings
Aug 1, 2008 2:30 AM CDT

9,000 Plan Olympic Weddings

Opening day is lucky date

(Newser) - Thousands of Beijing couples plan to tie the knot on the opening day of the Olympic Games, reports USA Today. The all-eights date, 8/8/08, is considered lucky in China, which is why authorities chose that day for the start of the Olympiad. Now some 9,000 lovers hope to share...

Beijing Becomes Obsessed With Rain

Chinese people want some, but not too much, for Olympics

(Newser) - Talking about the weather isn’t just idle conversation in Beijing these days—it’s a national obsession, the Washington Post reports. The country is so anxious for a sunny Olympics—with just enough rain to clear the smog, of course—that changes in the forecast have become front-page news....

Beijing Amps Up Anti-Pollution Measures

New cuts on factories, cars as air flunks tests ahead of Olympics

(Newser) - Beijing today rolled out new emergency measures to ease pollution, with the Olympics just more than a week away. The new rules will close more factories and take more vehicles off the road, in a wider radius around the capital, in the event of “extremely unfavorable weather conditions"—...

Amnesty: China Broke Promises of Free Speech

Olympic committee has hushed dissent despite 2001 vow

(Newser) - Ten days ahead of the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony, Amnesty International charged that China hasn’t welched on promises of freedom for activists and journalists it made when it was awarded the Games. “The Chinese authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the Games,” said a rep who called...

Heavy Smog Greets Olympians
 Heavy Smog Greets Olympians
Jul 27, 2008 5:55 PM CDT

Heavy Smog Greets Olympians

Despite traffic restrictions, skies hazy as always

(Newser) - Beijing has just 12 days left to clear its skies before the start of the Summer Olympics and things are still looking mighty smoggy, reports the AP. Visibility was a mere half-mile in some parts of the city and the Athletes’ Village was invisible from the nearby Olympic Green, despite...

Blacks Charge Harassment in China

Beijing's African residents targeted as part of pre-Olympic crackdown

(Newser) - African residents of Beijing say they are facing growing harassment from police ahead of the Olympics, reports the Globe and Mail. Bar owners near the city's Workers Stadium have reportedly been ordered not to serve "black people or Mongolians." The groups have been targeted as part of China's...

NBC Chafes Under Olympic Restrictions

Chinese government clamping down on media access ahead of games

(Newser) - NBC paid a record $900 million to cover the Beijing Olympics, but it and other networks are already nervous about how much Chinese officials will actually allow them to cover, reports the New York Times. If political protests erupt, networks will also face the dilemma of covering them and angering...

China's New Artist Policy Could Ban Spielberg

Director's Darfur protest stunt may run afoul of Beijing leadership

(Newser) - Steven Spielberg or his films could be banned from China under the new rules barring artists seen as a threat to national sovereignty, the Hollywood Reporter notes. Spielberg rankled Chinese leadership when he publicly withdrew from an artistic advisory board for the Beijing Olympics in protest of the nation’s...

Beijing Faces Glut of Hotel Rooms
Beijing Faces Glut of Hotel Rooms
Jul 18, 2008 12:55 PM CDT

Beijing Faces Glut of Hotel Rooms

Building frenzy before Olympics may have overestimated demand

(Newser) - Beijing’s newest construction binge may lead to a glut of rooms as hoteliers race to finish new properties before the Olympic Games begin in August, the Wall Street Journal reports. When the Games open, Beijing will have 50 five-star hotels, more than double the total of five years ago....

China Offers Olympics Visitors Tips
China Offers Olympics Visitors Tips
Jul 14, 2008 7:45 PM CDT

China Offers Olympics Visitors Tips

Organizing committee lists dos and don'ts for spectators

(Newser) - Organizers of the Beijing Olympics released their "Spectators' House Rules" today, aiming to keep order during the August Games as well as protect the hosts from embarrassing incidents, the London Times reports. For starters, babies are discouraged but not forbidden. Other dos and don'ts: Permitted:
  • Umbrellas ("In Beijing
...

China Falls Behind on Olympic Promises

Despite vows, not much change on air quality, political freedom

(Newser) - With exactly a month to go before the Olympics, China has not delivered on promises to improve Beijing’s air quality or allow foreign journalists open access, the BBC reports. The government vowed to bring Beijing’s air up to WHO standards when bidding for the Games, but a BBC...

Bush: Olympic Boycott Would Be 'Affront' to Chinese People

Prez says he'll tackle human rights in Beijing

(Newser) - President Bush today defended his decision not to boycott the Beijing Olympics next month, saying skipping “would be an affront to the Chinese people" that would make it difficult "to speak more frankly with the Chinese leadership.” Speaking ahead of tomorrow's G8 meeting in Japan, Bush said...

China's One-Child Policy Leads to Nation of Angry Men

Huge gender imbalance spurs skyrocketing crime rate

(Newser) - China’s got a big problem, one of its own making. The nation's one-child policy, now 30 years old, has resulted in a land of angry, testosterone-filled young men unable to find wives, writes Mara Hvistendahl in the New Republic. Finally worried about the world's biggest gender imbalance and its...

Daring Architecture Energizes Beijing
 Daring Architecture 
 Energizes Beijing 
glossies
Jun 25, 2008 5:30 PM CDT

Daring Architecture Energizes Beijing

Some buildings work, some don't, but overall vibe among residents is a good one

(Newser) - Some of the world’s most adventurous architects have found a gung-ho partner in Beijing, the most noticable payoff being the soon-to-be completed CCTV headquarters—"a dazzling reinvention of the skyscraper," writes Paul Goldberger in the New Yorker. Other creations, such as an ovoid peforming arts center dismissed...

Tough Visa Rules Threaten to Slash Olympic Tourism

Visitors vanish as China boosts security

(Newser) - Heightened visa restrictions in China have shrunk tourism ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the New York Times reports. Numbers of foreign visitors to Beijing fell 14% last month when government officials tightened the rules to bolster security.

Blogger Keeps Quake in Focus
 Blogger Keeps Quake in Focus 
Jun 21, 2008 8:30 PM CDT

Blogger Keeps Quake in Focus

Chinese graphic novelist tells stories from the disaster zone

(Newser) - A Chinese graphic novelist determined to keep the aftermath of last month's earthquake on the front burner is using her new blog to get the message out, and fellow citizen journalists on the other side of the world are catching on. "We love you, Coco Wang," a blogger...

China Orders Muslims to Stay Home for Torch Relay

Beijing blames community for independence attacks

(Newser) - Chinese officials have told China's Muslim Uighur to stay in their homes and watch the Olympic torch on TV when it winds its way through the troubled western region of Xinjiang, Reuters reports. Beijing blames the Uighur for a series of attacks that are part of a push for an...

Quake Pandas Delight Beijing
 Quake Pandas Delight Beijing 
Jun 6, 2008 3:51 PM CDT

Quake Pandas Delight Beijing

Olympic bears take up residence in city's zoo

(Newser) - Eight giant pandas shaken by last month's earthquake made their first appearance at the Beijing Zoo yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reports. Huge crowds visited the pandas, who seemed none the worse for wear from the move, planned before the quake to coincide with the Olympics. The zoo expects daily...

China-Taiwan Talks a Landmark
 China-Taiwan Talks a Landmark 
May 28, 2008 4:23 PM CDT

China-Taiwan Talks a Landmark

Summit, aimed to boost business, is highest-level contact since 1949

(Newser) - China's president met today with the leader of Taiwan's governing party, the BBC reports, in the highest-level talks between the two entities since the split in 1949. Wu Poh-hsiung is visiting China to discuss cooperation on transport and tourism, and pressed Hu Jintao for a greater global presence for the...

China's Olympic Wonders Dazzle&mdash;at First
 China's Olympic Wonders Dazzle—at First
OPINION
May 26, 2008 5:27 PM CDT

China's Olympic Wonders Dazzle—at First

Beijing tried to impress, not deal with deeper issues

(Newser) - Beijing's new Olympic buildings will impress the world at first glance, Paul Goldberger writes in the New Yorker. The National Stadium boasts a lattice of crisscrossing beams, and the blue-gray Aquatic Center seems underwater with its translucent plastic pillows. But peel back the paint, and see evidence of what enrages...

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