China business blogger Bill Dodson talks about the sad feeling that laowai (non-Chinese) were unwanted at the Suzhou torch relay. Dodson’s posts are always insightful, and this post is so telling and so complete that I can’t cut it down to a soundbite. Here is the entire post:

My grandchildren will one day ask me where I was when the Olympic Torch passed through Suzhou, literally just a couple blocks from my apartment. I鈥檒l probably lie, and tell them I was one of the guys running the length of Modern Avenue encouraging the torch bearers onward to the Run鈥檚 conclusion at the Science and Technology Museum.

Instead, I was shuffling around the apartment in my slippers, looking forward to drinking a coffee and reading the Sunday edition of the International Herald Tribune (online, of course). From the panoramic view of the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) and Old Suzhou, I could see the traffic paralyzed and enthusiastic flag bearers weaving through the congestion. A bright sunny day was not enough to lure me out to Suzhou鈥檚 Olympics party. I had even bought a couple flags the evening before 鈥� small nylon affairs, one of the the Chinese national flag, and one the flag of the Olympics. I hadn鈥檛 bought them for myself, but instead to give them to my Chinese partner. Indeed, I encouraged her to part in the party that morning.

Recent events surrounding the torch relay around the world as well as portraitures in Chinese news about us devil-worshiping foreigners simply made the event, well, a non-event for me. Plus, I just couldn鈥檛 be bothered with a testosterone-fueled group of youths with too much energy and too few opportunities through which to channel their emotions other than to say annoying things about 鈥渢he laowai鈥�. I鈥檓 sure there were other Westerners out there, mixing with the crowds, waving the Chinese flag 鈥� or even their own country鈥檚. I wasn鈥檛 one of them.

I simply didn鈥檛 have the feeling this Olympics was the world鈥檚 Olympics. Yours, mine, the Lithuanians鈥�, whomever.

It鈥檚 China鈥檚 party, they鈥檝e made it clear. And I wasn鈥檛 invited.

It’s a sad, honest look at the way recent events have made many people feel. Besides one shop assistant asking if I’m French, I haven’t felt a lot of anti-foreigner sentiment directly. (There are a lot of “Love China” t-shirts, and so forth) But it was pretty hard for average people — Chinese and expats alike — to see the torch in Tiananmen Square as it passed through Beijing.

I have such hopes for the Olympics, obviously I’m a Beijing Olympics FAN!, but I’m worried that China isn’t showing its best side.

Via This Is China! Blog

Ok, I’ve been calling JingJing a little jerk for a while now, but I don’t actually attribute any real events to his actions. But a friend mentioned the “Fuwa curse” so I had to look it up. The Fuwa curse attributes one bad event to each Fuwa.

Gossip sites are full of speculation that four of the five cartoon mascots have fulfilled prophesies of doom with one more, connected to the Yangtze River, still to come, the South China Morning Post said.

Jingjing, a panda, is the animal most closely associated with Sichuan province where the earthquake struck.

Huanhuan, a cartoon character with flame-red hair, is being linked by bloggers to the Olympic torch that has been dogged by anti-China protests on its round-the-world tour.

Yingying, an antelope, is an animal confined to the borders of Tibet, which has been the scene of riots and the cause of international protests against China, the bloggers say.

Nini, represented by a kite, is being viewed as a reference to the 鈥渒ite city鈥� of Weifang, in Shandong, where there was a deadly train crash last month.

That leaves only Beibei, represented by a sturgeon fish, which online doomsayers suggest could indicate a looming disaster in the Yangtze River, the only place where sturgeon is found.

I don’t believe in this at all, but some of my coworkers do. What do you think?

Via Truth From Facts blog and the Sydney Morning Herald.

After the Sichuan earthquake, organizers plan silent moments for the lives lost.

Attendance and torchbearers of torch relay in each of the next 98 legs across China will dedicate one minute of silence to the lives lost in the massive earthquake in southwest China, the Beijing Games organizers decided Tuesday night.

The local organizers in Jiangxi, where the cites of Ruijin, Jinggangshan and Nanchang are scheduled to carry on the sacred flame from Wednesday, decided Tuesday to cut all festive performances at the launching and closing ceremonies. Torchbearers may also wear black ribbons and charity boxes will be set up at the starting and finishing points.

Olympic venues across Beijing were not damaged by the quake, said builders at several venues, including the Bird鈥檚 Nest, the Water Cube, the Workers鈥� Indoor Gymnasium and the Wukesong venue cluster. State Seismological Bureau recorded a 3.9 magnitude tremor in Tongzhou District in east Beijing Monday afternoon.

Via China Daily

Success! The mountain-climbing torch relay team has made it to the top of the world!

A Tibetan woman took the Olympic torch the last steps to the top of Everest on Thursday, realizing “a dream of all Chinese people”, but Tibetan exiles criticized Beijing for politicizing the Games.

“Long live Tibet!” and “Long live Beijing!”, the climbers, all wearing red, shouted joyously into a TV camera after unfurling the Chinese national flag, the Olympic flag and a flag bearing the Beijing Olympic logo.

The ambitious project to take the torch to the Himalayan peak was cast as the highlight of the relay ahead of the Games, which start in exactly three months’ time, and followed weeks of protests against Beijing’s rule in Tibet.

“We have realized a promise to the world and a dream of all the Chinese people,” base camp commander Li Zhixin told reporters after being mobbed by jubilant friends and colleagues.

Via Countdown to Beijing blog and Reuters.

The Beijing Olympics 2008 blog tipped me off to this awesome blog by Nick, Dave and Mark, some of the reporters covering the Olympic torch’s climb up Everest. They recently posted the pros and cons of hanging around base camp, waiting for news.

1. The view鈥︹��lets face it, it does not get much better than this.

2. The internet facilities鈥︹��.the only reason why I am able to send my pictures, and now blogs, so easily is due to the excellent set up at the press centre. Plus, it allows us to watch repeats on YOU-TUBE of British comedies.

3. The food鈥�..for make-shift kitchen facilities, the food is excellent, especially the dumplings.

4. The friendly staff who are trying to help.

But then we decided, it would only be fair, in order to uphold our roles as impartial observers, we would do a list of negatives as well:

1. Lack of information鈥�..What鈥檚 happening up that mountain, Please??

2. The Huts鈥︹��.sooooooo cold at night.

3. Altitude鈥︹��.even though we have been ok so far, you can still feel the weight of the altitude on your head.

4. No showers鈥︹��..been a week, hmmmmmmm, say no more鈥︹��.

5. Toilet facilities鈥︹�︹��don鈥檛 even ask鈥︹��..

6. Fresh clothes鈥︹�︹��yep, run out鈥︹��well it has been 11 days鈥�.

7. Melting snow dripping through the roof鈥�..right onto Mark鈥檚 head in fact, funny from where we were sitting.

8. The uncertainty of not knowing anything about what is happening鈥︹��.

The full post is here. Thanks to Mike at Beijing Olympics 2008 blog for introducing this blog!

A happy stop in North Korea for the chaotic torch relay.

The Olympic torch has made a peaceful procession through North Korea, where the regime is an ally of China. In a reversal of protests that have dogged the flame’s world tour, thousands of cheering people lined the 12-mile route through the capital, Pyongyang, waving pink paper flowers and small flags with the Beijing Olympics logo and chanting: “Welcome, welcome.”

Via The Guardian

The torch relay makes it way to Seoul, South Korea, for another troubled stop.

Thousands of young Chinese who assembled to defend their country鈥檚 troubled Olympic torch relay pushed through police lines here on Sunday, some of them hurling rocks, bottled water and plastic and steel pipes at protesters who were demanding better treatment for North Korean refugees in China.

Two North Korean defectors living in South Korea poured paint thinner on themselves and tried to set themselves on fire to protest what they condemned as Beijing鈥檚 inhumane crackdown on North Korean refugees, but the police stopped them, according to witnesses and officials.

The South Korean police and Chinese students also overpowered at least two other protesters who tried to impede the run along a 15-mile route through Seoul. The route was kept secret until the last minute and was guarded by more than 8,300 police officers.

The globe-trotting relay of the torch leading to the Beijing Games in August has spurred protests in some cities against China鈥檚 crackdown on protests for independence in Tibet. However, in South Korea, one of the torch鈥檚 final stops before entering the safety of China, demonstrators focused on human rights for North Koreans who live in hiding in China after fleeing hunger in their homeland.

According to Chinese state media, the torch arrived late on Sunday in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, one place where the Chinese authorities can be sure there will be no protests. North Korea, an ally of China, said it was preparing an 鈥渁mazing鈥� welcome, indicating that the totalitarian government would mobilize hundreds of thousands of flower-waving people.

Hours before the torch run began in Seoul, which hosted the 1988 Summer Games, several thousand Chinese, mostly students studying in South Korea, converged on the Olympic Park, singing, chanting and waving signs that read, 鈥淲e love China,鈥� or, 鈥淕o, Go China.鈥� With groups of Chinese marching with Chinese flags wrapped around them, the park looked like a sea of red.

When a few protesters demanded that China stop repatriating North Korean refugees, they were quickly surrounded by jeering Chinese. Near the park, Chinese students surrounded and beat a small group of protesters, news reports said.

In another scuffle, at the city center where the five-hour torch run ended, Chinese surrounded several Tibetans and South Korean supporters who unfurled pro-Tibet banners, and kicked and punched them, witnesses said.

South Korean-owned bakery Tous le Jours was already the target of Chinese protesters who thought it was French. Maybe they’ll be back!

Via The New York Times

Clashes between China supporters and Free Tibet protestors have injured 4 people as the Olympic torch visited Japan.

Protesters opposed to Beijing’s rule in Tibet have clashed with Chinese supporters during the Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay, but failed to disrupt the flame’s journey.

At least four people were injured in the clashes in the city of Nagano on Saturday, while two men were arrested as they tried to grab the torch, witnesses said.

Large crowds of Chinese students competed for attention with the pro-Tibet demostrators, waving red flags and signs such as “One World, One Dream, One China”.

Japan was keen to avoid the chaotic scenes at some of the relay venues ahead of next month’s arrival of Hu Jintao, China’s president.

Police guards in tracksuits surrounded the first runner, the manager of Japan’s national baseball team, and another 100 uniformed riot police ran alongside six patrol cars and two police lead motorcycles.

The starting point, which was in a car park after a Buddhist temple withdrew in a protest at China’s crackdown in Tibet, was closed to the public, as were all the rest stops.

Via Aljazeera

(Hopefully, citing Aljazeera will save me from deciding whether to use CNN / BBC or China Daily / Xinhua, and receiving nasty comments from fans of the opposite side.)

Jin Jing is the girl in the wheelchair who was shoved by an over-zealous protester in Paris. Everyone in China already knows her name, since the video of her turning to put her body between the torch and the attacker has made her a national hero.

Today in Shanghai, French Senate President Christian Poncelet read a letter from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, offering his sympathy and regrets to Jin Jing.

“I would like to express to you my deep feeling towards the way you were shoved in Paris on April 7 when you were holding the Olympic flame. You showed an outstanding courage, which honors you, and (through you) all your country,” Sarkozy was quoted as saying in the letter.

On April 7, the torch relay in Paris was interrupted many times. The most notable incident was that several supporters of “Tibetan independence” rushed toward Jin Jing and tried to snatch the torch.

“I understand that the Chinese people’s feelings were hurt by what went on that day, and especially by the intolerable attack you suffered and which I condemn with the utmost force,” Poncelet read from President Sarkozy’s letter.

“What happened in Paris on April 7 has engendered a feeling of bitterness in your country. I want to assure you that the incidents that were brought about by a few people on this sad day don’t reflect the feelings of my fellow countrymen for the Chinese people,” the letter says.

Via Xinhua

A disappointing stop in the US for the Olympic Torch.

The torch was lit in a short ceremony at AT&T Park in front of hundreds of pro-Chinese supporters who waved Chinese, American and Olympic flags.

But from the park, the runners, accompanied by Chinese security forces, went into a security warehouse and the torch disappeared from public view for about 45 minutes.

Vehicles were later seen leaving the building.

The torch was driven to a nearby neighborhood, where the runners began the relay.

There was “a disproportionate concentration of people in and around the start of the relay,” Mayor Gavin Newsom told The Associated Press.

There SHOULD be a lot of people around the relay! It’s a show! People are meant to come and watch! Seems like authorities forgot why we have a torch relay, and forgot about all the normal people who wanted to see the Olympic torch. The torch has made one stop in my home country, and with the ceremonies cut short and the route changed on the way around town, I don’t think many Americans got to see the torch.

The Olympic torch was flown to the US to show international friendship, and to get everyone excited about the Olympics, and I think it has done the exact opposite. Expecting a cool pre-Olympics show and then seeing misdirection, and overbearing police, is a sure-fire way to increase American anger at China, and reinforce the West’s worst stereotypes about China.

If, as everyone has been saying, the torch is a non-political symbol of the Olympic spirit, what does it mean to grab that torch and hide it away from visitors?

Via CNN