With the extinguishing of the Olympic torch less than 12 hours ago, we closed the book on pre-Olympic Beijing.
For those of us not directly involved with the Olympics, we were at least standing on the sidelines and cheering for the hordes of anonymous workers who were tirelessly putting the finishing pieces on the new buildings around the city. Like watching a marathon, there were decisive winners followed by a slew of those who either dropped out or crawled across the finish line in wretched condition. For example, the new CCTV building which looks a bit like a acid-trip version of the Arche de La Défense in Paris is still sporting cranes and still encircled by tall construction barriers despite having 100% of it’s skin on.
Buildings which couldn’t get their facades in place got massive, colorful Olympic banners to cover their naked skeletons. I can’t imagine what it was like for project managers 9 months ago when realizing their pre-Olympic deadline would be impossible. Yet it was thrilling to see the projects that tried and succeeded to hit their deadline like the Sanlitun Village (home of the new Apple store) where they had thousands of workers scurrying around at 3am to put the finishing touches on the shopping center days before the torch was lit.
But it wasn’t just about the physical build-up. There was definitely an emotional one for all of us here. I don’t imagine that it’s easy to characterize the vibe to someone who has never lived through an Olympic city’s preparations and ultimate hosting of the Olympics. It’s a slow heating to a rapid boil which is only perceptible after the flame is doused.
But in a nutshell…it was awesome.
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