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[Chron: Fran Blinebury] Bird's Nest Soup at the Olympics

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by abc2007, Jul 28, 2008.

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abc2007 Member

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http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/

Bird's Nest Soup at the Olympics.
Ni hao from Beijing.

At least, I think it's Beijing. Truth is, I can't see much of anything when I look out the window of my hotel room.

We're staying right in the heart of the Olympic Green and they tell us the brand new, magnificent Bird's Nest Stadium is about a quarter mile away. Trouble is, the air is so thick with smog and haze and who knows what kind of pollutants that a bird might break his beak flying straight into the side of the stadium and never know what hit him.

"The fog is common at this time of year here," said the woman at the information desk. "It is part of the weather conditions in summer. As soon as it rains or a big wind comes, it will be gone. It is only fog."

The fog comes on little cat feet, according to the poet Carl Sandburg.

Beijing smog comes belching and wheezing like a convoy of tractor-trailers that stretches to the horizon. You can almost reached out and grab it by the handful. Which is why I can barely make out the outline of the 12-story apartment building that is across the street from my hotel window. Which is why Haile Gebrsellasie, the world's greatest distance runner, has declined to run in the Olympic marathon. Which is why if 7-6 Yao Ming walked down the street of the capital city right now, his head would almost disappear into the "fog."

The government has banned a good deal of truck traffic and shut down a large number of factories for the duration of the Games, which open in 11 days.

There's a typhoon blowing in from the east over Taiwan and there's rain in the forecast for Wednesday.

"We only need a good wind." said the woman at the info counter.

Or that air purification mask that's on the shelf in my hotel room closet.

*************
Should be an interesting Tuesday night in Nanjing, where Yao Ming will continue his training with the Chinese national team in the Diamond Tournament. First up is a duel against Argentina and his Rocket buddy Luis Scola. Should be a good matchup.

************

Word going around the Athletes Village was that the U.S. men's and women's basketball teams would be checking in soon and ready to get the fully flavor of camaraderie with more than 10,000 athletes from around the world.

Uh-uh.

Both USA teams have reservations and are staying at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel.

#1 abc2007, Jul 28, 2008

kwc Member

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Why did Chron send this whining idiot to China?

abc2007 said:

http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/

Bird's Nest Soup at the Olympics.
Ni hao from Beijing.

At least, I think it's Beijing. Truth is, I can't see much of anything when I look out the window of my hotel room.

We're staying right in the heart of the Olympic Green and they tell us the brand new, magnificent Bird's Nest Stadium is about a quarter mile away. Trouble is, the air is so thick with smog and haze and who knows what kind of pollutants that a bird might break his beak flying straight into the side of the stadium and never know what hit him.

"The fog is common at this time of year here," said the woman at the information desk. "It is part of the weather conditions in summer. As soon as it rains or a big wind comes, it will be gone. It is only fog."

The fog comes on little cat feet, according to the poet Carl Sandburg.

Beijing smog comes belching and wheezing like a convoy of tractor-trailers that stretches to the horizon. You can almost reached out and grab it by the handful. Which is why I can barely make out the outline of the 12-story apartment building that is across the street from my hotel window. Which is why Haile Gebrsellasie, the world's greatest distance runner, has declined to run in the Olympic marathon. Which is why if 7-6 Yao Ming walked down the street of the capital city right now, his head would almost disappear into the "fog."

The government has banned a good deal of truck traffic and shut down a large number of factories for the duration of the Games, which open in 11 days.

There's a typhoon blowing in from the east over Taiwan and there's rain in the forecast for Wednesday.

"We only need a good wind." said the woman at the info counter.

Or that air purification mask that's on the shelf in my hotel room closet.

*************
Should be an interesting Tuesday night in Nanjing, where Yao Ming will continue his training with the Chinese national team in the Diamond Tournament. First up is a duel against Argentina and his Rocket buddy Luis Scola. Should be a good matchup.

************

Word going around the Athletes Village was that the U.S. men's and women's basketball teams would be checking in soon and ready to get the fully flavor of camaraderie with more than 10,000 athletes from around the world.

Uh-uh.

Both USA teams have reservations and are staying at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel.
Click to expand...

#2 kwc, Jul 28, 2008
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I've been to Beijing before, honetly I don't think it is that bad. I mean it's just like any big city in the world.

#3 csux, Jul 28, 2008
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what the does this have to do with the rockets?

#4 Storm Surge, Jul 28, 2008
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You can google "beijing" and judge for yourself. Honestly, and I distinctively remember Beijing's subway system was very new and clean (at least when I visited). I would rather sleep in a Beijing subway station than any one in New York City. I mean now that's something more disturbing.

#5 csux, Jul 28, 2008
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csux said:

I've been to Beijing before, honetly I don't think it is that bad. I mean it's just like any big city in the world.
Click to expand...

I don't know man, I been to there many times and the pollution was awful. Lets just hope the weather and CCP policies will help clear up the air before the games start.

#6 rz04, Jul 28, 2008
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Storm Surge said:

what the does this have to do with the rockets?
Click to expand...

Well...Yao can't breath, thats bad for us.

But that also means Boozer can't breath, so thats good for us...I'm very conflicted right now.

#7 QdoubleA, Jul 28, 2008

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Thanks for this compelling bit of information, Fran. Go jump out the window and see if the smog is thick enough to break your fall.

#8 ParaSolid, Jul 28, 2008
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From what I've heard, a big problem with Beijing is the cheap license plates There for everybody and their mother owns a car (cuz it's trendy do so now in China). Unlike Shanghai, which the license and etc. makes owning a car much more expensive on top of the price of the vehicle. Add that to the fact that the concentration people per square mile is much higher in China.

#9 wizkid83, Jul 28, 2008
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rz04 said:

I don't know man, I been to there many times and the pollution was awful. Lets just hope the weather and CCP policies will help clear up the air before the games start.
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on where you stay. I've been to Beijing too and it's nowhere as bad as Fran is describing. Although yes, China is not exactly known for its sanitation and clean air.

#10 tofu--, Jul 28, 2008
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QdoubleA said:

Well...Yao can't breath, thats bad for us.

But that also means Boozer can't breath, so thats good for us...I'm very conflicted right now.
Click to expand...

We lose because Scola can't breath too.

Tom.com said that Deke and Battier will be in Beijing during the Olympics too...

#11 freemaniam, Jul 28, 2008
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tofu-- said:

I guess it depends on where you stay. I've been to Beijing too and it's nowhere as bad as Fran is describing. Although yes, China is not exactly known for its sanitation and clean air.
Click to expand...

Right, I lived near the Wangfujing area and the air quality wasn't all that great most of the time. Actually I never realized how bad the pollution was in Beijing until I left China, now every time I go back the first thing I notice is the pollution

BTW guys its a blog, not a real article he's just describing what he's experiencing in his travels to Beijing, no need to make such a big deal about it.

#12 rz04, Jul 28, 2008
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Argh, I effing HATE Fran Blinebury!! I've been to Beijing not too long ago, and it was nice. While Blinebury occupies a highly-coveted spot in Beijing, someone who would not whine and is more appreciated in China can't go.

#13 zforrest, Jul 28, 2008

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You guys down there in Houston are too spoiled. Come to NYC you will see how dirty a real big city normally is.

#14 canoner2002, Jul 28, 2008
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I don't know why there's hating on Fran for this. The Bird Nest area does look exactly as he describes it.

#15 meh, Jul 28, 2008
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Athletes village. Fran isn't known for his sensitivity.

#16 wireonfire, Jul 28, 2008
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I was in Seoul and Beijing in May this year. In comparison, Seoul had worse air pollution than Beijing. On the day I came back, Beijing actually had blue sky after one day of a little bit sand storm.

#17 Pueblo, Jul 28, 2008
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Beijing is never famous for its air quality, but frankly it is not that bad. What a whining baby!

#18 littlefish_220, Jul 28, 2008

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I've been to China 50-60 times and before I get bashed I really like it there and have always enjoyed my time there. I realize there are people who post here who will automatically circle the wagons the second negative comments are made related to China.

Beijing on some days is clear but those days are generally rare, they have smog/air quality alerts similar to what we have in Houston and LA but people actually die from pollution related causes all the time in China. I remember once in Guangzhou I had the window open in the car and the side of my face that was getting blown on actually turned a bright red that night with some fairly serious hives.

Huge amounts of pollution in China is not simply conventional wisdom it is most certainly real. I literally had a blue/green paste on my car windows that took serious work to remove and even saw a few dead birds covered in blobs of greasy soot. It's worse than I've ever seen it in the US, not a bash just a simple fact.

That said China is an amazing place with an ancient and storied culture that I hope is not damaged by lack of air quality (and other) related regulations.

#19 SuperKev, Jul 29, 2008
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why send fran... seriously... why Fran. he's a known Yao Ming hater and mr. negative. Don't the chronical know that chinese readers read it too...

#20 FFz, Jul 29, 2008

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