Archive for the ‘Olympics’ Category

Return of Canon 1D

Montag, Oktober 13th, 2008

After a very long loaner period the unavoidable „I need my camera back“ call came. Today I had to give back the digital SLR Canon 1D Mark I to my friend. It was great that he loaned it to me for about 2 months. Especially during teh Beijing Olympics it was so much fun to shot with such a professional camera. Only drawback was that I took about 800 pictures at each Olympic event and till today I still haven’t found the time to sort through them. I got so used to that camera that it is hard to see it go. Now I am cameraless again. And the Canon 5D Mark II that I have been waiting for for half a year is still not yet available everywhere. I will have to bridge another month or two…

Beijing Olympics Day 1: Gymnastics

Samstag, August 9th, 2008

Olympic Green 1

The first day of Olympics we had tickets for Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. As we had two extra tickets two friends came along with us. This competition is in the newly built National Indoor Stadium on the Olympic Green.

We took one of the many the fast bus lines that were added extra for the Olympics. They are routed to get people to and from the Olympic venues. But I think it might not be so easy to find information about them. We got out Olympic tickets as foreign residents in China and the „Official Spectator Guide“ provided to us is completely only in Chinese language. That guide has some rough information on where the buses stop. We were told there are only Chinese versions of that guide when we went to pick up our tickets 2 months ago. Maybe that is why these Olympic buses are so empty.

The Bird’s Nest and Empty Streets

There are many restrictions written in tiny letters on the back side of the ticket. E.g. that you are only aloud to bring flags of countries participating in the events and that the flag is not allowed to me bigger than 1 times 2 meters. Also you are not allowed to wear clothes with a logo other than from the sponsors. And it says that you are not allowed to bring professional cameras. So Simon and I were discussing whether it would make sense to try to bring our SLR and then have it taken away and who knows if it then gets lost. So we decided that his Nikon and the Canon 1D might be considered as professional. So we both left our cameras at home. This is how a professional photographer looks like taking a picture with a point and shoot camera. And please note that I took this picture using my mobile phone. How sad…

Poiunt and Shoot Camera

When we were walking the convenient more than a kilometer walk from the bus stop to the National Indoor Stadium we hardly had time to take pictures as we were already late. It was very empty everywhere and the weather was quite good. We will be back tomorrow with more time for pictures. Here is a bad quality one done with my mobile phone.

Bird’s Nest with Mobile Phone Camera

The artistic gymnastics venue was designed by an architect from Nuernberg. We had tickets in the middle but still had a great view. Just too bad we did not have our SLR cameras. And guess what? We saw so many other visitors with their SLR cameras. So tomorrow I will risk to bring mine.

Beijing National Indoor Stadium for Gymnastics

We were quite astonished to see so many empty seats in the stadium. I would guess at least 1 third was empty. There were a lot of volunteers helping us in the stadium. But they did not act as cheer leaders. The bug screen in the stadium did tell us „amazing“ or „great“ or „clap“ to make us understand the gymnastics competition. It was great to see the male athletes from so close. Most of them did a great job.

Military and the Bird’s Nest

After the competition we were walking around the so called „Olympic Green“. It has a lot of concrete and grey color though. At least we felt really safe because the Military was also there.

Holding the Olympic Torch and Flame

Julien had a ticket for swimming in the Water Cube so he stayed on the Olympic grounds. The rest of us took the subway back into the city. It is great that with an Olympic ticket you can use any Beijing public transportation free of charge. But the subway was actually also not full. We had dinner in a nice Guizhou restaurant. After getting home I went to met one of the Hong Kong fixed gear riders who is currently in Beijing during the Olympic period. We rode together to Chaoyang park and then played around on our fixies bikes for a short while. What a great end of a great day.

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

Freitag, August 8th, 2008

Wow!

My company followed the city guideline to give an extra day off: The day of the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics!

So I did not have to go to office today. That was especially convinient because my mother who actually received her visa arrived in Beijing in the morning. I took the new airport express train to the airport after some issues of finding the place to purchase the train ticket and getting through two security check points. We took a taxi back. That was so incredible: There was not a single person at the airport taxi stand. Nevertheless we somehow managed to get onto the only taxi with broken air conditioning. But that was also okay as there were almost no cars on the street and we almost flew home in that little red sauna car.

We then went to the neighbourhood police hut with the official certificate that I actually live in the appartment to get the approval to have my mother registered at the bigger neighbourhood police station. Our friendly police officer was out (said to be at the police station) so we went there directly. Unfortunately it was around lunch time but the police officer actually did register my mom despite it being his lunch resting time.

I met my photographer friend who actually now is lending me his Canon 1D till Canon comes out with a hopefully great full frame camera at a reasonable price. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I feel like a real person again.

It was hard to find information on places where there would be big screens to watch the opening ceremony other than some of the typical bars.  My friend Fede went over to Ditan Park at about 2 pm with some friends and told us to come as Ditan Park had a space with 2 huge screens. We packed a bottle of wine, 2 bottles of beer a beer opener, two foldable chairs and a blanket. We were just leaving home to have some dinner on the way when Fede called and said we should come soon as it was getting crowded and he was not sure if they would close the entrance to the space with the screens. So we went there really hungry just to find out that except for the blanket and the camera we were not allowed to bring in the rest. But they said when we leave we can pick the things up again despite the fact that there was no marking on our bottles. We did manage to get the chairs in for my mother. I back out and got food from a small Chinese restaurant so that we do not collapse. Everybody was haning out on their blankets or newspaper waiting for the show to begin.

Beijing 2008 Olympics Ditan Park Screens

And wow what an Opening Ceremony! What a fabulous 3D play of lights, colors and traditional Chinese element. It was incredible. It was beautiful. It was amazing! London will have a hard time to produce anything nearly as impressive.

Viewing the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony in Ditan Park

And it was a real experience to be in Ditan Park with mostly Chinese watching it on huge screens. The atmosphere was so great. Everybody was sitting on the ground so everybody had agreat view of both screens. There was no aggression or violence. There was a lot of positive energy. There was a lot of cheering. And that was for all athletes of all teh 204 nations who then marched into the Bird’s Nest Stadium. The crowd did not cheer so load for 2 presidents, but definitely cheered for the athletes. It was also perfect that there were no moskitos. But it was quite hot that night.

Beijing Residents watching the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

Hot Night August 8 2008

After the finish of the ceremony we were advised by the security crew that it might rain soon so we should all leave the park fast. We did that anyway as we were hungry. We went with friends to the nearby famous dim sum restaurant. We finished our delicious dinner at 2am. What a wonderful August 8th 2008!

绿色骑手-伊泉骑的是难度较高的固定齿轮车

Dienstag, Juni 10th, 2008

There is an article about the Radio Beijing and Meng Niu milk company bicycle ride to promote greener form of transportation for the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympics. Read the original article here. I was cycling from Qinghuangdao to Beijing on my fixed gear bike.

奔向北京 奔向奥运
——“蒙牛绿色骑手奔向北京”自行车志愿之旅侧记
2008年6月5日下午,世界环境日,北京人民广播电台新落成的广播大厦门口陆续骑来了5支自行车车队,队员们统一着蓝白相间专业自行车运动装,他们脸色黝黑却精神抖擞。这就是刚刚完成“蒙牛绿色骑手奔向北京”大型自行车志愿之旅的各地骑手们。这5支队伍共60名骑手分别从上海、青岛、沈阳、秦皇岛、天津五个奥运城市出发,行程3600公里,风雨兼程,艰苦卓绝,今天终于“骑”聚北京。所有的工作人员都在这里翘首以盼,当队员们出现在大家的视野中时,大家报以热烈的掌声,他们用这样的方式来表达对这5支队伍完成“传奇之旅”的祝贺和欢迎。
边骑车边传播绿色出行理念
6月5日下午3点,北京广播大厦900平方米演播厅里彩旗飘扬。“蒙牛绿色骑手奔向北京”2008北京人民广播电台自行车志愿之旅大型主题活动会师庆典正式开始。北京文艺广播、北京体育广播、上海五星体育广播、天津交通广播、辽宁交通广播、青岛交通广播、秦皇岛交通广播、北京广播网同步进行音视频直播,林依伦、郭峰、叶蓓、成龙中国——中华龙韵功夫团等带来了精彩的文艺演出。5支自行车车队陆续上台,他们带来了代表各个城市的礼物,也带来了自己一路的传“ 骑”经历。
在庆典活动现场,记者见到一位老人“骑手”——梁福山。梁福山今年72岁,沈阳人。2004年,梁福山骑车由辽宁省沈阳市出发,经过辽宁、河北、山东、河南、安徽、湖北、湖南、广西、广东9个省、自治区的几十个市、县,到达祖国大陆的最南端——雷州半岛红土地、美丽的亚热带海滨城市湛江。总行程达5000 多公里,历时一个多月,日均行程150多公里。梁福山老人说:“50年代骑车是因为穷,现在骑车是为了健康。你看我,从来不生病,血压、血糖各项指标都正常,所以,我呼吁大家能骑车就不要开车,不仅是为北京的蓝天,也是为您自身的健康。”在整个绿色骑手的队伍中,梁福山是年龄最大的一位,最小的也有35 岁。在他们日夜兼程赶往北京的同时,还经常参加宣传绿色奥运精神的活动。有一次,青岛的绿色骑手们参观了淄博污水处理厂,淄博全市已建成城市污水处理厂 10座,日处理规模达58万吨,在全国所有城市中,淄博的城市污水处理成效名列前茅,让作为环保使者的青岛绿色骑手们亲眼见证了环保给这座城市带来的崭新面貌。
奥运会的时候她和父母一起来中国
在绿色骑手中,一位金发碧眼的外国姑娘格外引人注目,她的英文名字叫Ines, 中文名叫伊泉。伊泉住在东大桥,每天骑车到西单金融街上班。平常伊泉骑的是难度较高的固定齿轮车,这种车速度快、轻巧、没有任何刹车等装置,全部靠脚蹬和齿轮来控制骑行,一般用于杂技表演。伊泉是骑固定齿轮车的高手,上班也是骑这种车,她在德国的时候经常参加长途骑行,最远的一次环游德国8天。伊泉来到中国4年时间了,因为工作关系,伊泉到过很多中国的城市,她的父母也来中国很多次了,今年他们也将会在奥运会的时候再次来到这个美丽的奥运城市。
边骑车边参观并帮助希望小学
在骑向北京的过程中,蒙牛绿色骑手们除了圆满完成骑行任务外,还在沿路组织了丰富多彩的公益活动。上海队于5月25号出发,骑行路程是5支队伍中最长的,途经昆山、苏州、常州、南京、徐州、泰安、济南、沧州、天津等地,全程1548公里。他们组织的公益活动是途经济南的时候参观孔庙和当地的希望小学,并联合蒙牛乳业为希望小学送去牛奶。
青岛队于5月28日出发骑向北京,途经胶州、平度、潍坊、青州、淄博、周村、德州、静海等地,全程896公里。途中青岛队组织了两次公益活动:他们参观了奥运蔬菜供应基地——寿光,与当地菜农分享支持奥运工作的喜悦。
沈阳队于5月30号出发骑向北京,途经黑山、锦州、山海关、玉田、三河等地,全程777公里。在骑经锦州时,沈阳队拜访了素有“中国撕纸第一人”之称的民间艺术大师许会春,并邀请许大师专门为本次活动撕出了活动主题“奔向北京”四个大字。而且许会春还随队来到了北京,在会师庆典上现场表演了精彩的撕纸绝活儿。
秦皇岛队于6月2号出发骑向北京,途经抚宁、卢龙、丰润、三河等地,全程300公里。秦皇岛队组织的公益活动是参观秦皇岛连峪环保希望小学。该小学由秦皇岛环保局援建,在日常的教学中导入了许多环保理念,是“环保从娃娃抓起” 的最好实践。
天津队于6月3号出发骑向北京,全程132公里,一路骑行感受天津作为自行车大都市的文化和故事。
通过沿途的公益活动和所见所闻,蒙牛绿色骑手们在感受这趟特别的绿色之旅时,也以自己的实际行动一路宣传绿色环保理念。环保大旗一路迎风招展,许多人都在环保大旗上留下了祝福和鼓励的话语,60名绿色骑手成为3600公里旅程上流动的绿色名片。
途中一位台湾骑手曾摔成重伤
在5月22日由上海出发的自行车骑手团中,有一位特殊的人物,他就是来自台湾的捷安特中国公司的行销总监蓝祖彬。他不仅是这次“蒙牛绿色骑手奔向北京”活动的组织者,还是这次活动的参与者。在途经204国道的时候,因为道路维修,造成路面坎坷不平,蓝祖彬在骑行过程中发生了事故,脸部着地,造成重伤。这时候,来自北京的骑手团长,迅速下达了新的命令,骑手团兵分两路,一路继续前行、一路将蓝祖彬送往当地医院进行治疗。
在蓝祖彬所住的南京大学附属医院,他意外地得到了两个极为巧合的消息。他的姑父就是毕业于当年的南京附属大学,而他母亲的老家就是他的出事地点。现在回想,蓝祖彬语气仍然颇为激动:“这是缘分哪,天意啊!”大约一周以后,照顾完蓝祖彬的骑手们继续踏上征程。蓝祖彬:“当我落下队伍的时候,他们没有抛弃我,所以当他们走的时候,我仍然感觉我与他们在一起。”在所有骑手队伍中,跋山涉水已是家常便饭,遇山爬山、遇水渡河。记者摘抄了他们一份日程表,路程的艰辛一看便知:
7点25分准时出发,1点30分到2点30分吃午饭、休息,晚上9点吃完饭,准备明天的装备,然后休息。
老外当场计算出骑自行车降碳指标
随着时代发展和社会进步,绿色观念深入人心,节能减排、保护环境,在提高空气质量的同时,改善城市的交通状况,倡导绿色出行,已经成为世界性共识。而北京奥运盛会日益临近,也对我国的环保重任提出了更高的要求。正是基于这一出发点,北京人民广播电台和蒙牛乳业携手发起了这次规模空前的自行车骑行活动,希望通过这一行动,让人们了解和亲身体验自行车给日常交通生活带来的便利及对社会环境的改变,号召广大市民骑车出行,进一步缓解中国城市建设当中日益严重的交通问题和环保问题,而让蒙牛绿色骑手们于6月5日世界环境日齐聚北京,更有着非比寻常的意义。
在当天的庆典上,美国环保协会的工作人员计算出在3600公里中因骑自行车而实现的降碳指标,并当场宣布了这一结果,为绿色出行提供了科学依据。
环保是个常说常新的话题,更是需要几代人共同努力的一个大命题,“蒙牛绿色骑手奔向北京”2008自行车志愿之旅大型主题活动圆满结束了,然而它提供给我们的启示和思考还在继续。

午报记者 郭北溟 文/摄