I wish you could all have read the incredible, in-depth, well-thought-out responses I’ve received over the last week about my post-China articles. Thank you so much to all who took the time to write. If only we had a message board…

So here’s the deal. Once I got back from China, I wanted to wrap up my blog with two more posts, one venting any frustrations or problems I had in China and a final post celebrating the things I learned and the people I met in Beijing. My plans have been delayed by the enormous news questions that emerged after my post: Is the device I saw in Beijing taxis a microphone or an audio device?

I asked readers to comment, and you have in spectacular fashion. Click (more) below to read excerpts from the responses. Everyone seems to be positive they know what the device is, but not all the stories match up…
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After my last post, a blog reader who has spent time in China emailed me with this reaction:

“By the way, that picture you shown where there is a tiny device inside the car is actually a part of a sound system. Most cars in Asian countries fixed such devices. I really can’t believe that your general knowledge is so limited.”

According to my research, the device I pictured is a microphone. All the warnings I received indicated that my conversations were recorded and/or occasionally monitored while riding in Beijing taxis. However, my sources were always American/Western, where as this blog reader is from Asia.

I hope my previous post didn’t come off as paranoid, but rather as aware. It’s impossible to be paranoid about the censorship in China because it exists, a fact for which China does not apologize.

But am I wrong about the photo in my last post? If anyone knows, shoot me an email (lmtxbb@mizzou.edu) or post in the comments below!

I’m not quite over jet lag yet, so I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to post this. Here are the stories I didn’t get to post in China:

My first experience with censorship in China started before I even got there.

In June, I stopped by Half-Price Books to find something to entertain me on the plane. I landed on The Noodle Maker by Ma Jian, written in the aftermath of the Tiananmen massacre, mostly because it was cheap.

The day before I boarded my flight to Beijing, I read a book review in the New Yorker about a controversial Chinese author whose works were banned in China. The author’s name looked familiar, so I took out my copy of the Noodle Maker. It was the same author, Ma Jian. I flipped to the first page, where printed in tiny, italicized letters was a warning that this book was banned in Mainland China.

I was shocked. What did China think I was going to do with this book any way? Start a revolution? I just wanted something to read!

What could I do? I left the book in my Chicago hotel room and caught the shuttle for the airport.

Click (more) for...well...more!

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So tonight is my last night in Beijing!

A couple of friends and I decided to spend some time in Tiananmen Square, soaking up the atmosphere and flying a kite.

Just as I started to get the kite into the air, a guard came walking toward me, motioning for me to stop. I let the kite fall and tried to find out what he wanted, but we didn’t exactly speak each others’ language.

At first, we just thought we couldn’t go in the area where the guard was. But as soon as Lauren got the kite flying again, the guard came back over and motioned harshly for us to leave. Lauren just ran the kite around him, hoping he’d give up and leave us alone.

Finally, they pulled up an English-speaking officer who told us we needed to vacate the area. I took a video, but it won’t load right now, so I’ll put it up when I get back.

The English-speaking guard was much nicer than the first guard, but he still didn’t think it was important to give us a reason to leave. He pointed to his watch, but I’m not sure Tiananmen has a closing time…

Oh China.

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Like I said in my last post, tonight is my last night in Beijing. But, this won’t be my last post.

I’m planning one more very important post when I get back: venting all of the stuff I couldn’t say here in what my grandfather calls in his journal “Red China.”

I have a lot to say, so I hope you’ll stay with me just a couple more days. After that, who knows!

Hope you’re all enjoying the start of the school year. I’m not looking forward to starting classes a week late…


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Remember a month ago when China’s major bragging point was the city would be decorated with over 40 million flower pots?

Well, check out the picture to see what China did with all those flowers. Apparantly, "pots" meant plastic holders, and "decorate" meant put on the hot, concrete, crowded sidewalk. Now that the Games are over, many of the flowers are just dead, and their plastic holders look melted.

I mean, I’m all for beautification efforts. But can’t we plant the flowers rather than put them in the middle of the sidewalk? It's so sad to see those flowers dying on the sidewalk next to an unwatered patch of grass.

I wonder whose job it is to clean them all up now. Better yet, I wonder if the same decorations will be used during the Paralympic Games…

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Honestly, the Olympic Green was kinda boring. I mean, if you were on your way to an event, it was fun. But if you just went to hang out and see the action, there wasn’t much to do except take pictures of the torch and visit sponsor exhibitions. I saw lots of families taking naps on whatever benches were in the shade.

There was one awesome exhibition though. Johnson & Johnson brought 5 of the famous Terra Cotta Warriors from Xian up to the Olympic Green. Check out my pictures by clicking (more) below.
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On my way to lunch, I walked behind two athletic-looking guys a couple years older than me. They walked with a purpose — shoulders back, heads high, broad grins. As I followed them across campus, I wondered where they could be going so confidently.

Then I saw what they were holding: two ping-pong paddles. Clearly, these guys were on their way to some mad ping-pong action and wanted everyone to know about it. Their paddles were out and ready to go, which made wonder what they kept in thier backpacks...

Only in China.
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If there's going to be one thing I miss from the Olympics, it's Handball.

I totally agree with Andy Friedlander over at the DMN’s Olympic Blog. It's is my new favorite sport!

Handball is everything I love about soccer and basketball combined. A basketball-sized court keeps the momentum pumping, and soccer-style nets mean high-scoring games. No one’s a stickler about out-of-bouds or off-sides calls. The game is all about who can run harder and throw faster. We need a US team!

Men’s Handball got the final gold medal awarded in the Beijing Games. France beat Iceland 28-23 just hours before the closing ceremony. I got to go because handball finals were in the same stadium as Gymnastics.

Iceland has never ever won a Gold medal ever, and they fought hard the entire hour to change that. But, their goalie was a really cocky, annoying dude who would yell at his teammates every time a goal went in, so I didn’t want to root for them.

France’s goalkeeper saved almost everything that came his way, which kept his team ahead the entire game. Sometimes, blow-outs can be boring, but both teams fought hard till the last second.

When Iceland lost, they seemed crushed. Many just sat on the court and cried by themselves while the French team and fans danced and cheered nearby. But once they had a chance to calm down and realize they’re still medalists, they seemed really excited.

Why have I never seen this sport before? YouTube it, if you can. It’s awesome.

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For the last two weeks, Olympic events have been on TV everywhere I go: coffee shops, hair salons, dance clubs. Even McDonalds had Olympic diving projected on the screen when I went out for a late night snack.

And Chinese viewers aren’t just watching the “popular” sports, like track, swimming and gymnastics. They will watch whatever sport is on, just to be a part of the action going on in and around their city.

But when they had the choice between a gold medal match and an obscure qualifier with a Chinese athlete competing, they always chose the Chinese athlete. We had to go to Frank’s, Beijing’s oldest sports bar (since 1989), to watch Argentina beat Nigeria for men’s football gold. I think all our TV was showing that day was canoe/kayak and judo…

And let’s be serious: Where else in the world would people stop dead in their tracks in the middle of a subway station to watch (not just glimpse at, watch) their team in women’s basketball? Unfortunately, not the USA.

It makes me wonder what they’ll watch now that the events are over. All I can find on TV are opera and crazy game shows!
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