Gearing Up for the Olympic Games

Robert Hsu, February 01, 2008

At 8:08 p.m. on August 8, 2008, the world will witness the start of the most hyped and widely anticipated international sporting event of all time: the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. An estimated 3 billion viewers and 30,000 journalists from around the world will tune in.

It's difficult to understate the significance of the upcoming Olympics. The Chinese government recognizes the enormous scope and importance of this event and wants the 2008 Beijing Games to be China's coming-out party -- a showcase to let the world know that the country has arrived on the scene as a major economic power. Similar to what the 1964 Tokyo Olympics did for Japan and the 1988 Seoul Olympics did for South Korea, the 2008 Games will show off China's economic and technological prowess to the world.

Most reports about the Beijing Olympics tend to focus on the spectacular stadiums, the amount of money spent (10 times more than the 2004 Athens Games!), and other material displays of wealth and technological know-how. But I believe that the most significant effect of the 2008 Olympics will be the psychological impact on China's people.

As I've said before, China's most valuable asset is its people, and the 2008 Olympics will boost the sophistication and confidence of the country's huge population. The Summer Games will improve the poise, national pride, foreign language skills and social skills of millions of Chinese. And these qualities will make the country more competitive globally. Both Japan and South Korea went through the same transformation when they hosted the Olympics, and both countries showed the world that they have what it takes to be world-class competitors. China will do the same thing -- but on a much larger scale.

China's government takes the Olympics so seriously that the Ministry of Education put together special Olympic textbooks for 400 million Chinese schoolchildren. These textbooks are meant to teach kids important values like fair play and good sportsmanship. And to help Chinese students develop an international perspective, more than 200 elementary and secondary schools in Beijing have formed alliances with other schools around the world. Beijing students have been traveling to foreign countries as well as hosting visiting students. While in Shanghai recently, I saw a group of high school students from Moscow visiting China as a part of this international exchange program.

The Olympic Games also bring new learning opportunities for thousands of Chinese professionals and government officials working on major international projects. Thousands of Chuppies working in law, engineering, accounting and journalism have actually quit well-paying jobs to work for the Olympic Committee to gain once-in-a-lifetime experience. Lawyers are working on complex global multimillion-dollar contracts while construction engineers are working with some of the world's top design firms to build cutting-edge facilities like the Olympic "Bird's Nest" Stadium and "Water Cube" Aquatic Center. This valuable international experience elevates the skills of an entire generation of Beijing's best and brightest.

In addition to the professionals who are working hard to make the Olympics a success, 100,000 volunteers from various parts of China will also help the Games run smoothly. These volunteers were chosen from more than 1 million applicants, and they're very proud to be a part of this historic event. While in China in December, I talked to volunteers at Beijing's Olympics organization, and I was impressed by the caliber of the people. The volunteers were unfailingly polite, patient, knowledgeable and always willing to help. I was glad to see that they have been very well-trained and recognize the importance of their work. Their exemplary behavior was a dramatic improvement from the poor service and bad attitudes that I've seen in many lower-level Chinese government employees in the past, and the volunteers gave me great hope for Beijing's future.

In addition to the 100,000 volunteers, the 16 million people of Beijing are also committed to making their country proud during the Games. The city has requested that workers in 17 service industries -- ranging from restaurants and hotels to hospitals and transportation -- improve service etiquette, learn English, bathe daily and wash their clothing frequently. A large number of people in Beijing still live in homes without easy access to hot running water, so this isn't as easy as it sounds. Cab drivers are now required to keep their cars clean and refrain from smoking. And neighborhood watch teams, made up of mostly middle-aged women who once reported suspicious activities to the Communist party, are now assigned to help direct local traffic and make sure people wait in line for bus rides.

Another problem that China is working to fix is Beijing's congested traffic. Like many major cities around the world, traffic jams are common in China's capital -- after all, the city currently has more than 3 million cars. To solve the congestion problem, Beijing is making subway rides easier and cheaper. Over the past six years, the length of Beijing's subway tracks has increased from 32 miles to more than 130 miles. To encourage more people to use the expanded subway system, the city charges a fee of only two yuan (about $0.30) per round-trip ticket to and from any station along the subway route. In addition, the city is starting to use a new system to reduce vehicle traffic. Cars with license plates ending in odd numbers are only allowed to be on the road Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while cars with plates ending in even numbers are allowed to travel only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. So far people seem willing to accept the new system, which is good news for both commuters and pollution levels.

Traffic congestion and air pollution will be the two greatest challenges that Beijing will face during the Olympics. Even though there's not much that can be done to solve the problem completely, reforms are under way. On my last visit to Beijing, I saw rows of trees planted along various major highways. The city government has also relocated some of its biggest polluters to areas outside of Beijing (such as giant state-owned Capital Steel Company). I'm not sure if these measures will be enough to reduce the city's smog to acceptable levels. I remember that a few years ago, several runners collapsed during the Hong Kong Marathon as a result of the city's poor air quality. I hope that Beijing will be able to prevent the same problem from happening this summer.

All of these efforts demonstrate China's burning desire to make their country a more welcoming place and an active participant in the global community. I have no doubt that China will succeed. The Olympics are creating a "can-do" attitude amongst a whole generation of young Chinese who will see that they're good enough to compete with the best in the world. This change in attitude and spirit will help China go far both socially and economically.