Athletics and Beach Volleyball

I'm never travelling without Echinacea again!

Those who live with me know I have been religious about having some of the herb as a tea (which comes in a yummy blackcurrant flavour), right before I go to bed pretty much ever since I started rehearsals for the last show I was in; and I kept up the practise ahead of my trip to China.

However, I was worried that Customs over here might hassle me about bringing foodstuffs into the country so decided against packing any with me just in case.

I thought I had been getting better, but I spent an inordinate amount of time yesterday sneezing and trying to stem a runny nose. I was taking things easy, just visiting a couple of temples ahead of my Athletics session which was due to start at 7.00pm in the evening, the weather was warm, but I guess when a virus catches ya...!

The Bird's Nest interior was impressive, yet surprisingly intimate. I don't know if I was expecting it to be larger, as it's imagery has dominated the representation of New Beijing for so long, but seeing as it seats roughly 91,000 people at any one time, you could hardly call it a small venue :)

I was up in the third tier, but still had good views of just about all the events taking place, and with my trusty binoculars I managed to get close enough to see the expressions on the athletes I focused on - though the screens on either side of the stadium were quick to take you straight to all the action.

So I was there when the US won it's first discus gold since 1932; when Russia took out the gold for the highest women's pole vault and set a new world record; and I also saw Kenya dominate the men's 3000m steeplechase.

I got to see the fastest man in the world, Usian Bolt (how fitting a name!) run in a qualifying round of the 200m (he sailed through and appeared to look back and smile at his opponents, nearly a whole body length behind him); and stand up for the Jamaican national anthem as the Olympic podium received the three extraordinary women who won the one gold and two silvers for the 100m sprint.
All in all a fantastic night. Except for my nose, of course :)

It would be remiss of me if I didn't mention how fantastic all the volunteers were on the stadium field. From the team who patiently and with dedicated precision set up and dismantled the hurdles and steeplechase for those events; to the flag bearers, athlete equipment handlers, even the guys who worked the remote control toy cars that would be sent out to bring back each discus after it was thrown (that was cute!)

While they will never been seen by the audience at home, I know for a fact that the sportspeople here have appreciated immensely just how smooth the Olympics have been progressing due to the time and effort of the quiet and practically invisible crew.

Earlier in the day, I had taken in the grandeur and then spiritually of the Temple of Heaven and then Yonghegong Lama Temple. The former was situated in a park, and though the main attraction of the Hall of Prayer and Good Harvests still had the tourist photographer's singular attention; I was surprised to see that the surrounds still functioned, as a park.

A few people were practising tai chi, some were just sitting and having a meal with their family, a lot were watching Olympic events on a giant screen set up close to a walled intersection, and here and there groups of locals and foreigners alike were playing impromptu games of hackey sack (or the Chinese version) with bought toys from the local vendors.

Yonghegong was set up more for active prayer, with retailers leading up to the lamasery selling incense in all it's forms as well as other local arts and crafts. It is believed to be the largest Tibetan Lama Temple in the world and houses a giant sandlewood Buddha carved from one piece of wood that has been certified by the Guiness Book of World Records no less :)

No pictures within the interior of temples themselves, of course.

After my evening at the Bird's Nest, I was anxious to get back to my hotel as I had an early start this morning for Beach Volleyball for 9.00am at Chaoyang Park. Unfortunately, just when I closed my eyes at around midnight, a Polish group who are obviously in residence for the Games, began to gather in the courtyard - which is central for all the inner hotel rooms - and shout! sing! drink! for the next 3 hours.

At around an hour in, I called the Front Desk to try to get them to please do something about the noise, they apologised but said that the group didn't seem to listen to them and that they had already had about 15 complaints about the noise from other guests. Arrgh!

I was aware that I had set my alarm for 6.30am and was seriously debating whether to head down there myself to tell them to just shut up, but really, drunk people very rarely listen to sober ones trying to sleep unless they happen to be wearing a badge.

I stuffed cotton wool in my ears, put a pillow over my head and cursed the lot of them to lose their voices for the next few days.

I was puffy, but awake for Beach Volleyball and it was a hot day at the stadium, perfect for recreating the summer sport - all you needed was the ocean on the horizon with a smattering of surfers and the vision would be complete!

I was a little disappointed that I had a ticket to a Women's Final (reigning champions USA vs Brazil) as with all the bikinis on show, a few fit and muscled male physiques would have balanced out the winsome but generic "cheerleaders" that bounced throughout the game breaks. At least the Fuwa were fun, the number of times they tried to do some complicated jump in those inflatable suits only to fall on their faces having misjudged how much softer sand is to land on...hilarious :)

The game was over quickly and Team USA emerged triumphant, despite strong support from a vocal but much smaller contingent of Brazilian fans.

I thought I might head over to Tain'namen Square proper for a bit as it was now open to the public, and took some pictures of those imposing and determined statues before gazing with disbelief at the great wall of people that made up the line into Mao's Memorial Hall. (It's free to go in with ID and the man himself in there under glass - like a macabre version of not-Snow White).
Um, pass!

I realised that I actually needed to pack as I have a morning flight on Thursday and a late evening finish to my last event of Tae Kwon Do tomorrow night.

Much as I've enjoyed seeing all the events and exploring Beijing, it'll be good to see a few other parts of China (and yes, I'm looking forward to Chengdu and the panda bears!:)