The Big Screen

It being Sunday, we did what many families traditionally do on a Sunday afternoon, which was to go for a walk in the park. We'd been told there was all sorts of excitement going on at Ditan, so off we went eagerly, especially interested in the big screen, which relays Olympic action from the television.

Yesterday, the Beijing organisers of the games struck back at those who said there was no Olympic excitement for ordinary people, issuing this statement: "The live sites are parts of Olympic culture building in Beijing for citizens in Beijing, and friends and journalists and tourists from China and abroad, for the athletes and officials and other visitors. The live sites provide the best opportunity for them to take direct participation in the festive activities and the ambience of the Olympic Games.
Since the 13th of July, the opening of all the live sites, at every live sites, a colorful and rich variety of activities has been staged including performance troupes from other provinces and other countries. Dance troupes and choirs and non professional amateur performers at the community level, they are consisted of a large format screens and cultural showcases, the exchange of emblems and souvenirs."

Well, in Ditan, on what should be a busy weekend afternoon, this is what we found:

AND we had to go through a security check to get to the screen. Throughout Ditan park there were vast numbers of police and plainclothes police. Vendors at a craft fair complained that there were very few customers. And this is what one drinks concession looked like: