Inside the Olympic bubble, looking for China — or 'China'
BEIJING (AP) — Explore Guangzhou's old city. Wander a historic neighborhood in Shanghai. Visit with the giant pandas out west in Sichuan province. All these experiences are available to those attending the Beijing Olympics. By videolink — without ever leaving the press center.
Welcome to China. But not really.
The Olympics are usually a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the host country to showcase its culture. This year, however, athletes, coaches and others traveling to the Winter Games in Beijing are entirely sequestered in a bubble so complete that it even contains its own intercity trains. It's all part of the elaborate effort by China to control the spread of COVID-19 (and, some say, control the curious visitors as well).
Nothing is supposed to leave this alternate universe. But what clues of China might seep in?
The country is celebrating Lunar New Year. That much is clear. Traditional lantern decorations adorn the streets outside (as seen from the Olympic shuttle buses) and the venues inside. You’re unlikely to participate in any actual celebrations — but the Games' swag bag includes a small lantern decoration. If you have the souvenir, did you also have the experience?
Forget a visit to the Summer Palace or the Great Wall, but there are large cutout photos of these landmarks in the press center. Would a selfie taken at just the right angle in front of one make it seem as if you were there? Does having the photo mean you sort of were?
One genuine part of China does pierce the bubble (even as it preserves another): Except for places where the International Olympic Committee provides the Wi-Fi, visitors to the Games are blocked from vast swaths of the internet by the country's “Great Firewall.” A small taste of what it might be like to live in China — and an...
