Security Threat Purple

If I could pick a color for China's security threat level, I would choose purple. Why purple, just cause.They have taken security to a whole new level. The hotel manager pointed out to me all the security cameras the police installed for the Olympics. Many people must sit at desks all day and night to monitor the thousands of cameras throughout the city. A neighbor sits on every other street corner in the residential area as part of a neighborhood watch. By the way, I still have not registered as a residential alien in this city and I just continue to pretend I am Chinese. Seems to be working, thus far.

I am never afraid to wander through the underground passes at night alone because security guards sleep within the walls of the passes. There are doors in the halls leading to rooms full of bunkbeds. Security cameras also line every entrance and passageway. At one hotel a couple of blocks down, tanks sit outside the front door ready for just about anything maybe even a nuclear bomb. The entire block in front of the hotel, the underground passageways and the street corners are blocked off. Important people must stay there.

To get into the subway, I need to have all my belongings pass through an x-ray machine. Then, when I get to the Olympic events, I pass through one person who checks my ticket. A ways down, another person scans it, then I go through the x-ray and pat down. The degree of the security check varies depending on the venue. For basketball, a volunteer and security guard inspected every single item in my bag and looked at every piece of paper for any signs of protest language. They asked what each gadget in my bag did and asked me to put on my sunscreen to prove it was indeed sunscreen. However, most liquid items are removed just like at the airports. I felt sorry for a lady next to me who had her personal belongings inspected. The male volunteer asked her to explain the use of her tampon. She didn't quite know how to explain what it did especially since the volunteer knew limited English. The security guard then came over and asked her to explain the tampon. We just stood there baffled as to how to explain the function of this. Eventually, they figured out what it was and felt quite embarrassed by the whole incident. After the pat down, another volunteer tears my ticket and then I am finally inside. Food and beverages as well as flags over 1x2m in size are banned. However, in the stadiums, beers only cost 75 cents and water 50 cents, and so I am not bothered by this rule.



In the stadiums, 55 security guards line the inside perimeter of the soccer fields and guards dressed as volunteers line the entrances. Men in black sit in every section and in every row of the basketball games. China sure doesn't lack manpower here. The government periodically closes the entire Tiananmen Square whenever pesky protesters show up. Then the police quickly deport the protesters and they are never seen again.

Internet usage can be limited. China blocks many websites and press people have told me that they can not look up articles related to the Chinese gymnasts being under 16 years old. China limits the bandwidth to Facebook and I have a difficult time getting on there.

Getting into Club Bud doesn't seem to be as difficult as getting into the stadiums. I just show up every other night when its open and let the American guard know that I'm not an athlete, am not on the guestlist, am no one important, but I would like to join the festivities. Wearing the American flag helps and the guards love the National pride. The other night, I met Evander Holyfield. I saw him grooving by himself on the dance floor next to someone who might have been his bodyguard and so I asked him to dance. Thankfully, he gracefully said “yes” and we rocked the dance floor! He is awesome!! I also met Angelo who had just won the gold in the 400m hurdles. Michael Phelps showed up with his swimming entourage. The guards had to put him in a corner of the club because so many people went crazy when they saw him. I couldn't believe that I ended up at the same party as Phelps. The best part of traveling alone is that I am forced to meet new people and I met a ton; athletes from all over the world. I did leave early, around 3am, because I started to lose my voice. The next day, either the bird flu, malaria or the flu took me down.




I could barely get up in the morning and I went to spa to get a massage to relax my back that had tensed up. I didn't have the strength to leave after the masseuse finished and so I signed up for a foot massage right after. 3 hours later around 11:30pm, I finally took a taxi home. I ran a fever all night long and could not get up to find medicine. In the morning, I finally took some tylenol. I have had a persistent fever and am getting to the limit of how many tylenol pills I can take in one day. I show up late to events or sleep through some of it. I hate being sick. I have not gone out and will not go out tonight. I need to rest.

I have had to sell more of my tickets because I don't have the strength to go to them all. I did see handball and loved it! It's a cross between soccer with your hands and dodgeball. I don't really know all the rules, but loved watching the guys dance all over the floor trying to get the ball into the net. I have tickets to the finals and will be sure to attend.

Last night, I watched the gold medal match for women's soccer between US and Brazil. The match went into overtime and USA eventually won in a nail biting finale. The Brazilians were not gracious losers and I was glad USA beat them. Japan, on the other hand, could not have been more gracious in their bronze medal loss to Germany. Despite the constant booing by the Chinese all night long, since China still holds a grudge against Japan, the Japanese women bowed to every section of the crowd and thanked them after losing. I enjoyed watching such sportsmanship. Nap time.