Rain Doesn’t Dampen Enthusiasm

Early on Sunday I journeyed up to the Olympic Green with a friend to watch two women's hockey preliminary matches. The hockey was fun, although rain made the playing conditions difficult. Fortunately, we were handed free raincoats upon entering the venue.

Japan beat New Zealand 2-1 in a closely fought contest in the first match. China then played Spain in the game everyone had come to see. The home team soundly thrashed the Europeans 3-0. The home crowd enjoyed the match despite the damp conditions.

The ride to the Olympic zone was fast on Beijing's efficient subway, but getting to the hockey venue wasn’t easy. My friend and I had expected to be able to get there via the new Olympic subway line, but instead we were directed to a bus. It was a 30-minute wait to get on a jam-packed vehicle, and when we pulled away from the bus station we had no idea where we were supposed to alight. The driver's rapid-fire announcements, exclusively in Chinese, left even the locals confused.

After the games my friend needed to get to Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on Beijing's far northeast outskirts. An army of volunteers was on hand to help, but they seemed to have no idea how to get to the various Olympic venues. We spoke to personnel at two separate booths and neither had heard of the rowing park. One of them told us it was in the Olympic Green, while the other studied a map for some time before concluding, "It's going to be very hard to get there. I recommend you take a taxi."

The weekend's competitions appeared to run smoothly however, and the opening ceremony on Friday night was a resounding success. It was just a little disappointing that more thought had not been put into transportation between the different Olympic sites.