China Will Be Ready!

By Arnie Greenberg
ultours@aol.com

With the Olympics in Athens only six months away, the question is, "Will they be ready?"

That question doesn't have to be considered when it comes to China. China will be ready well before the allotted time. It has to do with the nature of the country.

In Athens, every time they dig, they find a relic. Every time they find a relic, they stop digging. Not so in China. We are dealing with a massive force of workers who will push everything in their path out of the way.

For years now, they have been rebuilding their cities. A visitor to Shanghai would not recognize the city he saw 10 or 20 years ago. The broad streets of Beijing are filled with cars. Things are moving quickly. China has come into the twentieth century as though they exploded.

The discipline, the determination and the manpower will win the day. Make no bones about it. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will go on as scheduled in massive, modern functional facilities.

On a recent trip to China, I was floored by the modernity. Yes, it's mixed with the past, but it's being redesigned the way they want it.

Hundreds of workers can be brought to a site with crowbars and demolish a building in a few days. Soon afterwards, hundreds more come in and put in a road where the building once stood.

And the new skyscrapers are going up all the time. Shanghai boasts some of the biggest gleaming skyscrapers ever seen. There are shopping centers in the big office buildings with franchises from North America. I had a Kentucky Fried Chicken lunch, a MacDonald's Hamburger and a fresh bagel all within a block from my hotel.

And that hotel, which was open only to foreigners, would be 5* in any country. It was among the best I ever stayed in. The furniture was Western, as was the art and the service.

One hotel in Guilin was like a Swiss Cottage. The one in Xian had giant 50-foot warriors behind the registration desk, in a courtyard separated by a glass wall. The lobby alone was four stories high. In one hotel, a golden dragon, about 40-50 feet long, hung suspended from the ceiling. It stared at us in the mezzanine restaurant while we ate our oatmeal, scrambled eggs and toast. On the table were catsup, peanut butter, cream cheese and an assortment of jams. So much for Chinese noodles.

Now, it might not be fair to include Hong Kong in the same China as the one I've described, but even with the takeover by the Communist government, Hong Kong is a testimony to man's building ingenuity.

The buildings rising from the mountain on one side of the bay compete with each other for a view. They are magnificent as is the jumble of streets, shops, signs and markets. Some of the best shopping in the world is in Hong Kong, and that is starting to be the case in other parts of the country.

I bought a Burberry down-filled winter coat for about $40. And that was in Beijing, where Nike and Ralph Loren are kings. Sure, they may be knock-offs, but at $7 a shirt who cares? A camera that was $1200 at home was $600 in Hong Kong. It was the Western style ribs and fries that were expensive!

Asia is changing fast. China has the manpower to lead the way. Sure, they have a long way to go in some cities. There may be few cars, but there is still pollution. One guide told me that his father used to say that when he was a boy, the skies over Zian were blue. They aren't any more. That's the cost of modernity.

But people are working. Children are well dressed trotting off to school. They greet foreign visitors with a smile and a big "Hello." They were fascinated with us. And I was fascinated with them.

People still live in small, crowded places where stoves are a luxury. They eat at makeshift stalls on the street. I watched a lady carry the soup she was selling in a battered painter's pail. She emerged, smiling, from a dark lane, carrying her heavy load. It actually smelled good, but I didn't try it. They were serving Beijing Duck and Dumplings at the hotel.

There are more bicycles than cars, and the airports are generally free of people. But things are changing. The Chinese are learning fast, and because they are such a huge potential market, foreign investment wants "in."

Will they be ready for the Olympics? You better believe it! I'm not going to wait, either. I'm going to return soon, before there's nothing left of the old China. I admire the ingenuity and the modern aspirations, but I'm an old fashioned guy. I want to see both.