Beijing looks like it is just recovering from a major catastrophe. There are collapsed building everywhere that stretch for whole city blocks, and others are closed with obvious signs of damage, with many people working furiously to get the building ready to reopened. I am sure from the pictures that I have seen lately that they have the major portions of the constuction done so everything is going to be dazzinling for China's Olympics You see many road closures and detours. The old Peking streets look like the opening scene to the Terminator with large machines rumbling through the streets at all hours of the day and the night, and you see platoons of men moving forward with determination, carrying the tools of their trade, with smiles on their faces, in anticipation of their daily marathon efforts to get Beijing ready for her 2008 Olympics only 500 days away.
The Beijing Olympics are getting close and you can feel the that the pageantry is all ready starting to build for what is sure to be China coming out party here at the beginning of the 21 st century, China's century according to the sages of our times.
Beijing is getting a make over, and in addition it is getting some fantastic new buildings for all to marvel at, like the water cube, built for the swimming and diving competitions, and the birds nest, the major stadium of the games. Most of the competition will take place at the north end of the old Peking city between the 4 and 5 th rings, with the first ring being the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and Mao's mausoleum.
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