I can't believe what I'm reading in the news; empty seats at the Olympics? And then, in order to make a good impression, the PRC government is actually hiring people to fill seat? Heck, they should just give the tickets away on a daily first come first serve basis. I'm sure that plenty of people (Chinese and foreigner alike) wouldn't mind waiting in line on a standby basis for the chance to see the Olympics. But done this way, it seems more like the government is afraid of throwing a party where no one shows up, and they have to hire stand ins... man what crass... Ralph
Why do people make it seem like this is something new? If you ever worked in a stadium you will know that most stadiums have a reserve of hired spectators for all important events. Sometimes non-working employee are encouraged by the management to attend these events. For example, reserved seats are filled with the hired spectators if the seats are not filled by the guest at the start of the show.
I agree that things like that happen; and taken by itself amounts to little (and again, I still feel that the seats should be given away as a public good will gesture). But viewed all together; the filling of empty seats, the fake CGI fireworks, the lip synching event, and who knows what else; along with spending an estimated US $40 BILLION on the event, the PRC is showing the world just how much political importance it is placing on the Olympics, while all the while saying that the Olympics shouldn't be politicized. Inotherwords, China is being rapidly shown to be not able to walk its own talk and is giving itself a political black eye. Ralph
why are news trying to find all these faults in China, it seems like the olympics started not too long ago and people are just finding stuff to blame or point out bad things at China, is it really necessary? Just enjoy the games Gosh!, the only thing im concerned about all these controversies are the little girl cuz i think its unfair to the one that they dont think its cute but fireworks, spectators, age limits in Girls Gymnastics, come on! i believe those girls are 16, and so what if they are not 16, one of the US gymnast is 15 too, whats the big deal.
I cannot believe this crap, those people in Beijing were so exciting about the game and they brough the ticket and chose not to go. And the fake firework thing, who gives a damn if is a fake it is some high tech stuff and personally I think it looks cool. Is always those anti-China jackass that enjoy insulting the host country. Shame Shame Shame on those!!!!!
Before this degenerates into a Pro or Anti China free for all, let's just say this; truth is truth, no matter how good or bad something is, is really not relevant. Some inevitable comparisons are going to be made over who did what and when. But the bottom line is, most of those who are here "defending" (and I used the words in quotations in order to qualify it as vis a vis this discussion only) probably wouldn't have cared if the discussion was about some other country. The reason that many of you are speaking up is that you feel China is being slighted when such comments are made. That's fine; it shows a lot of presumably ethnic solidarity with China. I'm Chinese, and I'm saying that China never should have put itself into a position that people can make negative comments about. Are the games still exciting? Of course they are. Are the Chinese teams some of the best athletes in the world? Of course they are. Am I having a great time watching and enjoying the Beijing Games (even on TV)? Of course I am. Was part of the fireworks faked? Of course it was. Did the little girl lip synch? Of course she did. And all the Go China - isms, isn't going to change that one bit. Ralph
there is ppls trying to get tickets to go to some of the events. why isnt china selling these tickets to them?? some of the event is half empty from what i have heard.
from what i heard all the tickets were sold out ages ago and were hard to get. if this is true i'm sure they are hundreds of ppl out there happy to fill the seats.
i heard it on the news. there was a couple holding up a cardboard sign saying "need Tickets here" and some of the ppls that went to that event said the place wasn't even full.
dont care about the spectator thing or the fireworks. not a big issue. the little girl however is different and its a shame on the original singer
yeh, think china's government totally got it wrong with faking some of the fireworks image and getting another girl to lip sync cos the other one was 'not as nice'. They jus dnt realise the outside world doesnt care about that but wat they do care about is finding something wrong with china so they cn put them down - so big mistake by the govenment. As for pple nt turning up, im sure in all olympics not all seats filled in every events, was i cn gather is most pple jus go to the more interesting events and events they prefer so no big deal.
My feeling exactly, and I agree with you one hundred percent. And I'll add a few other comments, too. Instead of using paid for stand ins, they should organize some sort of stand by system, where people who don't have tickets can get to see the games by being used to fill those empty seats. While those "volunteers" don't get to choose which event they see, they walk away with a once in lifetime opportunity and get to crow about seeing the Olympics for free. Had the PRC done this instead, they would have gotten a huge public relations coup, and be seen as fan friendly by going out of their way to accommodate those that don't have tickets instead of seeing paid for and valuable space go to waste. But, by using paid stand ins, people get the impression that certain events are unpopular and the Chinese government is trying to hide it. I've always said that the PRC government needs to hire outside consultants when it comes to dealing with these public relations things simply because they don't really have experience with a lot of it (well at least this Olympics will be their learning curve). Everything from day one has been "Try to look western, try to be western, try to be western friendly..." or "Don't embarrass the country in front of the foreigner..." However, the greatest faux pas is often at the hands of the gov itself. Honestly, I certainly don't understand the conflicting message of having to suck up to western opinion and then on the other hand demand respect from foreigners. China should just tell the west, "take us as we are, warts and all, you don't have to like us, but we're here to stay, so get used to it." Message to PRC government: Empty seats? Non issue. Empty seat being filled by paid stand ins at government expense? Now you're starting to look like an idiot. Save face. Give the seats away. Tell the people that the PRC is "bowing to public opinion" or some other political face saving crap and just do it. The issue would disappear overnight and by tomorrow morning people would be lauding about how generous China is. Why the hell is the US always there trying to save lives after disasters; because of love written into the heart of the constitution? LOL... its all about looking good in the eyes of the world. China needs to learn how to do this, and in this case it won't cost the PRC gov a dime; those seats are already paid for by someone else. Ralph
Wow that is really shocking news Seems like China is trying hard to impress the world Anyone hear about the group of Christians who were refusing to leave the airport until they were given back the bibles that they brought with them? So much for freedom of religion it would appear
ya that mother funker firework fake footprint they admit they filmed beforehand, still make me mad cause abt the funking reason of bad weather... bum hole talk fm them... oh well.
At the end of the day the opening show was well impressive, the best in the history of the Olympics. So what if China wanted to make a lasting impression, by using what methods it think is fit.
