China! Refuel!

There it is. Can you see it? The white lady waiting to light her torch. I had to get on a guy's shoulders to get high enough to see over the crowd. How did all those Chinese people in front of me get so tall?

So you think this kid is cute now...

This much cuteness should be illegal!

Oh yeah, they'll put you on tv if you're white!

So this morning we got up at 6 to join some hostel-mates in the streets of Xian to watch the Olympic torch go by, which in China means a lot of sweaty ppl in the streets. More than the usual amount of sweaty people. But it was actually really cool to see so many people of all ages excited and out. Lots of hawkers with the "I love China" shirt that everyone was sporting. Lots of Chinese flags and Beijing Olympic flags. The torch bearing and passing wasn't actually that impressive. I saw a Chinese guy light the torch for white lady who then lit a torch for another Chinese guy. That was pretty much it. The did have like party trucks that preceeded the torch bearers though with like cheerleaders and dudes dressed up in rubberized Chinese armor to drum up excitement. Wee. We had a big white dude from Arkansas in our group who was getting into the Olympic spirit with a "I love China" shirt, red band around his head, and a bigass Olympic flag. Various locals asked to take pictures with him and a local news crew came up to film him yelling in Chinese, "Zhong Guo, Jia You!" (essentially "China, You can do it!"). The other highlight of the experience being this very cute Chinese boy decked out patriotically and holding a little white puppy. Off the cuteness charts.

Ah, I haven't really commented on the Olympics. Here and there different ppl in the tourist industry have complained about the slowing of business because of the new restrictions on visas that were just added for the Olympics, though it appears to have affected some countries more than others. The price for a US visa pretty much doubled in April. A lot of travelers are trying to tour parts of China then hunker down in Beijing for the Olympics, but it is pretty surprising the scarcety of foreigners right now. No doubt most tourists are waiting for the Olympics. I really can't imagine the craziness that will be Beijing come August. The public transportation and taxis seem pretty maxed out now with the locals. I think the city will probably shut down once the Olympics start. As if there are not enough people here. But I think the general feeling is that people are excited and proud that China is going to showcase Beijing to the world. I'm just glad I will not be there to be robbed, crushed, or ripped off.