“Thank you! Thank you!” The Chinese woman was standing there with tears in her eyes thanking us for launching cheers during the Olympic table tennis final, and actually that’s more or less our approach: it’s fun making somebody happy :)
During the years when I was growing up I was fascinated by the myth saying that one can see the Great Wall of China from the moon (obviously not true). Other ideas about China that I’ve had are cheap clothes, amazing buildings and cute pandas. As you might know, I like the combination of visiting various cities and attending some event, so when it was clear that Beijing was to arrange the Summer Olympics in 2008 a dream of going there naturally arose. Myself, Emma, Rickard and Johan started realizing our plans and after a long time spent in front of the computer our journey and our tickets were booked.
The Great Wall of China, a must vistit.
It was a memorable journey with many amusing experiences. There were also many tough days with moist heat, upset stomach and Chinese people who didn’t understand English. We soon learnt that it was necessary to ask the hotel staff for slips of paper with Chinese writing to give to the taxi drivers in order to arrive at the right address. Nevertheless the taxi rides very often happened to stop at the wrong destination …. We didn’t mind a lot since going by taxi was very cheap. When discussing the distance to various events we fans didn’t talk about kilometres but about how many Yuan a ride would cost. The metro system worked well but taxi rides were often faster and well, it’s more fun seeing a city from a taxi than down in a tunnel ….
When Emma and me arrived in Beijing we were met by a damp wall of heat. I can recall the sweat streaming as we were heading for an underground station with our bags to meet Rickard who had arrived a couple of days before us. At the station Rickard, accompanied by a Chinese person, was standing to greet us with “Welcome to Beijing!” From there it was a 10-minute walk to the hotel and the hazy damp weather made us dripping with perspiration, a state we we would have to get used to during the fortnight to come. After checking in at the hotel Emma naturally wanted to scamper off to test the shopping right away. We went to the Yashow Market, a department store with several floors crammed with clothes, jewellery, electronics and more cheap articles. There bargaining and discussing prices went on for hours and the result was shopping bags filled with winter jackets and sweaters. A paradise for western shopaholics.
We visited this shopping mall several times during our stay, and once I got a bit of a shock, as in one of the passages displaying cheap jewellery and clothes I met the Swedish Royal Couple. I stammered a “Hello” to the King who looked surprised to meet a Swedish supporter there in the passage. While the King and Queen were looking at jewellery I had a chat with Prince Carl Philip discussing the Swedish team’s chances of getting medals in the Olympic Games. As I took out my camera to get a picture of the Royal Couple their bodyguard came up to me and with a disapproving expression asked me if the picture was good … It was rather embarrassing when a woman from whom I had bought a piece of jewellery came up to me and started to accuse me of having paid with a forged banknote. Of course I hadn’t but the only thing to do was to give her a new 100-Yuan note and getting back a totally different note from the one I had given her. You have to keep a good lookout in Beijing for there are plenty of forged banknotes circulating, and when she turned up arguing with me in front of the Royal Couple and the guards of the department store there was no reason of starting a quarrel ..
Thanks to the time change we were alert the first evening and went to the “W-Bar”, partly owned by the Swedish tennis table legend Jan Owe Waldner. He is one of the world’s all time best ping-pong players having for instance an Olympic gold medal in his list of qualifications. In China he is immensely popular and has been given the pet name Chang Qing Shu – “Evergreen Tree”. During the first week of the Olympics “J-O” was on-site in Beijing and we had many happy opportunities of meeting him. At the first night in “W-Bar” we sat together talking about his great matches and experiences and finally I challenged him to a match at the ping-pong table. What a memory for life, playing table tennis against J-O Walder in Beijing! Actually I scored four points, how many he scored I won’t tell you …. Anyway he finished by saying “Why, you were good!” At three AM all of us went to “The Den” Bar where the cheerful partying continued, what a start of the Olympic Games!
Playing table tennis with the famous J O Waldner.
During another classic evening in the company of J-O we intended to visit the “Susie Wong” club. I was wearing shorts and of course we came to a dead stop with the bouncer. J-O tried to bribe the doorman to let me in, but it all ended up with a visit in the club owner’s office where we had to buy a pair of baggy trousers that I could wear on top of the shorts. I really looked crazy and it would have been more appropriate to have my shorts visible Hahaha :) But the night was long and fun!
During our two weeks in Beijing we had time to visit several fine sights in between the games. Walking into the Tiananmen Square was a grand experience, one of the largest public squares in the world. At the Tiananmen Gate there is the well-known portrait of Mao Zedong gazing across the square. Inside the gate there is the Forbidden City with its patios, gardens and chambers.
The Tiananmen Gate.
As usual perspiration was pouring in the humid air and when we had got tired of all imperial treasures we went on to the Beijing Zoo. The zoo was founded in 1908 and at the time of our visit it was rather shabby. I felt compassion for the big beautiful lion male lying down with sad eyes in a small narrow cage. The happier I was watching the giant pandas, these great animals you just want to get close to and cuddle. One of the pandas was playing with a swing and suddenly he had managed to get into the swing and set it going in the air to the cheers of the spectators.
Beijing zoo.
A wonderful area in Beijing is formed by the Hutongs around the Houhai Lake. There we went by rickshaw round the lake and strolled along the alleys, shops and restaurants. Chinese people were enjoying life out in the parks practising physical training in outdoor gyms or playing ping-pong.
The Houhai Lake.
By the Hutongs there are a lot of cosy alleys.
The visit to the Great Wall of China was the highlight of this journey. A life-long dream came true as we took a cable car ride up to the wall at Mutianyu. The damp and hazy air made the mountains around the wall into a magical scenery. Perspiration was pouring and my heart was pounding as we were walking up the steep stairs on the wall. I felt my asthma in the humid August weather, but who cared when I could experience this day together with my friends! The stairs were very slippery with moss and an Englishman performed a hazardous somersault which I managed to capture on film. I concluded the visit to the wall by attaching a little Swedish flag in the mortar, a small reminiscence of the Olympic Games.
From the top of the wall we took a toboggan ride down into the valley and then the guided tour carried us to the valley of the Ming Tombs. This site is located 50 kilometres north-west of Beijing and there 13 out of 16 Ming Emperors are buried. A “Sacred Way” of 6.5 kilometres in length leads into the valley and it is lined with stone statues depicting various animals. I’ll never forget my buddy Johan getting a bit tired in the heat among all stone statues and bursting out “There mustn’t be too much of culture!” Johan can produce memorable sayings from time to time like when we were riding a taxi in Beijing and he lost his temper as several Chinese people were riding bikes in front of the car: “Damned yokels, riding four abreast and navigating by the sun!”
The holy road to the Ming tombs.
As I said, there mustn’t be too much of culture, there were also Olympic Games going on. We had time to watch many events and various sports. One of the hottest days we lined up to enter the Bird’s Nest, as the largest arena was called, to watch the final of the men’s football tournament. The queues to the security check were so long that we missed the first half and many fans were totally outrageous. At last we came in and watched Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0. At the Workers’ Stadium we watched the Swedish Women’s team beat Canada in football, but what we will best remember from that game is the fact that every Chinese wanted to take pictures of us outside the arena. As usual we came dressed up in wigs and Swedish team jerseys and the Chinese were altogether excited. That’s what it was like during the whole Olympic Games, we could walk 10 metres and then halt to have our pictures taken together with grown-ups and children.
The Bird’s Nest.
We watched several handball matches with the Swedish Women’s National team. We were cheering to the best of our ability in the grandstand and a journalist from the Washington Post made an interview with us, World Celebrities! During one of the handball games a reporter from Sweden’s TV4 came up to us wondering if he could make a report about us as supporters. Well, that sounded interesting so we accepted the proposal and the next day the TV team followed us already from breakfast where we tried to appear relaxed with food in our mouths in front of a camera zooming in our chunky cheeks …. We went on filming inside the Yashow mall and then we headed for the Beitucheng metro station where the TV team recorded us trying to get tickets for the Women’s handball quarter-final. Outside the station people gathered trying to buy or sell tickets on the black market. Selling second-hand tickets was not allowed and we saw several Chinese being caught and dragged away by the police. Eventually we got hold of tickets and the TV segment with us was broadcast at prime time back home in Sweden.
Tv-filming during the Olympics.
The “Bird’s Nest” track & field stadium was awfully impressive. There we watched a number of marvellous performances and what impressed me the most was Jamaica winning the Men’s 4 × 100 metre relay with the team setting a new world record. I had goose bumps all over my body as they crossed the finishing line while the arena was vibrating with the cheers of the crowd. I was hoping for a Swedish gold medal in the Men’s high jump where Stefan Holm hopefully would defend his gold from Athens four years earlier. My ticket was for the wrong short side during Stefan’s appearance in the final, but I succeeded in charming the Chinese hostesses and getting down to row six, just a few metres from the high jump court. Sad to say Stefan failed in the final and I could not pull out my golden flag that I had in my bag.
Jamaica´s relay team with Bolt leading.
Table tennis is one of the favourite sports among the Chinese and we watched several of the Swedish player Jörgen Persson’s matches. The further he advanced in the tournament, the harder it was to get hold of tickets since the Chinese too, wanted to watch ping-pong. When Jörgen was to play the semi-final we managed to get three tickets from a friend in the Swedish Olympic Committee, SOC. He handed out the tickets to us through the fence round the arena and envious Chinese people glared surly at us as we ran into the arena. Jörgen lost in the semi-final but was still to play another match, for the bronze medal, which was to be played the same afternoon as the final. We hunted for tickets but this was one of the most sought-after events in the whole Olympic Games so we supposed it was all over, when I had a call from my friend in the SOC. He had got hold of a ticket and he wanted to give it to us although he had been offered 1000 Euros for it. After some consideration we agreed that I would get the ticket and happily I ran towards the entrance. Then I had another call from my SOC contact telling me that he had got hold of one more ticket, so it turned out that Rickard and me all in a sweat could sit down in the second row in front of the ping-pong tables during the final in Beijing. Totally unbelievable that we two Swedes were sitting in the best seats during the last day of the Table Tennis. Rickard and myself did all we could for Jörgen to get his Bronze Medal, but unfortunately his back was aching too much and he couldn’t play at top level so a Chinese player was awarded the Bronze Medal. The crowd loved us as we launched cheers at the top of our voices and there was an applause after every chant. Later the final was played between Ma Lin and Wang Hao. Ma Lin won to a storm of cheering from the crowd and all spectators had tears running down their cheeks as the Chinese National Anthem was played. In the evening Rickard and me were sitting in a bar watching the repeat of the final on TV, and every time we came into the picture we cheered and showed all Chinese people in the bar that we had been there on site :)
Table tennis finals.
One more racket sport that we followed was Tennis. After a couple of tough matches our Swedish doubles pair reached the final in the Men’s tournament. Once again we succeeded in obtaining the best lower seats where we handed out wigs to some Chinese, and the Swedish cheering section was established! The atmosphere in the Tennis Center was good and we were hoping to witness a Swedish gold medal, but yet another time we failed cheering properly enough. Switzerland won the Gold Medal and we had to be content with taking pictures of the Swedish silver medallists when they came up to us after the Prize Ceremony.
The tennis silver medallists.
The happiest memory of that day is most likely our having lunch before the final outside a small shop in the street. We bought noodles in small bowls and Johan went mad when he failed eating in this manner. Food was spread all over the street and Rickard laughed to such an extent that he had noodles in his nose, an Olympic moment.
Noodles for lunch.
On the rainiest day of the games the Women’s beach volleyball final was settled. In Athens the US Walsh/May team won and now they had reached the final once more. Their opponents were China’s team and it was a tough game in the pouring rain. This was the only time during my trip that I was cold … I had already watched the final in Athens and I was hoping that Walsh/May would win their second Gold Medal in a row. At the same moment as my raincoat gave up the ghost the US girls won the game and I cheered as well as I could. It was a fantastic sight with the happiness in the girls’ eyes as they stood holding hands during the National Anthem, those are moments that I love. Later that evening I ran into one of the girls, Kerri Walsh. Then I showed her a picture I had taken from the final in Athens with Kerri standing with the Gold Medal smiling into the camera. She was very much pleased and gave me her autograph on the picture. Four years later I watched her winning gold again, but that’s another story.
Kerri Walsh and Misty May took gold in beach volley.
It’s fun following athletes during several Olympic Games and also getting to know them. At a celebration night in the Holland Heineken House we met a girl from Australia walking about with a medal round her neck. She was Alicia McCormack, the goalkeeper of the Australian water polo team. We were allowed to try the medal on and later we became Facebook friends. A couple of years later I watched her playing in the World Championship in Rome and another four years later in the London Olympic Games. All those little experiences give memories for life :)
I also remember how cocksure me and Emma were during the Holland Heineken House night. We had tickets for Field Hockey at 9 AM the next morning and naturally we would manage to get there, no matter how tired we would be … At 9 o’clock I woke up, sent an SMS to Rickard saying the atmosphere was breathtaking and that I had goose-flesh all over my body, then I fell asleep again in bed …
Emma and me were lucky to get tickets for the grand Closing Ceremony and there certainly a show I won’t easily forget was unfolded. Thousands of artistes and musicians performed and according to tradition all athletes entered the arena. The entire show was accompanied by magnificent fireworks that made the whole arena vibrate.
The Closing Ceremony.
Those were hard, sweaty and challenging weeks with amazing experiences, frustration, fits of rage but above all happy memories. We went about among the arenas chasing tickets/medals, partied at night and had likewise time to visit many sights. Tasty food, nice people and good shopping, obviously I want to revisit Beijing!!
Fancy design in Beijing.
You’ll hear from me,
Lengan
Popular hotels to book in Beijing:
BoTai Hotel
Located near Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, Beihai Park and other attractions.
Redwall Hotel
Located in a centre, very close to Forbidden City.
Sunworld Hotel
Within walking distance from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
Novotel Peace Beijing
Well-known hotel in a great location in the popular city area of Wangfujing, that has great shopping and nightlife and within walking distance from the Forbidden City.
Holiday Inn Express Temple of Heaven
Situated a few hundred meters from The Temple Of Heaven Park.
Harmony Hotel
Tourist class hotel in a central situation in Beijing