With the closing ceremony looming, thousands upon thousands of people converged on the Olympic Green Saturday to absorb and savour the energy surrounding the final matches. Some were ticket holders. Others managed only to secure passes to wander the Green. Flanked by the National Stadium and Aquatics Center the massive square became a sea of sun umbrellas and flags.
North of the Bird’s Nest, NBC’s Today Show broadcast live, while foreigners and Chinese alike crowded around the set perimeter seeking autographs from American medalists. As the sun set, the stadium and Water Cube illuminated the Green, turning the park into a neon architecture show.
Only hundreds of meters away, as some of the most exciting matches of the Games were being contested, having an ticket seemed a side attraction to the main event, experiencing the Green itself. A resounding statement that has been issuing out of Beijing from visitors is that one can only really appreciate the city and its venues in person. This site, at the heart of Olympic mania, is likely to remain a spectacle, particularly for Chinese, long after the athletes have returned home. For future Olympic cities, it will be a measuring stick.
With seven years of preparations going into the 2008 Games in China, it seems there is enthusiasm to spare. Empty retail areas appear poised to offer the next wave of crowds at the Green a more tangible Olympic experience, merchandise. Rightly so. In many ways it is the fuel and byproduct of the Games. Crowds or not, the Green is a memorial to the athletic achievements of the world, as well as the 30 years of economic achievements that made hosting the Olympic Games possible.
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