Arriving in China

I'm here in China for the 2008 Olympic Games, the first ones I've actually covered in person during my 14 years. Makes for an interesting locale for my Olympic debut, so figured I'd relate some of the sights and experiences for those back home and to remember later..

The 14-hour, $20,000+ flight from Newark to Beijing went about as well as could be expected in a confined space. Flying first-class was key, with a seat that reclined almost fully -- allowing me to take a couple 90-minute naps -- and excellent service. Gotta like the 5-course business class meals with the real china and utensils. Start off with a warm ramikin of cashews, get the pepper-rubbed steak somewhere in the middle and the gooey hot-fudge sundae to finish things off.. And got to watch a couple of movies on the personal entertainment system.

Fortunately, I also had a good seat partner in Keith, who was making the trip for the fourth time this year and was an old pro. A resident of Short Hills, NJ, Keith was the No. 2 man in a company that produces a line of baby products and specializes in sales of complete baby bedroom accessory packages: you can go into a store and essentially buy a room in a bag. All the ideas for the product line comes from the U.S. and everything is made in China, so he has to monitor the factories, which have in recent years migrated several hours outside the big cities to save money as the country's economy continues to explode. Obviously, I know that a ton of products we use in the U.S. are made in China -- heck, even Hana points that out with the girls' toys all the time -- but it was very interesting to hear the ins and outs of the business and learn about some of the behind the scenes operations. About how China is trying to enforce rules for laborers, but how it actually ends up hurting some of them. They live 11 months out of the year at the legitimized factories, leaving home and staying 6 to a room (more in some underground factories) and want to work as many hours as possible to make money -- or at least some overtime -- but aren't permitted to. About how some companies look to skirt rules on production and employee requirements by having their official factory in a growing region several hours from the big cities, but they having secret satellite factories in remote areas. They make most of the products there and ferry them to the official factory, which is the one that meets government codes, etc.. Some interesting stuff. Keith even said that while his boss is Chinese and there's a strong loyalty inherent in the culture, they're aware that in a few years down the road, costs to produce things in China will continue to increase, forcing many companies to look for new territory. He said he's already been scouting factory locations in places like Vietnam.

Things went pretty smoothly after arriving in China. All the signs are in English as well as Chinese, so it wasn't that difficult to find your way around. And with the Olympics going on, I was told they were more lax at the entry checkpoint like the one to the left, where you have to give them your passport, visa (mine was my Olympic media credential) and a form stating why you are there and for how long. Behind me in line was 7-foot-2 NBA player Dikembe Mutombo, who sat a few rows ahead of me on the plane and was bringing his family to the Olympics.

"I want my kids to experience this atmosphere," he said in his unmistakeable Cookie Monster voice.

After clearing customs, I grabbed my suitcase at baggage claim, changed some of the cash I brought to Chinese currency and stopped to take a pic with one of the Olympic mascots that was walking around the terminal getting travelers in the Olympic spirit.

Then headed outside into the heat to catch the shuttle to the Huiyuan Media Village. I was the only person on the bus and on the entire 30-minute ride from the airport to the hotel/apartment complex, I didn't see one piece of garbage along the side of the road. It was as if the entire place had been freshly swept.

There were flowers in planting boxes, new plants and shrubs, banners hanging from lightpoles, flags, etc. Everything that we saw coming in was meticulously manicured. Very impressive, actually. The picture to the right is one of the toll booths we passed through along the way.

The media village I'm in is adjacent to the Bird's Nest, the main Olympic venue and the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. It's spartan, but not bad. There are 2-person suites, so I'm sharing with a photographer from our Beijing bureau (Nelson), who lives on the other side of the city but will stay here from time to time during the Games because his morning commute can take more than an hour.