MPC!

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a chance to really experience much of Beijing outside the Olympics yet. Hopefully I will get a chance to get out and see some of the sights...
So far I've spent a good part of my first week here working 12- to 15-hour days, with much of that spent in the Main Press Center, better known as the beloved MPC building seen below. As with almost all the venues here at the Games, it's new, shiny and impressive.
The sprawling building has almost 670,000 square feet and during the Olympics is home to 5,600 journalists and photographers, plus an almost equal number of staff, volunteers and contractors. There are five press conference rooms, a media food court and the requisite McDonald's on the lower level. A Big Mac costs 15 yuan (RMB) which is about $2.25.

There's a main media room at the MPC, but there are also numerous offices scattered throughout for the bigger outlets. We have our own office, which is quite good. Definitely bigger and better than the one we have in Trenton..

Here's a shot of our digs, we've got about nine workstations, plus three big screen TVs, a refrigerator stocked with water, soda and Tsingtao, a cabinet with snacks and that lovely futon you can see there in the photo. Except for some nagging network problems, the remote bureau has been quite good.
From the media village, it's about a 20-minute shuttle ride to the MPC. It's about the same if you try to walk, though during the heat of the day that can get you real sweaty... The good part about walking is that you get to see the sights and walk through the central Olympic plaza past the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube and some of the other venues.. Plus you get to see cool signs like this one! "Safe Traffic for the Olympic" and "Smiling Beijing Traffic Police"