1.24pm, Friday 22 August 2008
Today, at The Place, I want to see lots of Olympic tourists and lots of people crowding around to watch the Olympic action on the big screens outside. I also want to see all the action at the Coca Cola setup.
Blue sky
Olympic events on the Coca Cola screen, glimpsed through the enclosure
No one watching the massive TV screen
A man and a woman sitting in the shade eating icy poles
A two-year-old girl with a shaved head playing with one jiao coins behind me
A long line of taxis
Someone gets in a taxi
A Westerner with ginger coloured, finger-waved hair: male
A couple with an umbrella, holding hands
The two-year-old scoots on her bottom and sits next to me to look at my laptop
Music with heavy drumming from the Coca Cola setup
One person watching the massive TV screen
Someone gets in a taxi
A tall, rake-thin girl in a black tiered mini skirt, sequined hoodie and peak cap
Three young men smoking
The two-year-old comes over and looks at me right in the face – I say ni hao and she runs away
Someone gets in a taxi
The two-year-old does the same thing again
A couple with their son and a bedazzled umbrella
The two-year-old does the same thing again
The two-year-old does the same thing again
No one watching the massive TV screen
A man delivering papers
Three adults with a toddler sitting in the shade; he is feeding them ice cream, one lick each
Someone gets in a taxi
The two-year-old and I have a conversation about her jiao coins, then she crawls onto the seat and cuddles up to me, watching me type
I tweak the two-year-old’s nose
Someone gets in a taxi
A couple of people watching the massive TV screen
The two-year-old reaches over and pushes a button on my laptop and changes the language to Chinese characters. Without a word of a lie. Mastermind
I type but it’s all characters; I can’t remember how to change it back and my fifteen minutes is ticking by
I phone my husband who tells me how to change it back, whilst trying to fend off the toddler from pushing more buttons with lightning fast little fingers – she’s relentless
I ask the two-year-old’s grandfather to take her away; she cries defiantly
The two-year-old leaves, crying in grandfather’s arms, clutching her jiao
A policeman tells a man with a bicycle that he can’t ride here
A man sits next to me to smoke and the smoke blows directly into my face
Someone gets in a taxi
I ask the man next to me not to sit next to me and blow smoke directly in my face; he apologises, says mei wenti and kindly moves
Someone gets in a taxi
Someone gets in a taxi
No one watching the massive TV screen
A little girl with a pink love-heart fan, her mum and baby brother walk by
Someone gets in a taxi
A young woman shades her face from the sun with a newspaper
A Chinese Olympic volunteer takes a photo of a taxi
A woman and a toddler get into a taxi
A woman in a white hat fans herself
A Western girl wearing a long red skirt and eating an ice cream
An elderly man with a walking stick takes three or four steps then stops for a rest; repeat
A few people watching the massive TV screen
A Western man leaves The Place with shopping bags
A middle aged man walks past singing old Chinese songs; he has a beautiful voice – why not share it?
A fat little Chinese girls walks past with a balloon
Someone gets in a taxi
Someone gets in a taxi
A Western man who looks like Daniel Craig – Mr Bond to you
A Western girl with an I Heart NY shopping bag
Another handsome Western man joins Mr Bond and they sit nearby – it’s my lucky eye-candy day
Two women with a pram and baby
A woman comes out to sweep the road at the taxi rank with a broom
Someone gets in a taxi
Two Chinese women with a toddler and a baby and a pram struggle to get in the doors to The Place; no one helps them
Someone gets in a taxi
The music pumps up at the Coca Cola setup
Someone gets in a taxi
Four Western women with Olympic accreditation passes walk out of The Place
The sweeper comes to sweep the garden bed behind me, has a really good stickybeak at my laptop and walks away to find something else to sweep
A car horn
A noisy bus
Someone gets in a taxi
James Bond and his friend leave – boo hoo
One person is watching the massive TV screen
A girl in lime green baggy pants
A car horn
Someone gets in a taxi
Two young men with iPods – where are the mobile phones today?
Ahhh – a man sits next to me to send an SMS
A man smoking
Someone gets in a taxi
Someone gets in a taxi
Three handsome Western men and a gorgeous Chinese man walk past – it’s my lucky day
A man on a bicycle
A car horn
Two shopped-out Chinese women leave The Place laden with bags
No one is going into the Coca Cola setup
A Western man trailing a Chinese girl with an umbrella
Someone gets in a taxi
A grandmother, mum and toddler sit down, with too many shopping bags
A car horn
Three elderly women in pyjama-like ensembles waddle by with fans and umbrellas
Someone gets in a taxi
A couple with an umbrella
A mum and daughter come out of The Place with shopping bags and meet dad who is smoking in the shade
A man on a mobile phone with an Olympic shopping bag
A man sending an SMS
A car horn
Someone gets in a taxi
Two people go into the Coca Cola setup – oh wait, they’re Coca Cola employees
No one watching the massive TV screen
I stand up to leave – see a sea of umbrellas on the other side of the Coca Cola stand – a queue, waiting to get in
The party might be about to start, but my fifteen minutes is over
First published on the City Weekend Beijing website.
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