Thread: F*ck China

Spectators getting a hard time
Cycling - Sports - Olympics - smh.com.au

The family of Australian cyclist Oenone Wood has busted through the Chinese bureaucracy and made it to see their gal compete in today's time trials.
They had spent several frustrating days without success trying to book a taxi or find a way to use public transport to get here.
So we stepped in.
We had contacted the Australian Embassy, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and the International Cycling Union (ICU) to see if they could help out.
Olivier Quejuiner, the sports director for the ICU, said he would contact the IOC but we never heard back.
The Embassy and the AOC said there was nothing they could do.
So we organised a bus to ferry the seven-member group - which includes Wood's 81-year-old grandmother - to deliver them to the site of the finish line this morning at the Great Wall at Juyongguan, 80km north of Beijing.
"I'm feeling relieved and excited that we're finally here," said Ric Bless, Wood's step-father. "The way things were going over the last few days, I didn't think we'd make it."
The group, which includes Wood's husband, mother, father, grandmother, step-father and two sisters, had had a horror day in the pouring rain on Sunday trying to get to see Wood compete in the women's road race.
That attempt culminated in a couple of the group getting through the checkpoints, but only after much haggling and delays.
Wood's grandmother had to be carried up more than a hundred steep and uneven steps by Graeme Bray, another Australian cycling fan who had lucked his way in, and a volunteer.
I called a friend in Sydney whose relative had some connection in transport and, in the space of two hours, we were able to find a driver with a van and agree on a price.
I decided to go along for the ride and we left Beijing at about 8am in a white transit van driven by Mr Li.
Although he had a Great Wall tour pass on his front windscreen, driver Li was not at all confident that he could get us through.
Taxi drivers have been told this part of the Great Wall is a no-go zone during the road cycling events and to convey that message to anyone game enough to try and make the trek out here.
As we wormed our way out of Beijing, we came across several signs along the highway leading out to the Great Wall, warning drivers that the Juyongguan section of the wall was closed because of the cycling event.
Even trains using a recently opened line to the area were not allowed to stop at the nearby station.
We were turned back at one point about 25km from our destination. But I waved my media pass and we were directed to another road.
We then approached another toll booth where the taxi that Wood's husband Joel had been in was turned back on Sunday.
This time we were in luck, the policeman manning the booth was asleep - the toll booth operator took our money and we were on our way.
Arriving at the spectators' parking lot at 9.15am, Wood's family was told all they had to do was show their passports to obtain a ticket and, with that, and a short wait until the gates opened, they were in.
Lynne Guthridge, Wood's mother, was taken aback by the ease with which we had gotten in and the support from staff and volunteers once we arrived.
"Completely different attitude, very welcoming, very supportive," she said. "We're really appreciative of the assistance we've been given to get to this point and we just cross our fingers for Oenone's race."
Several other tourists had also managed to get through, including Graeme Bray, an intrepid cycling fan from Lismore in northern NSW who found a local bus that came out here.
Bray had been planning the trip for two years. "On the Saturday when I got out here, I was forced to walk 8km before getting in," he said. "We were all treated like children.
"But today after spending hours hours on the phone and trying to work out what's going on, I've turned up, I've shown my passport and a ticket was immediately given to me."

We were turned back at one point about 25km from our destination. But I waved my media pass and we were directed to another road.
We then approached another toll booth where the taxi that Wood's husband Joel had been in was turned back on Sunday.
This time we were in luck, the policeman manning the booth was asleep - the toll booth operator took our money and we were on our way.
Arriving at the spectators' parking lot at 9.15am, Wood's family was told all they had to do was show their passports to obtain a ticket and, with that, and a short wait until the gates opened, they were in.
Lynne Guthridge, Wood's mother, was taken aback by the ease with which we had gotten in and the support from staff and volunteers once we arrived.
"Completely different attitude, very welcoming, very supportive," she said. "We're really appreciative of the assistance we've been given to get to this point and we just cross our fingers for Oenone's race."
Several other tourists had also managed to get through, including Graeme Bray, an intrepid cycling fan from Lismore in northern NSW who found a local bus that came out here.
Bray had been planning the trip for two years. "On the Saturday when I got out here, I was forced to walk 8km before getting in," he said. "We were all treated like children.
"But today after spending hours hours on the phone and trying to work out what's going on, I've turned up, I've shown my passport and a ticket was immediately given to me."

Beijing 2008

A new thread you can vote on ...just for the evil regime apologists

http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/the-soa...ml#post1031516 (China is a great place. I love it. The Games rock)

i hope the folk in london (2012) are watching these games (and public reaction) and put on a kick ass festival and olympics

It would be good if they did that and brought the human aspect back to the Games

OK you filthy evil totalitarian undemocratic regime apologist's out there.. you can now post over in your own I love China thread

Then this thread can stay on topic ...This is the bitch and complain about china thread...We promise we won't post over there and drag your thread off topic.

http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/the-soa...ames-rock.html (China is a great place. I love it. The Games rock)


Did you know that during the 1950's they ate dead babies ?

follow the money


....right out of beijing



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and thats right. no one can defend such xenophobic, insecure, and utterly foolish behavior. china is still a developing nation, no matter how many factories they have.

their actions speak much louder than their rhetoric, which coincidentally, is quite loud.

and fake.

and full of shit.


...and no ones buying it,

LITERALLY!