Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Tag: olympics

  • Squaw Valley

    Squaw Valley USA is a winter sports resort located in Lake Tahoe. For families with young children in tow, Squaw Valley offers an abundance of entertainment options. The cable car ride to High Camp is an exciting adventure for young kids. Just make sure to call in advance just in case operations are temporarily suspended due to a Wind Hold.

    At High Camp, visitors can rent a pair of ice skates at the outdoor Olympic Ice Pavilion. Make sure you are dressed appropriately because the skating rink can be extremely cold and windy. However, the Olympic Ice Pavilion does offer a 360° view of the surrounding mountains, which is quite a sight to behold.

    The Olympic museum was really a television and several display cases of Olympic memorabilia. You can easily see their entire exhibit in about 30 seconds. So, come to High Camp for the ice skating. Don’t make a special trip just for the museum.

    I was not impressed by the fare at their food court. The pastrami in their pastrami sandwich didn’t look like any pastrami I’ve ever seen before. The Village offers more dining options if you can time your meals.

  • Sustainable Construction

    AP is reporting that the Bird’s Nest stadium will be converted into a shopping and entertainment complex. Funding the construction of an athletic stadium is one thing. But finding a stable source of income to pay for ongoing maintenance is another.

  • Beijing China Olympics 2008 Souvenirs

    The Beijing Olympics have begun. Or, as the Beijing 2008 website notes: “-4 days to go.” Humorous if you know computer programmers, I guess. Once an event has started, turn off the countdown clock.

    I found the opening ceremony to be absolutely breathtaking in scope, precision and theatrics. More than once, I stared at the performance—gloriously broadcasted in HD— and wondered aloud how exactly they did “that.” Arthur C. Clarke once said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. That opening ceremony definitely included a healthy dose of magic. Uh, except for the flying guy. The special effects works in movies because the “magicians” can digitally erase the harness and wires. However, in real life, it just looks like a guy in a harness and there’s no magic in that.

    Now that the opening ceremony has aroused the Olympic spirit in me, I’m in the mood to pick up some Olympic souvenirs. However, I was not spirited enough to go to Beijing and witness the spectacle live. Some of the official licensed products on the Beijing 2008 website look appealing, but the website has no shopping cart or 1-click buttons. Just a hotline to phone in an order. A China phone number at that. Some how, I don’t think they’ll be shipping to the United States. Anyways, for someone looking for some Olympic t-shirts, pins or other merchandise, I came across the following sites: