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Slide show: China's Three Gorges
From a Minnesota perspective, 2007 was a terrible year for China's image marred by everything from toxic Barbie dolls to alleged indifference over Darfur's violence.
You can prepare yourself mentally by erasing any images your mind may have harbored from the Cold War days when hordes of hungry peasants crowded dingy Beijing streets in Communist drab outfits,oakley sunglasses.
In their place, sketch boldly modern office towers . girls sporting fashion boots and knock off Versace bags. traffic jams with the occasional Jaguar idling alongside new SUVs and older sedans.
Which China is the real China? All of them are. Many of China's 1.3 billion people still are poor and struggling,reebok shoes, especially in rural areas. China also is rife with allegations of human rights abuses and corruption that breeds shoddy manufacturing.
But it would be a mistake to dismiss the vibrant,chi hair straighteners, prosperous backdrop you will see during the games as so much Olympic packaging.
China has prepared for two decades for this moment. And now that vast and ambitious nation is at a pivotal point,salvatore ferragamo, said Douglas Hartmann,bottega veneta, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota who has studied social change as it relates to the Olympics and other major cultural events.
"This is China's moment of entry onto the world stage,mulberry, and they are entirely aware of that," said Hartmann,herve leger, who also has travelled in China. "All societies that host the games do similar things,longchamp, but the timing is unique for China."
Bird's nest to cloud blasting
Everywhere in Beijing,louboutin, you see signs of the importance China places on the image it will project next summer.
Billions of dollars have gone into Olympic venues, some in radical,chanel handbags, modern designs such as the stadium known as the "bird's nest" for its interlacing steel beams.
Even the weather service got an upgrade with new high tech equipment not only for spot on forecasts but also for manipulating clouds in case rain threatens the opening ceremony. Long skilled at seeding clouds to induce rain, Chinese scientists have been practicing a reverse strategy,Lululemon outlet, shooting chemicals or dry ice into clouds to blast them away.
All of Beijing is a construction zone. Roads have been widened and shabby houses knocked down. What is left of the run down but charming hutong districts narrow alleys lined by aged houses and courtyards is getting new utilities,new balance, bricks and paint.
Then and now
Weiming Lu tells a personal story to illustrate how far and how fast China has come to reach this point,karen millen uk. Lu fled China during the Communist takeover in 1949 and eventually settled in the Twin Cities where he became prominent in city planning and historic preservation.
Over the years of tight Communist control, Lu believed he never would see China again. delegations to advise China on planning.
The Beijing greeting Lu that year was a perfect reflection of the image you're supposed to erase. Almost everyone travelled by bicycle,marc jacobs, and food was so scarce that a ration card was a must at restaurants.
One day,coach outlet, Lu took a taxi to visit an uncle he hadn't seen since childhood.
The uncle,true religion outlet, a radiologist,sac longchamp, lived in a humble hutong home with an outdoor toilet. His wife had committed suicide after she came under government pressure to reveal information about her family,ray ban sunglasses outlet, Lu said.
"Whenever we talked about sensitive subjects,ghd hair straighteners, my uncle got very nervous,true religion jeans," Lu said. "He would look out a window to make sure no one was hiding outside."
Still, they talked into the night, making up for lost years.
"I stayed too late,converse shoes," Lu said. "It was 10 o'clock, and no taxis ran that late on the streets."Workers adding the Olympic design to landscaping near Tiananmen Square,juicy couture handbags, Beijing's vast and controversial public plaza.
The uncle summoned Lu's cousin. Her bicycle would serve as taxi,longchamp handbags.
With Lu at her the back, she peddled dark, empty streets. At the Forbidden City,nfl jerseys, they saw shadowy figures of soldiers and held their breath. No problem. They made it to the hotel without incident.

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