I took all the children and one of their friends miles out of town to the water sports centre to watch the rowing yesterday, and it was such a hellish experience it's taken me 24 hours to be able to write about it.
We arrived at 2, as instructed, decked out in sunhats and sunscreen. In fact&nbs… more »
On Saturday, an evening of volleyball converted me to the Olympics - I hadn't realised sports could be so much fun. I resolved to try to get tickets to more events. The women in black and white are cheerleaders, by the way, not players. And the characters in the inflatable p… more »
The morning dawned hazy. I went to a talk by Norman Foster - who designed Beijing’s new aiport - and Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist who has recorded the building of the new aiport in photographs. Last week Ai Weiwei accused China’s leadership of turning China into a pol… more »
I got back to Beijing yesterday morning at an unspeakable hour (5.45 in the morning), so 36 hours later I’m still finding my jet-lagged feet in pre-Olympic Beijing. These are my first impressions:
The air is as bad as it has been for months. The air is grey, so thick you could eat it. T… more »
Catherine Sampson's top 10 books on Beijing
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday July 23 2008
Article history
The newly built Herzog de Meuron Olympic stadium in Beijing. Photograph: Iwan Baan
Catherine Sampson has lived in China for more than 15 years. Her fourth crime novel, The Slaug… more »
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Which China?
Don't confuse China's leadership with its people. There's a greater difference between them now than at any time since 1989
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Catherine Sampson
guardian.co.uk,
Monday July 28 2… more »
I wrote this for The Guardian before blue skies swept across Beijing!
Little escape from Beijing's smog
Many Chinese people are beginning to grumble about air quality, but unlike the expatriates they have little choice but to live with it.
Catherine Sampson
… more »
Break the Tiananmen taboo
To assume the 1989 massacre has been forgotten by China is to assume the Communist party line
Catherine Sampson
guardian.co.uk,
Monday June 30 2008
Article history
Beijing is reported to have f… more »
This is the man I saw in Beijing a few weeks ago, outside the Olympics stadium, who had bicycled all the way across China to support the Olympic games. He sleeps rough. His family thought he was mad when he told them what he intended to do, but he went anyway. He says he'll spend his whole lif… more »
This is the poster that has appeared outside our local pharmacy.
The wording:
No illegal sales of Protein Assimilation Preparations and Peptide Hormones. Athletes should be cautious with drugs containing banned substances.… more »