ONE of the things that strikes you from the start in Beijing is how much the locals want to welcome you here. The volunteers who are helping in their thousands fall over themselves — sometimes quite literally — to assist you. When I arrived at my accommodation in the media village one volunteer slipped to the ground and lost a race with a colleague to help me with my luggage.
The volunteers greet you with a smile and nearly always attempt to communicate in English. Even if it’s only “welcome”, “have a nice day” or “thank you”, the effort is appreciated. The security people — most of whom seem to be volunteers — apologize for having to ask you to take your laptop out of your bag or to take a sip from your water bottle to prove you’re not smuggling in something nasty.
It’s not only the volunteers or workers connected with the Olympics. Yesterday I was walking through Tiananmen Square when a Chinese woman walked up to me, smiled and asked — in reasonable English — if I was here for the Games. She turned out to be a nurse in a local hospital and was simply keen to know where I was from and what I thought of China. The taxi drivers are also very helpful. The majority speak no English at all, but their meters include a taped voice which welcomes you in English to the Beijing taxi service. Last night our driver had desperate trouble finding our media village — as a brand new complex it is on a site that the locals are just not aware of — but was patience personified as she went down road after road and kept having to stop to ask for directions.
The only people you would not dream of approaching are the military personnel. They stand rigidly to attention at their posts for hours on end. Along the expressways they are positioned every 100 yards or so, keeping a lone vigil behind the fences at the side of the road. The soldiers that you see all appear very young.
