For foreigners and even Chinese visiting Beijing now for the Olympics for the first time, keep it in your mind that this is not the ‘real’ Beijing you are seeing. A few months ago, Beijing has had a massive cleanup ahead of the Olympics. One of my favorite BBQ meat stick restaurants that had little tables and chairs on the street is gone. The meat sticks were just 1 or 2RMB and it was great to be able to just sit out on the street drinking a beer and mixing with the locals.

Huge Olympic billboards have been erected to cover unfinished buildings and older sections of Beijing. Old buildings have been given a coat of paint, just on the walls that face the street. In a few months the hastily painted walls will start to peel and wash off. Millions of flower pots have been placed all over the city.

The migrant workers, homeless and anyone else who didn’t have a good reason for being in Beijing (including foreigners) have had to go home. Half of the cars are off the streets and a reported third of Beijingers are escaping the Olympics and taking a holiday outside the capital. Traffic is a little less congested and my local streets are a little less empty, replaced with foreigners who I have never seen before.

There is a growing anticipation for the games to start tomorrow. Many people will enjoy watching the opening ceremony and seeing China win a stack of medals, but the two weeks is going to flash by, after seven years of preparation and I think many Chinese people will be left wondering, “What was that all about?”