I didn’t realize it at the time, but last week when I was at the Bird’s Nest stadium I saw the ‘Olympic madman’, Sun Dingguo.

Sun Dingguo just got his 36th Olympic themed tattoo. That post is still one of the most popular here on this blog!

Sun Dingguo quit his job to ride his pedicab around China to show his support for the Beijing Olympics.

“I dropped my job, I dropped all my dreams, I dropped the chance to get a girlfriend,” he said.

“I dropped everything but the promotion of the Olympic spirit with only one thought. I cannot have other thoughts. I must keep one thought in mind, or I cannot reach my goal.”

I like how he says he dropped the chance to get a girlfriend. Sun only had 200 yuan, about $26 in his pocket when he set off on his trip around China 10 months ago. He relied on the generosity of the people he met for food and water and he slept in the back of his pedicab.

The Chinese authorities want to show Beijing as being a clean, international city, so even though they might admire Sun’s dedication to the Olympics, I wonder if they are really happy with the image he presents.

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