BEIJING — The Summer Olympics that cost China billions have not yet begun, and already the sky is falling. In big, gray chunks.
You can reach out and touch the smog, then hear the hosts scream in protest.
The Chinese invited the world to the biggest sports party on the planet and forgot to vacuum?
On Wednesday afternoon, the sun over Beijing was little more than a faint red rumor, and as my flight touched down at the airport, a planeload of the very international guests that China hopes to impress looked out the windows and gasped at air that could only be described as the color of a dirty ashtray.
Visitors have been assured inhaling is far safer than sucking on the tailpipe of a bus. But I packed a supply of air-filtering masks in my suitcase, just in case.
So did U.S. Olympic athletes Michael Friedman, Sarah Hammer, Bobby Lea and Jennie Reed, who actually wore the masks issued them by the team upon their arrival in Beijing.
And so began the first tense moment of the Olympics between the USA and China, expected to fight for first place in the medal standings. The host country was embarrassed we thought their air looked yucky. We apologized.
Let the Games — and the gamesmanship — begin.
For the past quarter century I have lived in Denver, which has dealt with its own pollution issues, to be sure. But never had I seen a brown cloud so thick you could cut it with a knife until this humid August day in Asia.
Despite mandating 50 percent of the city’s 3.3 million vehicles stay off the road and shutting down some factories, the Chinese have not been able to clean up their image, because the grungy sky can make a visitor feel like a shower is required merely by walking outside.
In an effort to paint a smiley face on the Summer Olympics, China has done everything from blocking access to websites critical of the country to denying the visa of Joey Cheek, an American speedskater who won gold at the 2006 Winter Games, then turned his attention to speaking out against genocide in Darfur.
So the heat is on anybody who dares mention Tibet, pollution or anything that threatens this coming-out party for China. But it’s the stupidity of relying on propaganda to sell this country’s charms that feels unnecessarily stifling. Front-page stories in China Daily have repeatedly tried to paint the depressingly gray skies blue, which anybody with eyes can tell is not true.
And that’s a pity, especially because so many of the nation’s charming citizens, from giant basketball star Yao Ming to the bright and shiny volunteers who cover the Olympic venues in smiles, are naturally capable of winning the hearts of visitors without the silly urge to make up stuff.
When these Games were awarded to China, there were yelps of protest from human-rights activists and tree-hugging environmentalists alike.
Open your doors to the world, however, and you never know what nosy tourists might find behind a Great Wall.
Bringing the Olympic torch to China should prove to be a wonderful idea, if for no other reason than it will shed so much light on all the remarkable potential and complex problems in a country of 1.3 billion residents.
The truth about China, whether good or bad, will be as undeniable as the thick, gray haze that made it impossible for the sun to reflect the grandeur of the Bird’s Nest stadium in the middle of a dark summer afternoon.
Maybe the Chinese government has spent an emperor’s fortune on the Summer Games to learn a valuable lesson.
Propaganda can hide everything except the real nitty-gritty.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
