Ms. Marquis' Trip: CHINA
Ms. Marquis
I am a travel junkie. I suppose there are worse things to be. But I just can’t seem to get enough of awe-inspiring landscapes, architecture steeped in history and of the culture, food and tradition of people outside my borders. I spend the days and nights between each school break dreaming of and planning my next big adventure. Perhaps it’s my early days living in the Caribbean, perhaps it stems from my year backpacking around the globe. It’s an expensive habit… but such a satisfying one. It has expanded my understanding of the world I live in, the achievements, suffering and beauty of our planet’s many peoples. But more importantly, it has given me insight into the person that I am as well. Naturally, when I was offered the chance to attend this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, I was happy to oblige.
It still seems a bit of a dream. China was incredible. I had hoped to someday experience China, but never did I expect that it would happen so soon, and certainly not at such a historic Olympic Games. See, this wasn’t any Games. This was China’s ‘coming out party,’ an introduction to the world.
I was able to attend just four short days of the Games including the closing ceremony. Like the rest of the world, I was awe-struck watching the theatrical, moving opening ceremonies on television. Leading up to the Games, I also followed the media’s coverage of protests during the torch relays and conflicts with militants in China’s northern regions. I guess in many ways China is still steeped in cultural and political mystery to many of us in the western world, and I wondered what it would be like to be there and if I would see the control that China’s government reputedly has over its country.
Beijing is a massive city. In the area in which I stayed there were tall glass skyscrapers, hotels, and elegant diplomatic embassies surrounded by parks and canals. Clear blue skies reigned overhead, and although hot, the air was clean. Flower beds and ordered landscaping lined every major autoroute leading to the Olympic Green. Sculpture was erected to celebrate the Olympic Spirit. The roads were uncongested, the sidewalks swept meticulously clean. Not what I had expected at all, especially for a major urban center.
At every turn, friendly Olympic volunteers, mostly young people who spoke my language, were there to assist me. Every aspect of visiting the country, from our reception and entry into the country at the airport, to ticket taking at the sporting events I attended (Soccer, canoe/kayaking, and a day of track-and-field) was met with efficient and courteous execution. The Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube, and dozens of other high-tech looking buildings made me gasp at their beauty and engineering feats. Pinch me! Was I really seeing this with my own eyes?
Now that’s what I love about travel - those little moments that reveal so much about us as human beings. We really are one race, and this is a great big planet with so much to teach us about how to live together with tolerance and respect. Yup, I’m a travel junkie… and I can’t wait for my next fix.