Bejing's Clean-Air Blitz Falls Short

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• Beijing Rides High Underground

  Jan 6, 09 1:59 PM CST
  The days of endless traffic jams are over in Beijing, thanks to an ambitious and suddenly popular new subway network, the Wall Street Journal reports. For decades Beijing’s subway has languished, ineffective and, because digging underground violates the mystic rules of feng shui, controversial. “The city’s surface was never breached,” said one sociologist. Then the Olympics changed everything.
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• China Cracks Down on Internet Cafes

  Oct 17, 08 6:29 AM CDT
  China has resumed a strict crackdown on Internet users less than two months after the Olympic Games, ending the more relaxed regulations that accompanied the international spotlight, reports the Times of London. All visitors to Internet cafes in Beijing will be required to have their photograph taken, reports the Times of London. All photos and identity cards will be scanned into a database maintained by China's Cultural Law Enforcement Task Force.
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• Communist Party Basks in Olympic Afterglow

  Aug 25, 08 9:23 AM CDT
  For nearly a decade, the Chinese Communist Party has made the Olympics the nation's first political priority, writes Jim Yardley in the New York Times. Hopes that the international spotlight would lead to democratization and human-rights reforms in China didn't materialize, as the triumph of the Games instead underscored the strength of the party. "They have earned a tremendous amount of face because of the Olympics," said one Beijing media exec. "They are going to ride on that for a while." More »

• Wanjiru 1st Kenyan to Win Olympic Men's Marathon

  Aug 23, 08 10:12 PM CDT
  Samuel Wanjiru pulled away over the final few kilometers to become the first Kenyan in the storied running history of that nation to win an Olympic marathon. The 21-year-old negotiated the 26.2-mile course through Beijing streets in bright Sunday morning sunshine in an Olympic record of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds. This was just the third marathon for Wanjiru, who twice broke the world half-marathon record last year. More »

• Olympics Fervor Prompts Beijing Tattoo Craze

  Aug 23, 08 8:22 AM CDT
  Beijing tattoo artists have had a steady stream of customers seeking permanent Olympic souvenirs in recent weeks, the New York Times reports. Tattoo parlors were rare in China a decade ago, but hundreds have sprouted as taboos have begun to fall. American influence is strong, but artists are seeking to create their own Chinese tattoo culture.
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