Beijing is inviting the world to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and before company arrives, the host has to make sure everything is in tiptop condition.
Yu Changjiang, the director of Beijing’s Tourism Administration told Associated Press, “Beijing is all so modern now. And attitudes must be modern. People need to go back to their countries and say, ‘Beijing is beautiful, and Beijing and its people are clean’. And then more people will come”.
Jia Qinglin, a new member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, said that Beijing must “establish a new image of civility”, identifying five problem areas – language, behaviour, service, etiquette and the environment.
You can chew it but you can’t spit it out in public. According to the Associated Press the $120,000 chewing gum initiative which began last October had 1,000 people working for several days to remove 600,000 wads of chewing gum from Tiananmen Square.
Spit it out and face a fine of up to $6. People who buy gum near Tiananmen are given small government-distributed pouches for use after chewing, and shop clerks tell customers to spit the gum into the bag.
For those not too fluent in English, City tourism authorities are targeting what they call “Chinglish”.
As for raising ducks, geese, rabbits or livestock in urban areas, or throwing dirty water or fruit peels in the street – try it and you might be fined $5. Apparently the new law is rarely enforced.
Meanwhile every new restaurant must have a toilet, and breakfast carts are now overseen by health authorities.
Also barbers and slaughterhouses are being inspected for cleanliness.
And if you want to advertise, Beijing residents should be aware that posting and painting slogans on streets and buildings is now punishable by fines, and telephone numbers or e-mail addresses on ads can be cut off.
Those who enforce the laws are looking to the future when 142 building projects, including 24 new competition venues for the 2008 Games are completed. The Independent reports that China is spending more on this than anyone has spent on previous Games.
Among the greatest projects is the Olympic Park, with a 120-storey world trade centre towing above the city.
Also, there are claims the north-south axis symbolizes the linking of the old and new: the Forbidden City and the Olympics. The declared goal is to “integrate the 2008 Olympics with Chinese Culture and Chinese spiritual civilization”.
