To say that the run-up to the Oympics (whee, 9 days left, rah rah) has been a stomach-churning, mind-numbing roller-coaster ride of twists and turns and ups and downs would be an unforgivable understatement, on par with asserting that the Chinese outfits for the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony is only…slightly clashing.
The latest nauseating corkscrew of an embarrassment to the Chinese-run Olympic Games has been the popular outrage amongst Chinese citizens that buffet meals served to foreign reporters and media will only cost one measly USD (~6.8 RMB). To add insult to injury for the Chinese, not only is it all-you-can eat (because Westerners love to eat, just look at those gargantuan Americans), it’s also a smorgasbord of culinary delight rumored to be prepared by China’s top chefs! Great, so that’s three whammies in a row. Cheap, plentiful, and prepared by the finest…oh, and the fourth, reserved only for foreign devils.
Yeah, I’d be kinda upset too.
One of the mass e-mail forwards references a recent story of a mother who stole meat for her child, asking emphatically:
CCP，请问你们用了人民的钱去办奥运，为什么不让那个偷肉的母亲带着小孩去吃奥运的一美圆（7人民币）的自助餐呢？ 才一美元啊，所有中国老百姓都能享受的起吧！但是为什么只让外国人享受，却不让 中国人民享受呢？
“CCP, you used the Chinese people’s money to put on the Olympics, why not let the meat-stealing mother bring her child to eat the Olympic 1 USD buffet? Just 1USD, all the Chinese commoners can enjoy! But why only let foreigners enjoy and not let the Chinese people enjoy?”
To be sure, 1 USD buffet meals is a downright steal for the vast majority of foreigners…and an outright affront to the vast majority of Chinese who spend 1 USD each day and get far less.
But, our dear Chinese can take solace in knowing that the Chinese government has not completely betrayed them once they take a gander of how ridiculously expensive internet access will be for those same Olympic reporters and media personnel. US$1,131 for one month of broadband DSL service…that, contrary to what everyone originally thought China promised, will still be censored. Wow, I only pay 130 RMB (19 USD) a month…for censored internet…suckers.
One, perhaps unsurprising, Chinese comment in response to Western complaints about this reads:
你们他妈的脑子进水了吧,都想来白吃白喝白住,还他妈白用,去死吧
Has water entered your mother*ucking brains? You all want to come eat without paying, drink without paying, stay without paying, and use the internet without paying? Go kill yourselves.
Well, that certainly helps put the Chinese resentment in perspective. This one provides a humorous counter-balance.
So maybe the government got it backwards. That whole “food before freedom” argument works with the poor Chinese masses…but not so much for the now well-fed Western Olympic journalists
Typical: the government tries to sell itself and journalists get the blame. I’m sure they would be happy to pay more for their meals and pass on the $1 stuff to a hungry family. But then the government has to admit there are hungry families. Oi vey. I love Chinese logic.
Why does everyone blames the government? Even if there is a two-party system, things like this are still going to happen. Some Chinese are so narrow-minded and stupid. Can’t a government treats its guests at a one-time occasion better than normal people all the time. It’s in the Chinese culture to do so as well. Some people are so anti-ccp that they become unreasonable to deal with. Everything is trampling on their rights or wasting “their” money. Most of the taxes aren’t even paid by them. Those pro-democracy people have just the same amount of brains as FQs.
Also, it’s not like the journalists are too stupid to get proxies, unless they have zero previous experience in China. Can’t they spend their money saved from their value meals to pay the internet fees. It’s not like these journalists are low income class citizens or whatever. Why are there complaints for everything? There are like zero gratitude by the journalists for the special meals. I wondered if there will be less complaints from both foreign journalists side and crazy chinese netizens side, if the government charge the normal rate for the food.
Uh, who said anything about “pro-democracy” people?
I think there would be less complaints overall if the government charged a reasonable market-rate for both the meals and the internet access. I even think there would be less complaints from the Chinese side if the food was free to begin with. Something about charging a token fee for the food actually draws more contempt from the Chinese side since there is a monetary value to compare with, whereas “free” is automatically dismissed as an necessity of courtesy and hospitality.
Let’s do the math. Assuming 3 meals a day for a full 30 days = 90 USD + 1131 USD for internet = 1221 USD total. In Shanghai, a decent buffet would probably go for at least 150 RMB or let’s say 20 USD. Again assuming 3 meals a day for a full 30 days = 1800 USD + 20 USD for internet = 1820 USD. Hell, I think charging a market price would’ve actually been far more acceptable to everyone and still netted the Chinese government more money! Even at 15 USD per meal, it’d still be more money and less controversy. It is as if the government WANTS to create problems for itself…
Is the “one US dollar” buffet only served during breakfast hours?
I’ve been to some hotels in China where the breakfast buffet is complimentary, so maybe charging 1 US dollar could still be a way of ripping off American guests!
Also I’d like to know if you are allowed to pay the 人民币 (Chinese currency) cash equivalent, or do they only accept US dollars? How is this transaction done?
Finally, how is the security at this buffet? Have Chinese guards and waitresses been trained how to say practical English phrases?
“Excuse me sir, is that a banana in your pocket? No takie-outie!”
(对不起先生，您口袋里有一条香蕉吗？ 不可以带走!)
If you really care to know, the price is 7 yuan OR $1, and there’s a bank inside the building. You’ll get a charge card the first time you register with BIMC.
It would be nice if people take a little bit more time digging into the news before jumping.
The dollar meal is to be served at 2008 Beijing International Media Center (BIMC), which, according to its own website, provides news, information and reception services for journalists who do NOT have an Olympic Identity and Accreditation Card issued by the International Olympic Committee. It’s located “two kms from the major Olympic venues.”
The $1,131 Internet Acccess, on the other hand, is to be charged at the media village, which is part of the official venue and is only occupied by the accredited journalists.
So, if you belong to those who pay IOC big bucks for the first-hand reports, you wouldn’t mind coughing up a few thousand bucks, would you? And you’d be really busy reporting news inside the venue, wouldn’t you?
The $1 meal, on the other hand, is served to those who can’t enter the official venues and can only wait at the BIMC for the second-hand reports. My guess is that the dollar meal may be part of the sunshine strategy to give those bored reporters a little bit more incentive to stay in BIMC instead of digging dirts around.
Thanks for the additional clarifying details, CnInDC. Unfortunately, the Chinese will still be outraged that the foreigners get cheap, good food and the journalists who have already paid a ton of money will be annoyed that they’re getting ripped off for internet access. Hopefully they’re smart enough to find alternative channels.
As the old saying goes, you can’t please everyone.
I myself was among those who thought this whole Olympic thing was just a big waste of money. I’d be really happy to see a few more officials indicted after this. But now that the money has already been burnt, at least we’d like to see a bit flame shining.
Just dig this out. Turns out the dollar meal at BIMC is sponsored by the restaurant chain 好伦哥. I guess the complaining people just don’t care, or don’t want to know.
And the media village is a “paid service”, or in other words, that’s where the Olympic revenue comes from, and all price tags were approved by IOC back in 2006. Turns out the food price for those IOC accredited media is NOT cheap at all. Olympic price tags are never cheap, and rightly so.
餐饮服务大厅主餐部分由好伦哥提供,每位记者只需要花1美元——只相当于不到8块钱人民币就能搞定一顿日常用餐,在餐饮服务大厅里还有青岛啤酒提供的各种样式的啤酒,让国内外记者尽情品尝,价格要比市面上卖的便宜很多。
Let the truth be told!
好伦哥(Origus) is a chain of pizza buffet restaurants in China.
“日常用餐” does not sound like “a smorgasbord of culinary delight rumored to be prepared by China’s top chefs”, but at least there is cheap Tsingtao beer nearby.
If so, alas, the Chinese rumor mill fails the Chinese yet again. At least there were no riots and burned government buildings this time? ;)
In regards to above statements, does the news network like NBC cover the internet expenses of journalists or do the journalists have to pay out of their own pocket?