BEIJING — The Chinese have worked overtime to get all their checklists ticked, buildings built and security secured in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics. But something seems to have happened on the way to the arena: They forgot the fun.
Fearful of political protests or terrorist attacks, Beijing feels increasingly battened down as the Aug. 8 opening ceremony approaches, leading some wags to predict a "fun-free" or "killjoy" Games. Many of the best things about Beijing, the little corners, the characters, the outdoor cafe tables, are being nibbled away by omnipresent police and neighborhood snoops in security overdrive.
Every Olympics host city has its own style, but the atmospherics at the last two Games have set a high standard to match. Revelers attending the 2004 Athens Games partied till dawn at street and beach venues replete with big bonfires, flowing ouzo and impromptu concerts. Organizers of the Sydney 2000 Games hired street musicians and jugglers to perform outside venues, and invited those without tickets to picnic beside huge outdoor Olympic viewing screens.
In China, however, tight visa policies have discouraged international visitors and pushed some longtime foreign residents out of the country, even as the government has banned most outdoor gatherings and told bar owners to close early. A plan by the 2012 host city London to throw a party in a downtown park was nixed. Officials have even forbidden picnic umbrellas in some districts, apparently fearful that terrorists or unruly protesters might lurk beneath the prosaic folds.
Authorities have also suspended outdoor music festivals, discouraged foreign entertainers and required Chinese, as well as foreign, bands to have their lyrics vetted. Encores must be approved in advance.
"For the government, fun is not part of the plan," said Wang Feng, a professor of sociology at UC Irvine, who has just returned from Beijing. "What's most important is not having any problems."
The threat of terrorism is a serious concern for any host of an international event, especially one that's welcoming 80 world leaders. But playing host is also a balancing act. Going overboard with security carries the risk of undermining the Olympic spirit, alienating visitors and, in this case, tarnishing China's impressive preparations funded by billion-dollar budgets.
"They seem so paranoid," said Ann Murphy, a law professor at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. "I think they're so afraid of shadows, they're missing the whole point."
