Shanghai--At 8:08
p.m., a crowd of China's poor and forgotten had
assembled outside the train station here to watch the Olympics opening ceremony.
Male migrant workers relaxed on the ground, barefoot and shirtless. A couple
from Anhui province with tickets for the midnight train home leaned against each
other as their two-year old son slurped down a bottle of yogurt. University
students hugging stuffed bears sat on scraps of cardboard. Before them, three
large screens flashed advertisements for beauty products.
The large screens outside the station were
supposed to show the ceremony. The Chinese newspaper editor I was with had heard
as much, at least. "This is the only place our reporters could confirm," she
said. And it did look like someone had planned ahead. In the center of the
plaza, just beneath a clock tower, was a cordoned-off area dominated by unmarked
white vans. Cops and paramilitary officers carrying very large weapons weaved in
and out of the crowd.
When a short video introducing
China's star athletes overtook one
screen, a wave of excitement passed through the aspiring spectators. When it was
succeeded by an ad for yellow wine, the excitement gave way to a faint
collective groan. By the time the clock tower showed 8:15, people started to
drift off. We speculated on whether the ceremony had in fact been delayed--until
the radio in the taxi suggested otherwise. "They are forming flowers with their
bodies," the announcer crooned.
In well-heeled areas, it was a different
story. At People's Square, security presence was light, and a sedate crowd was
splayed out on the lawn, watching the event on a screen embedded in a
skyscraper. TGI Friday's, a popular hangout among young professionals, was
packed with energetic fans oiled on margaritas and fried potato skins. People
laughed every time the camera zoomed in on former president Jiang Zemin. ("He's
so old!" someone hooted.)
But at the train station, things stayed
quiet. Qin Song, a police officer who had been bussed into Shanghai to contribute to
the security presence, was among those disappointed. "I don't know what's going
on," he said. "We want to see it, too."
--Mara
Hvistendahl