ABSTRACT
Anyone who has travelled frequently to Beijing since the early 1990s will have witnessed enormous changes, with the city rapidly metamorphosing into an ‘internationalized metropolis’ (Cook, 2006). This period has seen Beijing make not one, but two, bids to host the Summer Olympics. The fi rst bid was submitted in 1992-1993 and was eventually rejected, with Sydney winning the race to host the 2000 Olympics. ‘Human rights’ were cited as a major reason for the rejection of this bid, unsurprising given that Tiananmen was fresh in the memory, with the tanks being sent in to clear the square on 4 June 1989. Environmental issues, however, were also a major factor. Beijing had hosted the Asian Games in 1990, and so the city had already spent a considerable sum on stadia, a Games Village, and on transport infrastructure. Foreign observers noted how most schoolchildren in 1992 seemed to sport the bright yellow baseball cap bearing the Asian Games logo. There was an air of expectancy that China would be awarded the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. The disappointment at rejection was palpable.
