Article: Pins as good as gold ; Trading the mementos, an Olympic tradition, attracts an enthusiastic following among the Chinese people.

MIKE LOWE By MIKE LOWE Staff Writer
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
08-20-2008
Pins as good as gold ; Trading the mementos, an Olympic tradition, attracts an enthusiastic following among the Chinese people.
Byline: MIKE LOWE By MIKE LOWE Staff Writer
Edition: Final
Section: Front
Type: Cover Story

BEIJING --

"Please, may I look?"

"Would you like this one for that one?"
Ah, the Olympic pin.

Before I left Maine for the Olympics, Joan Benoit Samuelson had one piece of advice: "Get some pins to trade."

Little did I know what that would lead to.

For five days I walked around this city of 17 million in anonymity. Nobody looked at me. Then I got a couple of pins and everyone became my friend.

The ...

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