|
|
Article: OLYMPIC GAMES: China celebrates with rare burst of genuine celebration Joy in Beijing after city is awarded the 2008 event leads to biggest street party since the Tiananmen Square demonstrations
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- July 14, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
BEIJING'S SECOND Olympic bid climaxed last night not in despair
like 1993, but with the biggest street party China has seen since a
million demonstrators packed Tiananmen Square in the most optimistic
days of the 1989 democracy movement.
Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Tiananmen, streaming
banners and flags. The Avenue of Eternal Peace was jammed with a wall
of noise as cars went bumper-to-bumper, blaring horns in joy. Even
the police were smiling, nervously.
The Communist Party Politburo first took the applause at a heavily
orchestrated event, playing to a hand-picked crowd, and a nationwide
television audience, several miles west of Tiananmen. But before
midnight President ...