The paint is peeling and stains have appeared on its famous lattice design.

Accelerating the deterioration of the iconic National Stadium is the absence of a permanent tenant. It has not hosted a big event since the Paralympics last September and is in real danger of becoming a big white Chinese elephant.

‘It’s such a pity that it has been empty all these months,’ said tourist Gao Qiuling, who was visiting from the northern Tianjin port city, as she toured the venue with her family last Friday

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You can continue following my travels in Asia here.

Most of the show was performed by people with disabilities, including Li Yue, who lost her left leg in the Sichuan earthquake and performed her dance in a wheelchair.

The torch was lit by a Chinese athlete from his wheelchair. He pulled himself up on a rope pully to the roof of the stadium.
The theme of the ceremony was “Transcendence, Equality, Integration” and included drumming, dancing and singers and ended in a massive fireworks display.

“I was shocked by the brilliance and hard work of the thieves fleecing the Olympic family — and they are setting up to do the same thing in Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012,” Jim Moriarty, a Houston-based corporate lawyer, said.

See the Beijing Ticketing Scam website for more details on the people behind the operation.

Almost straight after the closing ceremony the hazy skies returned. A few days later there was heavy rain and the last two days Beijing has had glorious weather - clear skies. warm weather and not too much humidity.

I turned to Wikipedia to find out more on cloud seeding and they have a good entry on the topic, with quite a few references to China. I was particularly interested in whether it has any environmental effects, but the article states:

The toxicity of silver and silver compounds (from silver iodide) was shown to be of low order in some studies. These findings likely result from the minute amounts of silver generated by cloud seeding, which are 100 times less than industry emissions into the atmosphere in many parts of the world, or individual exposure from tooth fillings.

I am sure there must be a certain financial cost to cloud seeding, but I wonder if authorities in China will start to think cloud seeding is a good, long term way to keep Beijing’s skies relatively pollution free.

The Xinhua news agency reported that tourist spots in the city reported total revenues of 162 million yuan (US$23 million), according to figures from the Beijing Statistics Bureau, the National Bureau of Statistics’ Beijing survey team and the Beijing Tourism Bureau.

The results showed key attractions such as the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Great Wall each received more than 230,000 tourists from Aug 8 to 24. Star-level hotels accepted around 80,000 guests each day. The five-star hotels had an occupancy rate of 81% with an average price of 3,604 yuan (US$525) per room per day.

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To the athletes tonight: You were true role models. You have shown us the unifying power of sport. The Olympic spirit lives in the warm embrace of competitive rivals from nations in conflict. Keep that spirit alive when you return home. These were truly exceptional Games!

(Source: Dr Jacques Rogge, Chairman of the International Olympic Committee)

And none more so than those belonging to small nations, but of the 87 nations who medalled, how did the small nations of the world do? In a nutshell, fought way above their weight:

Jamaica (pop: 2,714,000) 6 golds (Men’s 100m, Women’s 100m, Men’ 200m, Women’s 400m Hurdles, Women’s 200m, Men’s 4 x 100m Relay), 3 silvers (Women’s 100m, Women’s 200m, Women’s 400m), 2 bronzes (Women’s 200m, Women’s 4 x 400m Relay)
Mongolia (pop: 2,629,000) 2 golds (Men’s 100kg Judo, Men’s Bantamweight Boxing), 2 silvers (Women’s 25m Pistol, Men’s Light Flyweight Boxing)
Slovenia (pop: 2,029,000) 1 gold (Men’s Hammer), 2 silvers (Women’s 200m Freestyle, Men’s Laser Class Sailing), 2 bronzes (Women’s 78kg + Judo, Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions)
Latvia (pop: 2,268,000) 1 gold (Men’s BMX), 1 silver (Men’s Javelin), 1 bronze (Men’s 105kg+ Weightlifting)
Estonia (pop: 1,340,600) 1 gold (Men’s Discus), 1 silver (Men’s Double Sculls)
Bahrain (pop: 760,000) 1 gold (Men’s 1,500m)
Trinidad and Tobago (pop: 1,333,000) 2 silvers (Men’s 100m, Men’s 4 x 100m Relay)
The Bahamas (pop: 331,000) 1 silver (Men’s 4 x 400m Relay), 1 bronze (Men’s Triple Jump)
Iceland (pop: 316,250) 1 silver (Men’s Handball Team)
Mauritius (pop: 1,262,000) 1 bronze (Men’s Bantamweight Boxing)

And then came the closing ceremony and despite everything I said to myself, I blubbed for the third Games in a row. I have no idea what it is about the Olympic Flame being extingushed that sets me off but first Sydney 2000, then Athens 2004 and now Beijing 2008 flame extingushing ceremonies have left me in floods of tears. But as Jacques Rogge said the youth of the world will gather four years hence in London to celebrate the 30th Games of Modern Era (and as a member of that country you are all more than welcome to come and attend, but a year’s notice would be handy!)

And so that is that. Well. not quite. You see when Beijing won the right to host the 29th Olympics, they also won the right to host the 16th Paralympic Games (for elite atheltes with a disability), therefore (if the humble owner of this blog will permit me, I would like to track the small nations at those Games as well).

We had a short section to mark the handover of the Olympics from Beijing to London. London’s mayor Boris Johnson looked a little out of place. Leona Lewis sang an old Led Zepplin song with Jimmy Page playing the guitar. It is going to be interesting to see how London does the opening ceremony. I am sure it will have more of rock concert feel, than a Chinese history lesson and acrobatics display which we witnessed in Beijing.

Just when you thought it was all over, the Paralympics will start for two more weeks of sport and fun in Beijing. It will be interesting if it gets even a fraction of media coverage of the Olympics just gone.