the Beijinger

Update: Comments on this post have now been closed - we encourage readers who'd like to continue to discuss visa queries to head to either this section of the Beijinger forum or to Nadine's page devoted to visa issues - which can be found here - http://fxzl.blogspot.com

"We have made some arrangements according to usual international practice. That is, in the approval process we are more strict and more serious with the procedure"

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang

Beijing saw a marked drop in the number of overseas tourists in April, which fell by 5.3 percent year-on-year, according to official statistics revealed on Tuesday. Yu Xiuqin, the bureau's spokeswoman attributed the decrease partly to Beijing's tightened business visa approvals on foreign visitors for international exhibitions and conferences, because of safety concerns for the coming Olympic Games.

China Daily: Beijing sees marked drop in overseas tourists in April

An enormous amount of confusion currently exists throughout Beijing's expat community in regard to the Chinese government's apparent, but not officially announced, recent tightening of visa policies. The lack of an adequate response from government departments and spokespeople to the increasing demand for clarification of the gap between the existing regulations and commonly observed practices, has only added to the frustration felt by both business people and those hoping to travel to China during the Olympic period. As applications are being handled on a case-by-case basis, it’s almost impossible to make absolute and irrefutable statements about what’s going on, still, patterns have begun to emerge and below I outline what is known and what can be suspected to be the case in regard to the new visa situation.

What we know for sure:

History

• The founding father of the Paralympics was Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who, in 1948, organized a sporting event for World War II veterans with spinal injuries in Stoke Mandeville, England.
  
• The first official Paralympic Games (where events took place in an Olympic format) was held in Rome, 1960. However, only wheelchair events were included.

With plenty of tickets to the Wheelchair Rugby still available -  they're a steal at RMB 30 each -  we decided to re-run this article from the September issue of the Beijinger magazine. The competiton runs from Sep 12-16 at Beijing Science & Technology University Gymnasium with the Canadian and US teams going head to head on Sep 14.

When it comes to dynamic-sounding names for a sport, few can match the term Murderball, the original name for Wheelchair Rugby (or Quad Rugby as it's known in the United States). The sport is coming to Beijing this September as an event in the Paralympic Games, and starting Friday, September 12, Beijingers will get the chance to see first hand why the sport wholly deserves its traditional violent epithet. As soon as the opening whistle sounds and you witness the athletes smashing chairs, the game will ride roughshod over any preconceptions you may have about the wheelchair-bound.

Wheelchair Rugby was developed in Canada in the late 1970s. At the time Wheelchair Basketball was the most popular team-sport for wheelchair users, but its reliance on upper body mobility was a turn off to the majority of quadriplegic athletes, who suffer functional impairments to the upper and lower limbs. As a combination of wheelchair basketball and ice hockey, the sport offers quadriplegic athletes the chance to play in both offensive and defensive roles. Played on a basketball court with a volleyball, the aim of the game is to score points by carrying the ball over the line in between the opponents goalposts. The sport shares little resemblance with traditional rugby except for its name and a full contact nature that often unseats participants from their wheelchairs.

Remember those smiley faces and the controversial footprint fireworks that appeared as part of Cai Guoqiang's impressive pyrotechnic display at the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games? Well, this Spring Festival Beijing residents will have the chance to let off a few of their own. According to reports in today's Beijing News, not only will pyromaniacs across the city be able to let off Smiley Faces and Footprints to their hearts content, but they'll also be able to set off all the car alarms in the xiaoqu with the Blossoming Flower. Kids on the other hand are encouraged to play with a Kungfu Panda-inspired rocket. The fireworks will be available at 200 outlets around town in the lead-up to Spring Festival. Though those sold as part of the Bird’s Nest series will not as big as the ones used in the opening ceremony - they've been scaled down for use by individuals.

The Water Cube gets it's first post Olympic scrub down.

Links and Sources
The Star Daily： 奥林匹克公园要建成5A级景点

Olympic sporting venues located inside the National Olympic Sports Center, just south of the Bird's Nest, are now open to the public - and we're not just talking about tourists poking their noses around. According to a report in Sunday's Beijing News, as part of a plan to put the Olympic venues to good use, the National Olympics Sports Center Stadium, National Olympics Sports Center Gymnasium, the Yingdong Natatorium of National Olympic Sports Center, National Olympic Sports Center Hockey Pitch, National Olympic Sports Center Comprehensive Training Gymnasium, National Olympic Sports Center Handball Training Gymnasium and National Olympic Sports Center Football Training Pitch are now all available for hire. The National Olympics Sports Center is not a new venue, but it under went renovation from 2005 to 2007 in preparation to host the Olympic Handball, Water Polo and Modern Pentathlon events.



This article first appeared in the September issue of beijingkids

Boccia world champion Paul Gauthier, who hails from British Columbia, Canada, is gearing up for his fourth Paralympics this September. The event will be a family affair, with his wife Sarah supporting him on the field as his sport assistant and his foster son Derek cheering as Paul competes in the individual and pairs divisions.

Four years ago, Gauthier, who also grew up in foster care, decided to adopt 11-year-old Derek as part of their family. Derek came to Gauthier completely mute as the result of an anxiety disorder. But now, at 15, Derek is able to write and communicate verbally, thanks to hard work and dedication from Gauthier and his wife Sarah.

beijingkids had a chance to talk to Gauthier about how setbacks can lead to determination, perseverance and stronger relationships.

The American Renaud brothers are known for their hard-hitting cinema verite documentary films, which have ranged on topics from college football rivalries to US soldiers in Iraq. It was there that the two witnessed severe injuries firsthand, and learned of the sporting program that turns wounded veterans into Paralympic athletes. Their current project, Warrior Champions: From Baghdad to Beijing, follows former soldiers as they train for the 2008 Paralympic Games.  Brent Renaud spoke to Alex Pasternack from New York, just before leaving for Okinawa to join the US Team in training. The brothers are producing web videos for the US Paralympic team while they are in Beijing, you can view the videos here. Melissa Stockwell failed to qualify for the 100m Freestyle and Butterfly earlier this week, she'll be competing in the 400m Freestyle on Friday morning.

This interview first appeared In the September issue of Urbane.

Alex Pasternack: How did this film come about?

Brent Renaud: There’s a scene in our film Off to War shortly after we get to Baghdad when a mortar hits the base where I’m staying with the soldiers. A number of them were killed, a number of them were injured; one of the soldiers I was with that day ended up losing his arm and having problems with one of this legs. When he returned to the States he started getting involved with these sports programs for injured veterans. They say if you or I get injured or lose a leg, we’d need to train full time for six or seven years and then we might be able to reach that level. But some of these soldiers have done it in less than year. It’s a pretty remarkable story.

Ahh, summertime in Beijing: sweltering hot days, festering street food, increased cockroach activity, a cloud of smog hovering around the city, taxi cab rides with less-than-fragrant drivers, and of course, beach volleyball cheerleaders.

Beach volleyball cheerleaders? Wait a second here … while the rest of us have been wallowing in the summer heat over the past few weeks, the official beach volleyball stadium for the 2008 Olympics, replete with 17,000 tons of sand imported from Hainan, has been quietly taking shape in the northern end of Chaoyang Park.

Last weekend, cheerleader tryouts were held for the first event to take place at the new venue, the FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) Women’s Beach Volleyball Challenger, due to take place Monday, Aug 13 through Sunday Aug 19.