No doubt the games are the most exciting event for anyone in Beijing who has stayed here for any length of time. Seven years in my case and for almost the entire time the government has systematically prepared me for this event.
Many things have changed, as no doubt you will know. We’ve torn down an entire section of this city as big as my hometown to construct an all new central business district. The same for the Olympic green, where tens of thousands of residents have been moved to places not mentioned. We got a new CCTV building and a new opera, we built an entire new subway system, an airport which couldn’t be any bigger, and made it rain on command. A lot of change indeed.
One of the things though that go rather unnoticed is the visual change in details that came along with all this. What seems granted for Olympic tourists and the people seeing Beijing through the eyes of a TV camera is in fact something rather special for us Beijingers.
It starts with the city’s cab drivers who have undergone a complete make-over. While the old and trashy cabs have been banned off the street over the past three years, it wasn’t until August 1st that the taxi drivers themselves got a visual upgrade. While these guys used to live more of a cowboy live before, dressing as they pleased and even shaving while driving, they now all sport the same yellow and blue uniform with matching ties. When asked about it, they are all very happy with the new shirts and pants and give a thumbs up for their 100% cotton comfort. Only the ties are a bit of a drag and usually stowed inside the glove compartment. It took this gentleman a few minutes to make it work.
Also in the comfort of the night to August 1st another amazing thing happened across the city. Suddenly every shop front, in every road and on every corner, featured a standardized signage. Where before a wealth of more or less creative signs pointed out what to expect behind the doors, now a unified size and a standard set of colors and fonts make every street and every shop look the same. I can only imagine the amazing logistics behind such a feat. Even McDonalds and KFC had to comply with this new regulation, though they could keep their logo on the board.
Walking though the Olympic streets of Beijing reveals another detail to the trained eye: flowers everywhere. This I have to admit took a while of trial and error though, as flowers in all kinds of shapes and forms have been put up and down throughout town for several months. It is a real treat, wherever you go you can play flower spotting, written in tulips or roses you find anything from “Welcome to Beijing 2008” to “Use civilized behaviour; create a new atmosphere”
But of course it is all about the sport and the organizers really have managed to apply a total Olympic 360 branding to the city. The Beijing Olympic logo, the colorful signage with the lucky clouds, the 5 mascots and countless slogans are applied to every bridge, every fence and every billboard that sat empty after the non-sponsors’ advertising was removed. The Olympic branding really is a welcome change in design and typography to this usually rather grey city. I only hope that when the factories are turned back on after the Olympics, that some of Beijing’s new art direction will stay for a little while longer.
