Residents of Beijing are dissatisfied with the prohibition on international fans, but they maintain that the atmosphere of the Winter Games has not been lost.
After half a year, the Beijing Winter Games have reached their conclusion, with mixed feelings among residents of the host city, which is the first to have hosted both a Summer and Winter Olympics. Most residents are unable to attend the competitions, which are being held in a rigidly pandemic-preventative "closed loop."
Acker is screening the event at his Jing-A craft beer locations since he was in Beijing for both Games. However, he believes the 2008 Beijing Summer Games felt like "a tremendous celebration" and witnessed the Chinese metropolis "truly coming into its own."
He says that although Beijing locals are still enthusiastic about the Winter Games, their enthusiasm has been "clearly subdued" as a result of COVID and their inability to attend events or interact with fans and athletes from all over the globe.
Owner of a sports bar Mathieu Herout expressed dissatisfaction, claiming that although he had a "strong audience" for the opening ceremony, just a "handful of people" came to see the contests.
He said that there is "no similarity" between 2008 and 2022, and that many of his workers recall "international spectators, staff, crews, and athletes would come and party" 14 years earlier.
"Given the health and safety safeguards in place, we won't have any of this this year," Herout continued.
The atmosphere between the two events is "completely different," according to Asher Gillespie, who operates a pizza restaurant near some of Beijing's most prestigious ice rinks, where he spent years participating in Beijing's developing hockey scene as a member of the local recreational league.
The masses of visitors and employees that descended on Beijing in 2008 for sightseeing, watching sporting events, eating, and enjoying the nightlife were recounted by Gillespie.
In 2012, sports bars and restaurants provided an option for those who did not have tickets to the Bird's Nest, Water Cube, or other Olympic venues. According to Gillespie, many in his profession are hoping the same will be true in 2022.
"It's clear that everything changed with COVID," Gillespie said.
"A variety of issues have dampened the spirit," according to Mark Dreyer, creator of China Sports Insider, TV pundit, and author of Sporting Superpower: An Insider's View on China's Quest to Be the Best.
The cold February weather, together with the prohibition on overseas spectators, Dreyer claims, contributed to fewer outdoor celebrations than during the summer of 2008, according to Dreyer.
Dreyer, on the other hand, sees reason for optimism in the social media and retail clamor around the Games' mascot, albeit he recalls a larger and much earlier buildup for that in 2008.
A number of highly positive interviews with Beijing residents were broadcast by Chinese state media during the Games, which ran counter to international news reports about diplomatic boycotts and the strict anti-COVID protocols in place for Olympians, staff, volunteers, and the media within the "closed loop."
Businesses in the vicinity of the Olympic bubble provided Al Jazeera with a distinct point of view.
Wang, who runs a hotel a few streets east of the Bird's Nest, says he feels "quite secure" despite the number of athletes from all over the globe who have come to participate in the Omicron surge in recent years.
He further said that the traffic to the hotel had not been hindered by the limitations.
Restaurateurs, such as Wu, who owns a restaurant a few streets south of the Bird's Nest, agree that "business as usual" is the best way to put it.
According to Fiona Yao, the Games motivated her and her small daughter to don their skates and skate on Beijing's outdoor ponds for the first time this winter, regardless of whether or not the country was subjected to a diplomatic embargo.
As a result of the Olympic bubble, although Yao is disappointed that she and her family cannot attend any events as in 2008, she feels secured by the processes in place, and she expresses her gratitude by saying, "we are still extremely delighted that [the Games] could truly take place in our city."
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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