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Beijing: Despite its economic boom and openness, the first thing that hits the visitor to Beijing is the Chinese media blackout on important events, even the much-anticipated Olympic Games, to begin here in summer.
There is of course no news in the official media about the recent troubles in Tibet. But also, little is reported on the Games, despite the obvious great interests in the event all over the city.
On a recent CNN morning programme, the anchorman asked a reporter about the programme of the arrival of the Olympic torch, which has in fact arrived here on Monday. The reporter, standing at the famous Tienanmen Square, says he has no clue.
Nevertheless, coming from Dubai, one cannot but feel surprised to see that there is no traffic congestion in this booming capital, in which we arrived on Sunday night as part of the delegation accompanying His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai in his four-day official visit that started yesterday.
And unlike major cities around the world, Beijing is unexpectedly an elegant and clean city. This is perhaps in line with the general order of things here. There seems to be no place of error, it is clockwork. Unsurprisingly too, there is no place for political talk.
The only talk available is the economic one. China has risen to become the world's second-largest economy, after the US.
This is the growth that prompted Shaikh Mohammad's visit. He will be holding official talks with Chinese leaders in the next few days here and in Shanghai.
Hotels here are full, not just because of the Olympic Games, which for the majority of the Chinese is an important economic event, but also because of the countless business delegations flocking to this great country of 1.3 billion people.
Etihad Airways on Sunday launched its flights to Beijing, with huge ads in all major Chinese newspapers. Emirates is in the newspapers here too, promoting its flights via Dubai, such as the ones to South Africa.
The environment too struggles for media attention and is not doing bad at all. On May 1, Beijing will ban smoking in public places. More than 150 Chinese cities have passed similar law already. China is becoming a tough place for the more than 350 million smokers in this country. But that should fit nicely with the business image China is trying to build.
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