If so, what was your view of China before the Games and what is it now?

Nothing Changed.
The gov't set up designated areas for protest & told citizens to put in an application & they would be able to protest in the designated areas. When citizens put in the application they were arrested instead.

The pollution measures were a charade that will be gone in a week, back to cancerous smog.

In months leading up to the olympics they imprisoned dissidents & buddhist monks.

Web sites were censored or banned, limiting freedom of information to Chinese people & tourists. Even iTunes was banned for a particular song that it contained.

Foreign media was not allowed to film freely, only in designated areas. Hotel internet traffic was monitored & censored.

Very bad impression of the Chinese gov't.


Same as before.

nope

well l ALWAYS knew that China (in general) was awesome! but the chinese gov't is another story and l can not say my opinion of the gov't has improved.

Not really. Yao Ming contributed more to changing my view about China than these Olympics.

Before: Asian people = creative, artistic, culturally rich, awesome martial arts, and great synchronization skills. Chinese Government = sneaky, controlling.

After: Asian people = creative, artistic, culturally rich, awesome martial arts, and Amazing synchronization skills. Chinese Government = sneaky, controlling.

Yes it did. l can not believe they eat BBQ Scorpions on a stick and BBQ snake on a stick.

No, it has not changed my view. l was opposed to China holding the Olympics in the first place but as the games went on it sort of left my mind (though it should not have).

This is the first time I've ever really watched the Olympics, followed nearly every event & tracked each countries progress. l was just enjoying the experience & l know China, as a country, is extremely screwed up but watching the Olympics made me realise people from all over the world can come together & forget politics for a while & be united through sport & healthy competition.

I've truly come to appreciate the Olympics this year, as cheesy as it may sound & l realise this has not answered ur question at all.

My opinion of the Chinese government did not change. Actually, most of the stories l have heard throughout the preparation for these games and during the games only solidified my opinions. My opinions of Chinese rule have always been based on the human rights atrocities committed against the people of China.

Very Much, l knew Some Things About China, But l Am Fascinated by That Beautiful Country & Wonderful Culture..!!

As a Chinese in Hong Kong l fully understand why the Americans & the world r so critical of China. In many aspects China is behaving not satisfactory, but u must know that we started as a starving country in the 1960’s, & the rate of change is simply incredible, even to a Hongkonger like me. Whichever government who can unite 13 billion people to do this should be regarded a great one. It is very certain that China will overtake USA in many many aspects, & Americans should not remain so naive without coming to China to take a look & just depend on ur media to understand us. l understand u much much more than u understand me. l can listen, read, write & speak in both English & Chinese, can you?

— Posted by Arthur


So people who r still criticizing China.. Just SHUT up. Thank You!

The only losers r some malicious Western reporters. Their purposes have never been to build a bridge for mutual understanding, but to deepen & widen the misunderstanding among people.

People, with regards to China, don’t trust ur media, go there & see. You will not be misled to another Iraq war if u do so.

This is a very interesting question.
To me, the Games definitely changed my view. Firstly, it came as a surprise that China got more gold than USA. It really show the strength & power. Secondly, the open ceremony & close ceremony really reveal the change China r going through.
A lot of ppl see the gov't & ppl separately. However, they r really un-separatable. There r almost 1/10 of Chinese r officials or work in gov't. I'd say most of the government is decisions r reflects of the people is opion. Before the Game, the majority of Chinese r either self-central or western-are-always-great. The Game opens new window to the Chinese, lets them know the reality of outside world. This will eventually let to change in gov't.

Absolutely not
john

yes, iwanna move and get out of jersey

Yes it did when its all said and done,, it is 1 world,

those who r criticizing china, have u been to china?

if not,how did u form ur view to china?

since u can not read Chinese,i'm afraid the westen media is the only way.

so,do u believe the medias r right?

yes,you do.

why do u belive them to be right? because u have NEVER read of other attitudes to china.

so,this is the answer,you r 井底之蛙。which means u r a frog at the bottom of a well,so u can only see a little sky.

so naive when u r criticizing china!!!!

what china should do is to leave u alone, let ur medias cheat u on, when some day u wake up, u may find the NO.1 is not U.S.A. any more.

of course,maybe u will never wake up.