Pandas, parks, and pagodas in the city that’s going for gold

Pandas, parks, and pagodas in the city that’s going for gold

With citywide preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games in full swing, the Chinese capital is blooming. It was with a sense of pride that I gazed out the window during my taxi ride from Beijing International Airport through the brief stretch of rural terrain and onward into the urban sprawl to see these majestic monolithic creations with their grand entrances and dazzling décor.