Just got back from 10 days in Asia including six stunning days in Beijing and four eye-opening ones in Seoul. I am still a bit jet lagged and don’t have all my thoughts organized but wanted to quickly bestow a gold medal marketing award to China. Never before has a country had so much to prove and taken up the challenge with so much gusto.
Vinyl by Vera: As a first time Olympic host, China was determined to dazzle the world on and off the playing fields. And dazzle they did. I had the pleasure of visiting six venues and each was stunning inside and out. Colorful vinyl graphics spruced up normally dull stadium interiors and architecturally-intriguing structures like the swimming Cube and the Birds Nest were simply stunning. If I owned a stadium, I sure would be studying the Chinese efforts–a little colorful vinyl can cover up architectural short-comings and lift the spirits of all inside.
Landscaping by Disney: Imagine one of the world’s largest cities was landscaped like Disneyworld and you probably still couldn’t picture the floral beauty that enveloped Beijing. Every street, and I mean every street, had perfectly manicured hedges surrounded by perfectly arranged flowers. Red and green flower trees dotted key intersections. Even construction sites were beautified with obfuscating walls covered with colorful Olympic graphics. Rainbow banners hung from every street lamp and road sign. Bright red lanterns hung from most retail establishments. Every tourist spot like Tienanmen Square, the largest public plaza in the world, had Olympic displays that looked like winning floats from the Pasadena Rose Parade.
No Ad Pollution: Following in the lead of Sao Paulo, Brazil which banished all of its billboard in 2007, the Beijing Olympic Committee (BOCOG) used its authority to rid the city of all extraneous billboards. The few remaining boards were all Olympic related, either for the TOP sponsors like Panasonic, Coke and Visa, or for the Beijing Olympics themselves. While this was probably a sad decision for the Chinese out-of-home advertising industry, it certainly illuminated the jarring clutter you often seen in big cities. The elimination of outdoor also increased the visibility of all the new buildings including the amazing CCTV arch and the
torch-shaped building where evidently the athletes stayed. 
Lower Air Pollution: For the record, my eyes started to burn the minute I landed in smog shrouded Beijing. After the second day, I felt a constant irritation to my nasal passages. It wasn’t until the third day that I actually saw a bit of the sun. Remarkably, those who spend a lot of time in Beijing, said that the week I was there was the clearest and lowest smog levels they had seen in Beijing in many years. I didn’t feel compelled to wear a face mask like the US cycling team but I couldn’t certainly appreciate their desire to protect their lungs. Take a look at the sky in the picture below (CCTV building) and you’ll have a pretty good sense of the constant shroud Beijingers live with pretty much all year round.
Bottom line–China put on an amazing show. Now how great would it be if the second act involved cleaning up their polluted country. Turns out that is going to take a lot more effort than even the “we can do it all” government of China expected. 
