Beijing's leaders had carefully chosen Aug. 8 as the opening day for the 2008 games, believing it was an especially auspicious day.
Many Chinese believe in the power of numbers. The number eight, ba (?? in Chinese, is closely associated with prosperity and good luck because it sounds similar to the word fa (??, or "rich."
China spared no expense on its Olympic debut, spending an estimated US$40 billion on improving infrastructure and building venues in the run-up to the Games. Its money was apparently well-spent. None of the venues, 31 in Beijing alone, was reportedly damaged.
Li Jiulin (?????, a top engineer on the 91,000-seat Bird's Nest stadium, was conducting an inspection at the venue when the quake occurred. He told reporters the building was designed to withstand up to a magnitude 8 quake.
"The Olympic venues were not affected by the earthquake," said Sun Weide (摮怎雁敺?, a spokesman for the Beijing organizing committee. "We considered earthquakes when building those venues."
Ultimately, the series of crises could prompt China to reassess its priorities, said Des Forges said.
"I think there may be some way in which these crises are reminding the government that, as important as the games are, there are perhaps more important issues that need to be addressed," he said.
RSS