PtG Article 07.10.2009

Olympic legacy in the eyes of a 30-year old local

Beijing native Kang Kang, a journalist for Chinese national TV-station CCTV, told Play the Game at the IOC session in Copenhagen how he had experienced the city develop.

“When I visited the US a year ago, I had a discussion with the daughter of an American basketball coach. I asked her, if she thought that Beijing could be as impressive a city as New York, and she exclaimed ‘no way!’. But when I met her one year later, after she had been to Beijing, she was surprised to find that the city was equal to other metropolises,” said Kang Kang. In his eyes, hosting the 2008 Olympic Games was an unique chance for the Chinese capital to show its hospitality to an international crowd. 

 “Beijing has achieved a high level of standard and is on the way. As a nation, we want to be better and to learn,” said Kang Kang in closing.