Olympics Home
Race Results
News
Features
Blog
Resources
Photos
Video
Pick 'Em!
MORE COVERAGE
row2k home
Olympic Sponsors
Advertiser Index
-2017 World Rowing Championships
-Boathouse Sports
-Calm Waters Rowing
-Concept 2
-Craftsbury Sculling
-CRI
-Croker USA
-Durham Boat Co.
-Empacher
-Filippi
-Florida Rowing Center
-h2row.net
-HUDSON
-The Joy of Sculling
-JL Racing
-Maas Rowing Shells
-Maccabiah Games
-Nielsen-Kellerman
-Pocock Racing Shells
-Resolute Racing
-Rower's Edge
-Rowing The World
-RowKraft
-Rubini Jewelers
-Sew Sporty
-smartOar
-Sparks Consulting
-USRowing Clinics
-Vespoli USA
-Wahoo Rowing Camp at UVA
-WinTech Racing

row2k Olympics Blog


Browse past Postings:

May 2024
S M T W T F S
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31  
Blog Contributors
Ed Hewitt
Ed Hewitt is the publisher of row2k.com
Erik Dresser
Erik Dresser is row2k's Assistant Editor
Erin Cafaro
Olympic Champion Erin Cafaro rows bow seat in the US Olympic W8+
Esther Lofgren
Esther Lofgren rows 3 seat in the US Olympic W8+
Gevvie Stone
First-time Olympian Gevvie Stone is the USA W1x
Megan Kalmoe
Olympian Megan Kalmoe is the 3-seat of the USA W4x
Taylor Ritzel
Taylor Ritzel rows 4 seat in the US Olympic W8+
USA LM4-
Prendes, LaCava, Newell, and Fahden of the 2012 USA LM4-
On the ground in Shun YI
posted by: Ed Hewitt (August 7, 2008)
Yah, it's 4am here, and i'm ready for an afternoon run; i should be over the jet lag right around the time racing has ended. Entry into China was fairly painless - tho it was the prep for entry into China that was rough. A week out from departure, i got an email that said, more or less, if you want to bring in any equipment, like, say, a camera, you'll need to fax these six documents and call these three numbers and then show up at the Chinese consulate near you. Then the bureacratic dance started:
-i will need to come pick it up monday, as i leave shortly afterward
-ok
-at what time should i arrive?
-we will call you
- on monday?
-we will call you
- i have to travel some distance, so will need some advance notice, and would have to drive in fairly early on monday.
-ok
- so it is safe to come monday morning?
-we will call you. ok. upon arrival at the consulate in ny, i called again. the reply:
-i will be in the lobby in three minutes.
call comes in five minutes: your papers have been delayed, they will be ready in one half hour.
- ok, i will come back in a half hour
- we will call you

we took the time to stop in at bh photo to fill some gaps in the row2k photo bag, and have a bit of a family outing; i figure you play the hand yer dealt. four hours later i had the papers; 48 hours later i entered China without anyone ever asking me for the papers. and it has been smooth sailing from there. i'm staying in the shunyi hotel a few kilometers from the venue; there is no official transport on friday, so it may be an interesting first commute come morning. the hotel seems nice; the only snag was that the internet in my room was not working, just a bit of a problem given my job. folks here came around to troubleshoot and fix it at 10pm; i was very appreciative. I saw many of the usual suspects on a quick pass through the Main Press Center; one of the British journalists mentioned he hoped that the "fog would lift" before the start of racing to improve visibility for watching the racing. It may be fog in London, but this stuff goes by a different name - rhymes with fog, tho. Unless there is some generic haze mixed in, it is a formidable smog cloud; hard to say if it wil affect the athletes dramatically, tho. one wrote from the course the other day to say "the pollution is totally doable," so hopefully that is the case. Sorry no photos yet; heaps to come tomorrow, of course. Hopefully this doesn't read too addled; i've been up for the better part of 36 hours; sorry if so. dawn is breaking, off to take a run, always the fastest way to get the lay of the land. cheers from beijing, ed



FOLLOW US
LEGAL
Copyright © 1997-2024
row2k media
All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy