Tuesday Taelspin: From the Beijing Airport to the Palace of Milk

Authors

Date of this Version

3-4-2008

Document Type

Article

Citation

March 4, 2008 in The China Beat http://www.thechinabeat.org/

Comments

Copyright March 4, 2008. Used by permission.

Abstract

In preparation for the Olympics, Beijing last week unveiled the long-anticipated Terminal 3, the mammoth new edition to the Beijing Airport. The Telegraph’sRichard Spencer blogs on his recent flight, one of the first to use the new terminal.

If you do find yourself passing through an airport in the PRC mind your in-flight reading material, as journalist Tim Johnson of China Rises found out when the customs agents at the Lhasa airport took issue with one of his recent purchasesfrom a Kathmandu bookstore.

Controlling books at an airport is one thing, managing a famously eccentric pop star is another. Songstress Björk has caused quite a stir following her performance in Shanghai over the weekend. During the closing bars of her song “Declare Independence,” the quirky Icelandic singer shouted “Tibet! Tibet!” setting off a bit of a firestorm in the Chinese blogosphere (just coming down from their anti-Spielberg tirades) as well as a fair dose of embarrassment for the concert promoter. I have a feeling that Björk’s little stunt will serve only as a warm-up exercise for the CCP spin doctors who really should expect more of the same during the Olympic games.