Now that the primary reason for the trip is over, we can really start to tour around Beijing and do some more touring in Beijing. I have discovered that two weeks is not enough to see Beijing let alone China, I will definitely be back.

On Sunday we had our big day with the closing ceremonies. Lori and I got to wear our Canada t-shirts with Canada printed on the front in English and Chinese and the lucky 888 on the back.

As usual, we went for Starbucks at our usual spot and I finally had the opportunity to capture a shot of soldiers in semi formal dress uniform marching down the street. This was not an every day occurrence but rather a special day as the Olympics were coming to a close.



After coffee, our first stop was Yonghegong subway station on our way to the Buddhist Temple.



We didn't want to spend the entire on Olympic Green so we decided that it would be opportune to visit a Buddhist Temple, the Temple at Yonghegong. This Temple was originally a palace but one of the Emperors chose to turn it into a Lamasery (Tibetan Buddhism). The Lamasery has been standing for about 600 years and has always been an important part of life in Beijing. Today it is still a working Temple and people do go there to pray and offer incense to the various Buddhas in the Temple.



I could go on forever about the beauty of style, architecture and function of the Temple, but there is too much to write today.

After the Temple, I realized that the battery on my camera was running out and I needed to save the power for the closing ceremonies.

As I opened my camera in the Birdsnest, it seem to have re-charged itself.

In keeping with tradition, the ceremony opened with fireworks, traditional dance and the gathering of the athletes on the floor of the stadium.







In our bag of goodies was a fan, our instructions were to use the fan when the athletes entered the stadium to show them our appreciation for the efforts. The fan was an orange and red multi-hued fan that resembled a flame. The effect of 91,000 people waving this fan was rather breath taking.

After a few more performances for the athletes, came the time to pass the Olympic Flag to the next host country, city, London, England.

In honour of this event, a double decker bus, as a symbol of London, was brought into the stadium to begin the handover of the flag and the extinguishing of the torch.





The ceremony to extinguish the torch was nothing but spectacular with a countdown of the days past until the last day and the torch was extinguished. At this moment, we were instructed to light our fake torches to symbolize the torch never dying and the friendship we have experienced continuing forever.



Now for an equally fun activity, the logistics of exiting 91,000 people from Olympic Green onto the subways and busses, cars were not allowed within a 2km radius except official BOCOG vehicles.

I did not think we would get back to the guest house before 2 a.m. but the human traffic control the Chinese instituted for this event was the most effective and efficient control I have ever seen. Everyone went in different lanes and onto their mode of transport as quickly and efficiently as possible even though the crowds were incredible.


We got back to the guest house in record time, I guess that is in keeping with these amazing games.

After seeing these games, I know, there is not a chance in hades that Toronto could have done anything nearly as well as Beijing. Thank you IOC for picking the best city to host these games. Now the bar has been set to a standard that will keep the games as a showcase for a country beyond any level they have seen in the past.