"Watch and Ride" in China's Transit System

The Chinese government spent an astounding $40 billion preparing for the Beijing Olympic games, and not all of that money went to building majestic sports stadiums. To showcase the games, numerous LED TV screens were installed just about everywhere people go in the Olympic cities - subway stations, subway cars, buses,

even taxis, as well as in major intersections. And the screens are still there and functioning, showing Olympics highlights such as the opening ceremony and Michael Phelps winning another gold medal. But they also increasingly run TV programs and commercials. This is certainly something that most Western countries have yet to do in their public transit systems.

Another legacy of the games is heightened security. This is a picture of an x-ray

machine in one of the Beijing subway stations. In fact, every entry of every subway station has such a machine, and any traveler bringing in a bag has to go through the security check. According to Chinese statistics, there are 105 subway stations in Beijing and more than 3 million people ride the trains every day. In major stations, people line up for 20 minutes or more just to go through security!

As for the impact of the Olympics themselves on the Chinese people, my impression only from talking to people is that the Communist Party succeeded in stregnthening its legitimacy. People seemed to be impressed by the work that went into the games and the fact that they ran successfully, despite all the inconveniences they caused for the average citizen. People I talked to said the hassles they had to go through were worth it for the games and the boost to China's international status.

--Wei-Cheng Chen is a project manager at InterMedia.