Arrival

Arriving in Beijing after the Olympics, i was curious to see how the city had changed. To some extent, it has but to another it has stayed the same. The city still has, in my opinion, the most ascetically pleasing airport in the world and it never ceases to amaze me just how massive it is. Going through the city, I noticed that smog, temporarily beat back last year, has started to get bad again, but no worse than most major American cities. Beijing is no longer covered in Olympic logos, but I am told all the major buildings from the Games are still in use for another purpose. For instance, the Bird's Nest is used as the home field for the Chinese national soccer team.
Though the massive facade that covered the city last summer is partially pulled back, revealing less prettier things, the citizens have not changed and are still as friendly as ever. My taxi driver knew only basic English used for driving purposes (take me to, left, straight, how much? your fare is, etc) he also knew the phrase "Go Lakers!"