For most Chinese, the 29th Olympic Games are far more than a sports event - it’s a national festival. While the games are heating up the atmosphere in Beijing, people outside the capital are expressing their passion for the event in their own ways.

In Hangzhou (located in the southeast of China), some farmers have made their own replica of the “Bird’s Nest” (the Beijing National Stadium) - out of bamboo!

Frankly speaking, the final result is not so “pretty”, but it looks like a real bird’s nest anyway.
Well, just for comparison, I would also like to share a photo of the real national stadium with you. It was taken during the fantastic opening ceremony, I love it so much!

Image credits: QQ Blog

Many people campaign for animal rights and it seems that some PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) activists would even murder just to save some cats and hamsters. But maybe even this might not be effective enough to save goldfish.

Because somewhere in this world, for example in Qingdao, China, you can buy sealed key fobs with live goldfish inside. Well, the fish will only be alive for a few hours, of course. Not many creatures can survive without oxygen.

I’m not a vegetarian, and usually I am not someone who tries to protect animal rights. Yes, I am a sinner who eats meat, ham, cheese, fish, and eggs. I am also a barbarian who wears leather products. However, I am not sure that burying animals alive can be justified just because the goldfish cannot complain about it.

Moreover, I don’t understand the concept of this product, as this goldfish coffin is heart-shaped, with a little symbol of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on it. The original idea of the Olympic Games was peace. Maybe the producer – or rather butcher in this case – wants these goldfish to die in peace?

Or maybe it’s a key fob for necrophiliacs who like having a dead body with them whereever they go… I can not understand, and I’m glad that I can not understand.

Image credits: welcometowallyworld.com

Since Google Earth and Google Maps have brought maps into our digital life we are used to combining content with geographical data. In order to promote this service Google also releases tailor-made maps for special events such as the Olympic Games in China: on an Olympic Torch Relay Map web users can track the Olympic torch on its way around the world!

The map is regularly updated according to the current location of the torch. You can also click on the torch icon for information about the cities or download the Google Earth layer to watch the relay in action. Unfortunately the map isn’t very helpful when it comes to the exact route through the cities, but it is a great idea and a smart application that is creating a lot of buzz both online and offline.

As are the Olympic Games even although they haven’t even started yet - heated debates are going on in the blogosphere about the violent protests in Paris and San Francisco and the idea of boycotting the games because of the Tibet conflict (check out the press coverage below). Personally I don’t think that boycotting an event the athletes have been training for all their lives is more than unfair towards them. Neither will it change a political situation, which by the way was well-known before China was awarded the games. So talking politics now after a supposedly “unpolitical” decision years ago does seem rather hypocritical to me. Or what do you think? Any political sports experts out there?

Source: Google-latlong blog