mr-damon/china

The luminous Bird's Nest track stadium and Water Cube pool lent an air of ethereal isolation. Even in summer, it felt as if the Games were held in an Olympic snow globe, as Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated so aptly put it.

Michael Phelps made for the perfect symbol -- ruthlessly proficient in winning eight gold medals, unerringly prepared, perfectly ordered, but somewhat rehearsed and dull. Phelps was so tunnel-visioned, he did not notice the arterial pulse of lights on the Water Cube's outer skin until his competition had ended.

It was left to Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, to bring a sense of fun and spontaneity. He danced and shimmied his way to three gold medals, drawing warm and sustained applause at the Bird's Nest, relieving the funereal disappointment that accompanied the limping exit of China's most popular star, the hurdler Liu Xiang.

Of course, the buzzkill president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, had to stamp out any sense of impromptu exuberance.

"He still has to mature," Rogge said of Bolt, showing again that despite so-called reforms, the I.O.C. remains doddering in European paternalism.

What needless admonishment from a man whose smile is nearly as extinct as the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Apparently, Rogge preferred the artificial celebration of the opening ceremony, when Chinese authorities faked a song, putting one young girl on stage and piping another young girl's voice through the public address system. When the Chinese flag was raised in the Bird's Nest, suffocatingly devoid of moving air that night, the flag suddenly snapped to attention, fluttering in a synthetic breeze created by air jets in the flag pole.

Organizers were firmly determined to avoid imperfection and careless oversight. Even the brand name of the toilets in the main press center was covered in tape, lest anyone think American Standard had paid to be the official urinal of the Beijing Games.

just after midnight Thursday morning, four protesters raised their fists and shouted slogans while waving a Tibetan flag near National Stadium. As with the other protests, the participants were quickly bundled away by plainclothes officers.

Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said that German and British consular officials had told the families of the German and British detainees that they, too, would probably receive 10-day sentences.

Two photographers at the scene for The Associated Press were also roughed up and taken into custody, according to news agency reports and press freedom advocates. After the photographers were questioned separately for 30 to 40 minutes, the police confiscated the memory cards from their cameras.

In the past month, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China has received dozens of complaints from overseas journalists who were detained, trailed or had equipment damaged by the police.

"When it comes to media freedom during the Olympics, China is not even on the awards podium," said Jonathan Watts, the club's president.

On Friday, Students for a Free Tibet declared that its Olympics campaign had succeeded and that it was winding down. In characteristically stealthy fashion, the announcement was made by two members who summoned reporters to a street corner with 20 minutes' notice.

The members, Alice Speller and Ginger Cassady, said that even though the protests had been fleeting and witnessed by only a few Chinese, they had helped highlight the issue in the foreign media.

"China is trying to show the world this face, that they are a modern, progressive country, but that really isn't the truth," said Speller, a law student from Britain. "The real face is one that denies freedom of expression, and that denies it brutally and violently when it can."

Reporters Without Borders is encouraging journalists covering the Beijing Olympics to skirt censorship with tips on how to get around firewalls, lock computer files and find safe translators.

In a guide published on the Internet Wednesday, the Paris-based organization advised reporters Wednesday to conduct phone calls and write e-mails with the knowledge that they may be monitored.

China has backed away from a promise to lift all Internet blocks on foreign media.

The new guide will likely help only journalists who have not yet left for Beijing: The press freedom group says its Web site, rsf.org [rsf.org] , remains blocked in China.

Chinese officials assured news organizations "complete freedom to report" when bidding for the games seven years ago. The International Olympic Committee received further such assurances in April. But Kevan Gosper, a senior member of the IOC, said this week that the promise will apply only to sites related to "Olympic competitions."

Many of the men and women who live at Two Kings view the earthquake as a comeuppance for man's endless wars, the neglect of the elderly, the abuse of the environment. "You can't keep cutting down the trees and destroying the land without a response from the heavens," said Ms. Ai, as the daylight faded and the monks and nuns retreated to their tents.

Still, she said she thought some good might come from the calamity. Down in the city, she had been moved by the sight of strangers helping one another. Perhaps people will learn what she and the other Taoist devotees view as the elements of a harmonious life: self-discipline, kindness and the pursuit of simplicity. "Maybe people will learn that you cannot keep living a corrupted life without consequences," she said. "Maybe this earthquake can redeem us."

The Chinese government is refusing to issue visas to Hindus trying to make the traditional summer pilgrimage to what they hold to be the home of Lord Shiva in Tibet, forcing thousands to delay or cancel the trip.

Starting in June, Hindus from Nepal and India embark on a multi-week journey to the 22,000-foot, or 6,705-meter, Mount Kailash in the Himalayas and nearby Lake Mapam Yutso, known in India as Lake Mansarovar. The trip, a once-in-a-lifetime event for most who make it, includes treacherous off-road drives and several days of arduous trekking; it is believed to bring the traveler closer to the divine.

This year, the Chinese government is refusing to grant any visas for travel to the Tibetan sites from Nepal, tour operators in Nepal say. The Indian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the Chinese government had cited unspecified "domestic reasons" for the cancellation.

At the same time, Beijing has retracted permission previously granted to Indian pilgrims who were planning to make the trip in early June. The Olympic torch is scheduled to go through Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, on June 20.

"Police detained more than 600 female Tibetan protesters, including many Buddhist nuns, on Sunday after breaking up several demonstrations in Nepal's capital against China's recent crackdown in Tibet.

"The protesters held three separate rallies in Katmandu but were quickly stopped by police."

"Detained protesters are generally freed by police later in the day.

"Nepal's police have broken up almost all anti-China protests by Tibetan exiles during the past several weeks and detained participants. Officials say they will not allow protests that could harm Nepal's friendly relations with neighboring China.

"The Tibetan exiles have mainly been protesting in front of the United Nations offices and the Chinese Embassy in Katmandu.

"Security has been stepped up around the embassy since the protests began, with hundreds of police posted on the streets leading to the building.

"The United Nations and international rights groups have criticized Nepal for using what they say is excessive force to stop the protests. Police have beaten people with batons and dragged them through the streets while detaining them."

Many South Koreans expressed shock and anger yesterday after the Olympic torch relay in Seoul ended with violent protests by Chinese students that left many injured and one student arrested.

It was the largest demonstration ever held by foreigners in Korea.
Local civic groups threatened to stage a demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, while angry criticism directed at the protesters swept local Web sites.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry officially conveyed its displeasure to China's ambassador to South Korea Ning Fukui, who expressed "regret and consolation" to Koreans injured on Sunday.

"We wonder whether the Chinese are qualified to hold the Olympics under the theme of world peace, while they demonstrate extreme violence towards those who oppose them," said Rev. Kim Kyu-hong, a member of the civic group called The Citizens' Action Against the Torch Relay.

Kim said most group members attending the protest against the torch relay were elderly, adding that Chinese students threw rocks and tried to stab the group with poles flying Chinese national flags.



"I don't know how foreigners can demonstrate violence towards Koreans in the middle of the country's streets with no restraint," Kim said.

The Chinese students kept shouting, "Beat him to death!" and "Apologize!" Those who were beaten up by the Chinese mob were later revealed to have been three members of civil rights groups who had protested against China's handling of the Tibet issue in front of the Deoksu Palace on Sunday afternoon. They escaped into the hotel after being chased by over 400 China supporters. One riot police officer had to have six stitches in the head after being beaten by the mob.

A group of Chinese students beat activists who staged a protest calling for Tibetan independence in front of Deoksu Palace in Seoul on Monday.

There was also footage of a reporter bleeding from the head after being hit by a piece of wood thrown by the Chinese, and a leading member of a civil rights group hurt by a metal cutter hurled by the Chinese demonstrator. One clip shows four American high school students wearing "Free Tibet" T-shirts surrounded by 300 Chinese people. They were later rescued by the police.

A detail from ''Summer Mountains,'' attributed to Qu Ding.