Two years and three months ago, a visitor to the Olympic Green would have seen tens of thousands of staffers and Chinese volunteers working furiously to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I was stationed an hour’s drive away at the far more tranquil Great Wall Road Cycling Course, but I visited the Olympic Green several times before Opening Ceremony, to get a feel for what it was like to work in the epicenter, among a sea of red and blue training suits. Once competition began, the Green was overtaken by thousands of spectators, making their way through exhibits while hopping between venues. Just two weeks later, however, hours after Closing Ceremony, the scene changed dramatically — the Green became a ghost town, with not a soul in sight at times, as I covered in a 2008 blog post.

The scene today is much like it was during competition, though groups of athletes have since been replaced by tour groups, led through the venues by flag-bearing guides. Locals peddling postcards, instant photos, and cheap Fuwa kites have replaced international food vendors and official stores selling logo merchandise at Western prices.

The volunteers are gone as well, with ticket collectors taking the place of well-trained credential checkers. Tickets to access each venue, now open to the public, range in price from $5-7 — a high price for locals and Chinese tourists, who may have paid the same price for access to a venue (including a ticket to an Olympic event) just two years ago.

Click the “read more” link for more photos from the Olympic Green!

You’ll still need to pass through security checkpoints to access the Green, though seemingly distracted x-ray machine attendants provide little actual security.

Tickets to enter the “Bird’s Nest,” officially referred to as “National Stadium” during the Olympics, cost about $7.

Once inside, you can ride a Segway just feet away from where Usain Bolt and other athletes made history on the track.

Stop by the press room on your way out — now the “Exhibition of Successive Chairmen of the IOC’ Waxen Images.”

You’ll also have an opportunity to purchase official Bird’s Nest logo gear, in stores that once sold licensed Beijing 2008 merchandise.

I was more than happy to pay the $5 fee to enter the Water Cube, however — a venue that I wasn’t permitted to enter during the Olympics.

One hall of the Water Cube has been converted into a water park — I counted a total of eight water park visitors during the 90 minutes I spent walking around the complex.

There’s also a wave pool, with live entertainment on-stage. (Forgive the poor-quality photo — my camera was overwhelmed by the contrasty scene.)

After some negotiating, $1 will buy you an unlicensed Fuwa (Olympic mascot) kite set.

Logo upkeep didn’t seem to be a high priority — this was just one of several original logos that appeared significantly worn after just two years.

Mickey and Minnie replace the oversized Fuwa mascots that walked the Green during the Games.

A handler walked around with the unlicensed Disney characters, offering to take pictures for a fee.

There’s also a large underground mall on the Olympic Green — not an ideal location considering that you must pass through security to access the Green, which is already located several minutes from the nearest hotel or apartment complex.

Perhaps business will pick up once several of the advertised “dinning” establishments have opened.

See “Beijing’s Ghost Town” for a look at the Olympic Green just hours after Closing Ceremony.

Just days after my visit to Ayutthaya, Thailand, the region was hit by the worst flooding in decades, affecting over 1 million people. I noticed water levels beginning to rise during my visit to the Ayothaya Floating Market last Friday, caused by heavy rains. As I shopped, workers pumped water out of the lake as levels nearly covered pedestrian bridges, using the pumping equipment seen in the photos above and below, which I imagine has been used extensively over the last few days.

I’m unable to access my blog from China, which has significantly limited my abilities to post. This post was sent via email, so please forgive any typos. I fly back to New York in just under 10 hours, however, where last time I checked my browsing wasn’t limited to Chinese websites and government-approved news sources, so expect many more posts from my Asia trip next week. Have a great weekend!

My good friends Tim Gideon and PJ Jacobowitz at PCMag.com spent the better half of the day producing a hands on with Microsoft’s new Zune HD MP3 player. The iPod touch-like Zune HD includes a multi-touch 480-by-272-pixel OLED display and is expected to launch next month. For more from the hands on and a slideshow as well, head to PCMag.com.

The Readers offer a few major advantages over the Kindle. Purchase price is obviously a factor, but the devices are also compatible with Sony’s library of free content, including over one million public domain books from Google. The Readers also support local library eBook loan programs, so readers can download books for free using their library card. eBook loans expire just as they do with paper-based media, so libraries can purchase a limited amount of content to share amongst their members. The Kindle bests the Sony Readers with connectivity options, however—the Amazon Whispernet enables realtime synchronization using Sprint’s wireless network, while the Reader requires a computer with an Internet connection to add content.

Read more about the new Sony Readers at PCMag.com.

Enjoy!
Zach

(Posted by my helpful Stateside girlfriend.)

Zach Honig

My Olympus DSLR kit includes two camera bodies, the E-420 and recently released E-520; a 12-60mm f/2.8-4 lens; 25mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens; EC-14 1.4x tele converter; FL-36R flash; and extra charged batteries to help me keep up with a pair of 8GB SanDisk CompactFlash cards.

For image editing and blog posting, I’m bringing along my thin and light Apple MacBook Air. I also have a Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium ultra-mobile PC for accessing the web on the go using Beijing’s new WiFi network (more on that later). Thanks to its compact size, 25mm wide-angle lens, and 720p HD video capture, I also chose to pack the versatile Panasonic DMC-FX35 point & shoot camera, so I always have a camera even when I can’t carry my Think Tank Airport Antidote backpack.

I’m also packing my bag with plenty of accessories. In addition to power adapters and outlet strips (I’ll be posting about powering your gear in China in a few days), I also brought along an 80GB Apple iPod Classic and 320GB Western Digital Passport portable hard drive, for backing up images and other files. The pockets of my Airport Antidote backpack are stuffed with everything from lens wipes to a pocket tripod for working in low light.

Even though I know the ins and outs of almost every camera on the market today, I’m also bringing along manuals for each piece of equipment, and reading them cover to cover on the 13-hour plane ride to Beijing. With the incredible sophistication of today’s technology, I often discover new features just by opening a camera manual.