Is this the Beijing you see on TV?

Personally, while watching prior Olympics, I've had no thoughts about the actual people native to the host city and country. You might see a couple human interest stories. One about a volunteer older than the Games themselves and another about the underprivileged family of an Archer. And of course, you get cut shots to famous sites. I'm guessing you'll see the Great Wall, Mao's portrait, and Tienanmen Square frequently.

But you probably won't see the working class and their neighborhoods. These are the people and the neighborhoods that give China its true charm. Yes, China is expanding faster than my waistline in Italy, but there are still people who collect recyclables, pile them on 3-wheeled bikes and ride them to a plant for pay. Yes, the sum of an overpopulated city and ultra-affordable automobiles is a traffic cluster fuck that make LA rush hour seem like the Autobahn. But most real people ride bikes. What's more, they carpool on them.