SRHS Grad Will Report
From Chinese Olympics
By Shawn Doria

Before entering my senior year in computer systems engineering at Boston University, I have been given the opportunity to spend my summer in China, a country rich with culture and history. This year is a special year, with the 2008 Summer Olympics a little over a month away; the country has been in full gear preparing itself for one of the most monumental events in its recent history.

I was born and raised in China. Having come to America at 11, graduating from South Royalton High School, I’ve already had the opportunity to experience two radically different cultures, and now seems a good time to renew my acquaintance with my families in China, and to learn more about its rich culture and history.

I hope to report from China for The Herald of Randolph occasionally during my trip, including reporting from Summer Olympics.

Upon arriving at the International Airport in Beijing, the first thing I noticed was my physical surroundings: the notoriously bad air in Beijing was much cleaner than I remembered, and the airport was devoid of the usual dust and sand blown down from the northern highlands. The recently expanded International Airport itself is a sight to behold. With automated car/trains and stylish architecture, one could mistake it for an airport terminal out of science fiction.

As the taxi drove me through the streets heading towards downtown Beijing, gone are the big and intruding advertisements on the roadside, replaced by flowers and banners promoting the 2008 Olympics.

One thing is certain; this is not the same China I knew from my childhood, this is a new nation, ready to present itself to the world in the coming months.