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Ford Models’ Delphine travel in China from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Disney Hong Kong prepares for CNY 2009 (Image from Xinhuanet (Chinese))

I think I should book my ticket to Hong Kong for next Chinese New Year… looks fun.

Disney Hong Kong in Chinese New Year mood from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Central

Central is the major business district and also the administrative centre of Hong Kong; the area probably has the highest concentration of skyscrapers in Asia.

Skyline of Central and Victoria Harbour at night (Image by Dave)

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Amazing Race Asia 3 – Ep 6 – Hong Kong from YeinJee's Asian Journal

After three years of development, the Palace Museum and IBM have unveiled on Friday (Oct 10) a virtual palace where online tourists can peek into the history and culture of the former imperial palace in a game-like 3D environment.

The project will allow people who cannot visit Beijing to experience the Forbidden City, while also providing a platform for further learning and refences for those who have visited the place in real life.

Image from the website’s photo gallery

The project looks pretty cool at first glance, but the loading speed is killing me… seems like it might take forever to download the software.

Virtual tour of Beijing’s Forbidden City from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The power of love

Matthias Steiner of Germany was the men’s +105kg weightlifting champion on Tuesday. When I first saw the picture, I thought of how romantic this guy was… I only knew a day later that the woman in the picture was his wife Susann, who died in a car accident last year, and it sparked plenty of emotions…

Matthias with his gold medal and a photo of his late wife (Image via Beijing2008)

This will probably be the most memorable Beijing Olympics’ photo for me… it draws love, sadness, romance, pride, commitment and loyalty. If I am a woman I would probably fall in love with this guy.

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Beijing Olympics roundup (7) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

While the tighter security and visa rules have contributed the lower demands, the hotel businesses should really blame themselves for overambitious pricing at the very beginning.

I had been planning in 2007 to visit Beijing during the Olympics, but gave up the idea because of the high accommodation cost. Some of the three-star hotels were charging USD200 per night, which was quite outrageous by any standard. As much as I wanted to be at the Beijing Olympics, I’m not ready to being ripped off like that… and I believe there are lots of other foreigners who are being scared off by the price as well.

It’s not the end of the day for these hotels though, despite a lower-than-expected occupancy, they should still be able to make handsome profits because of the high pricing. But overall, I’m afraid it’s the country’s image that is being dampened… the Chinese should see the Olympics to promote China to the world, and not just a short term event to bank in some money.

Beijing hotels slash rates for Olympics from YeinJee's Asian Journal