Beijing Losing Touch with Communist Spirit

Beijing's mayor says the capitalist-style economic boom "is not healthy or in touch with the communist spirit.”

Advertisements and billboards "that exaggerate terms that encourage luxury and self-indulgence which are beyond the reach of low-income groups are not conducive to harmony in the capital.” 

So…board by board, workers are pulling down many of the giant strips of ad space around the capital – particularly those peddling expensive apartments.

Officially it is called the "biggest-ever crackdown on unlicensed and unsafe billboards.”

Unofficially, it is thought that Beijing wants to present a certain image leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.

The image is – China is still a communist

country.

The Olympics? – the 2008 games are "the most commercial Games ever with more than 50 commercial partners – more than double any other Olympics.

A contradiction? Of course, it is.

But, let's think about it AFTER the Games.