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In Beijing, joie de vivre vanishes By Tal Dvir BEIJING - The streets of Beijing were filled with people drinking and dining on Saturday night while at the same time, workers nearby worked hurriedly adding the final touches before the start of the Olympics. From our vantage point we could see workers putting hundreds of pots with flowers in place, only a small portion of the 40 million flowers brought in to decorate the Chinese capital. Three days before the Games start, and the tension can be felt in the (polluted) air. Two days of clear skies had made organizers hope that at least pollution would not give them a headache, but then the weather again became muggy and dirty. Advertisement The weather together with a series of stringent new laws and regulations have caused some people to dub these Games as the "No Fun Olympics." Longstanding clubs like Vick's and Mike's have shut down entirely for the duration of the summer, simply because they had the misfortune of being located at the entrance to the Olympic village. Many owners of clubs, pubs and cafes claim they have been pressured by local officials to shut down early. "What if a group of athletes gets drunk and causes a ruckus?" asked one drinking hole owner, who said he would close early. Just in case, Chinese police patrol in force around two A.M. making sure proprietors close their establishments by then. "This place has been no fun for three weeks," the owner of one establishment said, on condition of anonymity. It gets worse: Three weeks ago a number of bar owners were asked not to serve alcohol to Mongolians or blacks. That request was quickly withdrawn, after the world press caught word of it, but two major clubs, Club 14 and D-22, have been threatened with closure because authorities say they do not stand up to the sanitation requirements. Contrary to what one might expect, Beijing is not awash with tourists. The extravagant hotels that have sprung up in the city this year are half empty. At the moment it seems that the hopes that the Games would give the city an economic boost are vanishing. For the first time in its history, China will be the host of such an international event. Only 30 years ago, this country was shut off to the world. Now, after a couple of years of incredible progress, they want to prove themselves, but in order to make sure nothing goes wrong they've taken the soul out of the event. About 110,00 security officers are in the city. Such precautions are aimed at preventing any terrorist activities that separatists from the Xinjiang may want to carry out. Only recently, about 16 police officers were killed in that province in a hand grenade attack. State officials said that the assailants were part of the insurgency calling for the independence of East Turkmenistan, as the majority Muslim province is called by rebel forces. Security surrounding the U.S. and the Israeli villages have been ratcheted up in view of past events, such as the 1972 murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists. Bookmark to del.icio.us   New bestsellers Three children's books about the US presidential race to be published soon. False accusation Pentagon admits it wrongly accused Jewish army engineer of spying for Israel.

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