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When you think back to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, it was a bit odd to see armed reserve and active military standing at important gates and venues. In China, it's a part of everyday life, especially in the neighborhood of my hotel.
This area of Chaoyang District is where many of the foreign embassies are located: the European Union, Germany, Sweden and others. They are guarded day and night by armed military police who can be seen regularly marching in formation when there is a changing of the guard. With their barracks a block away, their morning exercises are one of the first things I hear, and their jubilant singing one of the last each night.
Seeing the general population pass with little care, in this society now on the fast track to the future, makes you realize how far this country has come and brings hope for even greater strides tomorrow.
E-mail: thughes@ksl.com
