Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

As China counts down the days towards the Summer Olympics, Beijing has been embarking on the final leg of an 8-year journey to improve the environs of the capital city. From pollution to traffic congestion to Nigerian drug dealers, Beijing is not the same city it was just a few short years ago. Here's a first-hand look at some of the changes which have occurred over the past two years, and how they might effect the daily life of both locals and visitors alike.

Everything has been prepared, all tickets have been sold, yet Beijing is not ready for the games. The majors issues, air pollution, freedom of speech and journalistic freedom as well as the whole visa thing cast a dark shadow above these Olympics. What will the Olympics be under these circumstances? Doing a review later is easy... therefore I do a preview. What will happen during the Olympics, what will be the outcome?

After US cyclists arrive for 2008 Olympics wearing face masks because of Beijing pollution, many Chinese argue on Chinese forums, some accusing the Americans of being rude while others defend the Americans, agreeing that Beijing air really is bad.

"Take, for instance, the politicization of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. How incredibly aggravating it is to see the Chinese and the Chinese government demand that the rest of the world not politicize their cherished coming-out party, only to see..."

The president of Students for a Free Tibet is in Beijing right now, exactly one year ahead of the 2008 Olympics, vlogging and blogging about Tibetan sovereignty and being a general pain in the ass to the Chinese government.

Lhadon Tethong's liveblogging experiment is incredibly ballsy or incredibly foolhardy, depending on how you look at it.

Beijing has declared time out on Time Out. The English-language edition of the monthly magazine that gives foreign residents and visitors the latest lowdown on the coolest bars, the hippest shops and the hottest shows in the Chinese capital has disappeared. The June issue of Time Out Beijing has been banned from distribution by China's censors.

SYDNEY, Australia, Friday, Sept. 7 — President Bush has accepted an invitation from President Hu Jintao of China to attend the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, a move that drew condemnation from human rights advocates and a Republican member of Congress, who are calling for a boycott of the Games.

BEIJING - As China prepares to dazzle the world at the Beijing Olympics, an uninvited guest is showing up early and threatening to mar the spectacle: free speech.

Chinese government will provide 100,000 free condoms for the athletes in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Village. Chinese online speculate how they will be used...