Our colleague Lin Yang went to check out Beijing’s Olympic host family program and came back with this video and report:
Family lodging has never been much of a choice for those traveling to China. The government has strict rules on where foreigners can stay, the average housing space is fairly limited, and having a “foreign guest” eating and sleeping under the same roof still seems to be a trying task for most of the families.
So I thought it was an interesting idea when the Beijing tourism bureau announced a plan earlier this year to recruit hundreds of local Beijing families to host overseas tourists during the Olympics. The chosen families would go through “language, manner, as well as political training” to be qualified “Olympic hosts representing the ordinary Chinese.” News reports said that over 1,000 families signed up to complete for the title of Olympic host family, and about half of them succeeded. Each was given a porcelain plate to mark the honor.
I have to admit I had some assumptions as to what these family lodging would look like. Clean, spacious (at least more so than average), equipped with standard sanitary facilities, with educated hosts who are able to carry out some communication in a foreign language. Still, Mr. Zhang’s house struck me as a pleasant surprise.
Located in a quiet alley way in downtown Beijing, Mr. Zhang’s courtyard is only minutes’ walk away from the hip Shichahai area. Snack joints and crafts shops are everywhere, and uniformed tricycle bikers line the streets offering narrated tours of the famous Beijing hutong. Mr. Zhang arranged four bedrooms for the prospective guests–all quite small, but clean and tidy. One of the rooms is decorated in “Chinese red”, a color traditionally used for joyous occasions. “This is for those newlyweds”, Mr. Zhang explained. There is also the living room, where the porcelain plate certifying the family’s Olympic host status is proudly displayed.
For those who are coming to see more than top athletes competing, Mr. Zhang’s courtyard offers something the five stars cannot. Trees in the courtyards, family run stores, kids playing while their parents chat away in the shade all remind me of the old, laid back Beijing before the concrete metropolis was built.
That said, the tourist bureau could do a better job to promote these Olympic family lodgings. “We are mostly relying on the tourism bureau to arrange guests to stay here, and the bureau also sets the lodging price,” says Mr. Zhang. Independent tourists are also welcome, if they could make their way to the door through the zigzagging hutong. Meanwhile, Mr. Zhang’s business is only limited to giving tours to those who are interested in seeing a real hutong family. “We haven’t received any reservation yet”, Mr. Zhang admitted, “but again, I heard those star hotels are not doing too well either.”