Maybe all the talk of boycotting the Olympics in China will die down with the first perfect round-off, but in the meantime it's hard not to wonder what we're doing there.

The New York Times recently ran a horrific story about what Chinese athletes go through to get ready for the Olympics. Hint: It's not just waking up early and catching a ride to the local skating rink.

Chinese police officers stand watch on the visitors after the daily flag raising ceremony in Beijing's Tiananmen Square at dawn on the 19th anniversary of the military crackdown on democracy protesters, Wednesday, June 4, 2008. Dozens of people remain imprisoned for taking part in the 1989 pro-democracy protests centered in Tiananmen Square, but releasing them would improve China's image ahead of the Beijing Olympics this summer, a human rights group said. (Andy Wong, AP)

A child who survived the last week's earthquake plays with a paper airplane at an earthquake refugees camp in Mianzhu, in China's southwest Sichuan province Friday, May 23, 2008. Rebuilding shattered buildings and cracked roads in central China will take three years, the government said Friday, as the death toll from the earthquake rose to more than 55,000. (Oded Balilty, AP)

Parents grieve their children, who died at Fuxin Primary School, on May 22, 2008 in Wufu, Sichuan province, China. Nearly 7,000 classrooms collapsed in the earthquake last week, killing thousands of students and parents are trying to pressure the local government into investigating alleged local corruption, greed and mismanagement. Tens of thousands of people remain buried in collapsed buildings from the 7.9 earthquake which has killed well over 51,000. State media reported that 10 million people have been directly affected by the quake with 5 million homeless. (Paula Bronstein, Getty Images)

A woman carries a baby at a temporary shelter set up for earthquake evacuees in Mianyang, southwest China's Sichuan province, Tuesday, May 20, 2008.(Oded Balilty, AP)

This wedding photographer in China was taking pictures of the happy couple when the earthquake struck.

The album quickly went from posed images of the bride and groom to shots of falling debris and the bride climbing over wreckage. You can see the images here.

It's photographs like these that put a face to those high death-toll numbers and make the tragedy feel even more real and sad.

Interesting little video from the PBS series E2 Design. China who is currently building at the pace equivalent of two New York Cities - every year - for 20 years, is in dire need of Green solutions. You can see the have started to think ahead by imposing simple ideas like banning plastic bags.

The pollution is so bad and Cities like Beijing they are actually going to shut down all the factories while the Olympics are taking place to clear up the air.

via videosift.com

Who says recycling isn't worth it?

Nine Dragons Paper
Woman tops China's new rich list - BBC
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