Olympic Stadium area not quite ready

I went walking around the olympic stadium yesterday. Good thing there is another 100 days or so until the Olympics because the area surround the stadium needs lots of work. The streets and sidewalks are all torn up with a minefield of uncovered man-holes waiting for distracted walkers to fall in.

It is mostly cosmetic work that remains to be done, but there is lots and lots of it. All the curbstones in that area are being replaced (or put in for the first time), thousands of trees and shrubs need to be planted, sidewalks paved, street signs added, planters filled. But they seem to have workers going around the clock to get it done, so it may be done in time.

Beijing has more construction going on here than anywhere I have seen in the US, and that includes Boston with the Big Dig. Everywhere you look new office towers and large apartment complexes are going up. Seeing the materials yards for these projects makes one understand the worldwide rise in materials prices. The yards have mountains or rebar, lumber, steel girders, preformed concrete, and all sorts of contruction materials.

Organized shanty living quarters have been set up all over Beijing for all the migrant workers needed for construction.