With the Olympic Games beginning on a day and time littered with a Chinese lucky number eight — the opening ceremony taking place at 8:08 p.m. local time on 8/8/08 — I’m a concerned what might happen to Beijing once the Olympic fanfare has waned.

No doubt the Chinese want to put on a good show for the throngs that will come to Beijing and other cities hosting events. The people of China are trying to put their best foot forward. Or at least the part of the foot they want you to see despite what’s happened with Tibet, limiting what the press can report and where they can report it from.

I’m not trying to be cynical, but what will happen once the athletes, trainers, coaches and dignitaries say zaijian (goodbye) to their gracious hosts?

What will become of all the hotels in Beijing that were built to accommodate 660,000 rooms when the projected number of people coming is estimated at 460,000?

According to the Wall Street Journal, many of the rooms at hotels rated at 4 stars or less will remain vacant unless tourists living in outlying areas of China decide to splurge and get a room. I’d hate to think of what would happen to hoteliers in Beijing if this small boost in tourism goes bust in the near future due to the heavy-handed government led by Hu Jintao.

What about the smog in Beijing? I remember a conversation I had with a young lady from Taiwan who had been to Beijing. She told me the smog over there is terrible — worse than Los Angeles. Even though factories that cause smog in Beijing have been shut down, it’s been reported that some of the Olympians want to wear masks when outdoors so they don’t have to breathe filthy air. Gray Matter heard that Michael Jackson was going to donate his collection of designer masks he wore from the late 1990s.

Hopefully the games will spark tourism interest for Beijing, Shanghai and the far reaches of the Great Wall. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the Chinese government cutting back on its voyeuristic tendencies and will grant the people some sort of relief from having to be mindful of what they say and do.

Maybe the Chinese government will start pushing for cleaner air in cities so people won’t have to walk around looking like they were visiting someone in the infectious disease ward at the hospital.

Skepticism aside, I’m glad the Olympics start this Friday. It’s the only time I get excited about sailing, badminton, archery and fencing. Otherwise I don’t have much interest in those sports. Not to mention the Olympics will serve as a brief respite from the eyes of the world being on the United States for whatever reason. China, you’re in the spotlight now. Show us what you got.

Columnist Tim Gray, a West Salem resident, can be reached at tim.gray.matter@gmail.com.