According to the Associated Press, the Olympics are decidedly lacking in both fans and vibe. “After the first few days of the Beijing Games, some cracks have appeared in China’s perfect party,” including “empty seats at the venues, disappointing crowds at the Olympic grounds… [and] a lack of buzz around the city,” a report said.

According to the report, just 40,000 people passed through the Olympic Green on Monday, and the IOC has told organizers the number should increase to 200,000 people per day. Olympic sponsors, with their lavish—and empty—Olympic Green pavilions, are understandably concerned. As a Canadian listening to a rock band at the Samsung pavilion told the Wall Street Journal, “It’s too bad there aren’t more people… I though this would be more of a party.”

From my perch at Ling Long, I can testify that the Olympic Green is indeed quiet—or at least quieter than I expected. Spectators trickle in and out of venues, and locals—those that have obtained special Olympic Green passes—take turns snapping photos of one another in front of the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. Overall, though, crowds are sparse, even after organizers today opened the Green to thousands more visitors in response to criticism.

There are also reports of empty seats at venues, including major events like swimming and tennis, even though they claim to be sold out. The main excuses given for lack of buzz are security and weather, and the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) says some people are choosing to show up for one or two events when they have tickets for a slate of them. Others argue that corporate sponsors aren’t making use of all of their tickets. It could also be that China’s tightened visa rules implemented this Spring convinced some foreign ticket holders to stay home. And the latest rumour (so far unsubstantiated) is that BOCOG is deliberately withholding tickets from ticketing companies for security reasons.

Yesterday after work I did some investigating. Media pass in hand, I set out to a series of high profile events to see for myself if this really is the “no fun games.”

Men’s 3-metre synchro diving: I strolled into the Water Cube about halfway through this event to find a packed house. No surprise there: the Chinese have been embarrassing competitors in diving so far. Fans waved the red and yellow flag and chanted, “jia you, Zhong Guo” (which literally means, “add oil China”), and cheered politely for the other teams, including Alexandre Despatie and Arturo Miranda, who couldn’t quite take home Canada’s first medal. The Chinese are a reserved lot, but this crowd was certainly having fun.

Men’s tennis, Rafael Nadal vs. Igor Andreev: Court 1 at the Olympic Green Tennis Center was overcapacity for this match. So full, in fact, that desperate fans peered through locked gates to get a glimpse of the Spaniard. At one gate fans started chanting, “Let us in! Let us in!” Despite the eager crowds, there was still section of volunteer fans that BOCOG is using to fill empty seats. They were all young girls wearing matching white hats and shirts, cheering on the struggling Russian.

Men’s tennis, Roger Federer vs. Tomas Berdych: As soon as the Nadal match ended the crowd rushed over to center court to claim their assigned seats for the Federer/Berdych duel. The stadium filled up quickly, but by the end of the first set there were still some empty seats near the top—a bit of a surprise considering the history between the two: the Czech beat Federer in 2004 in Athens, bringing the most dominant tennis player of the last decade to tears.

Field hockey: On my way back to the Media Center the bus drove past the hockey fields, where Canada was being taken down by Pakistan 3-1. I didn’t stop but both venues appeared to be near capacity.

Swimming: I returned to the Water Cube in time to catch heats for women’s 200-metre breaststroke and men’s 200-metre individual medley (Michael Phelps swam in heat six). The Cube wasn’t sold out, but it was by no means empty. Crowds were more subdued than during diving, but an entire section of cheering athletes from some two dozen countries filled the void.

The stadiums seemed full, but what about the buzz around the city? Unfortunately, long hours at Ling Long have prevented me from exploring Beijing, and the 3:15 a.m. alarm clock has sadly curtailed my Olympics partying. To get a sense of what it’s like on the streets I called up local night owl Jim Boyce, a Canadian who writes a blog about Beijing’s nightlife.

“I’m having a great time,” he said.

Boyce told me that despite pre-Games rumours, patios and rooftops remain open and bars are rocking well past 2 am. “Since last Friday I’ve been out every night. Not every night has been busy, but most places have good crowds, there’s a good vibe, and it’ll pick up even more on the weekend.”

Granted this is anecdotal evidence, but it seems media reports are overblown. Beijing 2008 may not be shaping up the way the IOC and corporate sponsors were hoping, but from my vantage point the city seems excited, fans are (mostly) showing up, and the atmosphere is building.

These Games may be more conservative than, say, Sydney 2000 (hey, Aussies know how to party). But there’s fun to had at the no fun Games. After all, beer costs less than a buck.

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Posted on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 9:30 am. Follow comments through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comment or trackback.