An Olympics Tradition?

Many were scandalized when the Beijing Olympic organizing committee revealed that Lin Miaoke, the girl who sang a patriotic song during the Olympics opening ceremony, was actually lip-synching over a recording by someone deemed less attractive by authorities. Some said it was indicative of the Chinese government’s reach of control.

But another revelation, this time by the Sydney Symphony, suggests that faking goes beyond the Chinese government and may even be an Olympic tradition.

The orchestra’s managing director told The Sydney Morning Herald that it not only mimed over a pre-recorded set for the opening of the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but that some of the pieces were recorded by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Both orchestras were quoted in the story saying the miming act was done purely as a safeguard in case anything went wrong during the performance. They also said it was done only to save time, not because one of the orchestras was better than the other — or because of acid reflux, a la Ashlee Simpson.

According to the report, mimed orchestra performances are not unheard of. Directors of both orchestras said this was the case at both the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the Rugby Union World Cup in 2003.

But miming at religious events is considered a strict no-no. As a spokesman for World Youth Day told the newspaper, music played during the Pope’s visit to the Sydney event did not permit faking because it was “an authentic expression of the prayer and song of those people at the time in that place.”

World's Biggest Airport - Beijing Airport! (part 5)

erminal 3
Terminal 3 opened in 2 stages: February 29, 2008 for trial operations and March 26, 2008 for business. It mainly houses Air China, Oneworld, Star Alliance, and other domestic and international flights. It is composed of three sections, C, D, and E (to avoid leading passengers to Terminal 1 or 2 when seeing the letters A and B). T3-C,D, and E are linked by an inter-terminal train.


[edit] Terminal 3C
Air China (Domestic) (Baotou, Changchun, Changde, Changsha, Changzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Daxian, Datong, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Guilin, Guiyang, Haikou, Hailar, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hefei, Hohhot, Jinggangshan, Kunming, Lanzhou, Lhasa, Mianyang, Nanchang, Nanjing, Nanning, Nantong, Ningbo, Ordos, Qingdao, Sanya, Shanghai-Hongqiao, Shanghai-Pudong, Shantou, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Taiyuan, Tongliao, Urumqi, Weihai, Wenzhou, Wuhan, Xiamen, Xi'an, Xiangfan, Xilinhot, Xining, Xuzhou, Yancheng, Yanji, Yantai, Yinchuan, Yuncheng, Zhangjiajie, Zhengzhou, Zhuhai)
Shandong Airlines (Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai)
Shanghai Airlines (Hangzhou, Shanghai-Hongqiao, Shanghai-Pudong)
Sichuan Airlines (Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Wanzhou)


Terminal 3D
This will be used for charter flights during the Beijing Olympics, then will be used for international flights.

Terminal 3E

Terminal 3 waiting area with Air China lounge on the rightAir China (International) (Athens, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Busan, Daegu, Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jakarta, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Madrid, Malé [seasonal], Manchester [begins March 2009], Melbourne, Milan-Malpensa [begins October 2009], Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Munich, Nagoya-Centrair, New York-JFK, Osaka-Kansai, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Pyongyang, Rome-Fiumicino, Saipan [seasonal], San Francisco, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Sapporo-Chitose, Sendai, Seoul-Incheon, Singapore, Stockholm-Arlanda, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Toronto-Pearson [begins March 2009], Tokyo-Narita, Ulaanbaatar, Vancouver, Vienna [begins October 2009], Warsaw [begins October 2008], Washington-Dulles [begins March 2009], Yangon, Zurich [begins March 2009])
Air Canada (Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver)
Air Macau (Macau)
Air New Zealand (Auckland) [begins July 18]
All Nippon Airways (Osaka-Kansai, Tokyo-Narita)
American Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare) [begins March 25, 2009]
Asiana Airlines (Busan, Cheongju, Gwangju, Seoul-Incheon)
Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
British Airways (London-Heathrow)
Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
Dragonair (Hong Kong)
EgyptAir (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Cairo)
El Al (Tel Aviv)
Emirates Airline (Dubai)
Finnair (Helsinki)
Hainan Airlines (International) (Algiers [Begins 2008], Berlin-Tegel [begins May 19], Brussels, Budapest, Chicago-O'Hare [begins June 2009] , Dubai, Geneva [awaiting gov't approval], Luanda [pending gov't approval], Novosibirsk,Newark [begins October 2009] [13], Osaka-Kansai, Seattle/Tacoma [begins June 9],St. Petersburg)
Japan Airlines (Nagoya-Centrair, Osaka-Kansai, Tookyo-Narita)
LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw)
Lufthansa (Frankfurt, Munich)
Qantas (Sydney)
Qatar Airways (Doha)
S7 Airlines (Irkutsk, Novosibirsk)
Scandinavian Airlines System (Copenhagen, Stockholm-Arlanda)
Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)
United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, San Francisco, Washington-Dulles)
US Airways (Philadelphia) [begins March 25, 2009]

Cargo airlines
Aeroflot-Cargo (Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Novosibirsk)
Air China Cargo (Anchorage, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Portland (OR))
AirBridgeCargo Airlines (Moscow-Domodedovo, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, St. Petersburg)
Cargolux (Luxembourg)
FedEx Express (Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai-Pudong)
Korean Air Cargo (Seoul-Incheon)
Malaysia Airlines Kargo (Kuala Lumpur)
SAS Cargo Group (Copenhagen, Shanghai-Pudong, Stockholm-Arlanda)
Singapore Airlines Cargo (Singapore)
TESIS Aviation Enterprise (Kemerovo, Novosibirsk)
Volga-Dnepr (Krasnoyarsk)

World's Biggest Airport - Beijing Airport! (part 4)

World's Biggest Airport - Beijing Airport! (part 3)