The Beijing Winter Olympics concluded on Feb. 19 with a grand ceremony with music and fireworks. The ceremony was attended by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. As the various Olympics teams came out to the stadium, the loudspeakers were playing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. While the Western press has generally been painting a bleak picture of the Olympics (now that the Biden Administration is paying big bucks to journalists who attack China), the reality is wholly another.
Many of the athletes and participants expressed great satisfaction with the reception they received. And while there were strict pandemic controls during the course of the Olympics, most of the athletes were happy that they were being protected from getting COVID-19. And while the Western media are also saying that athletes were not happy with the food, there were a lot of comments about the great variety of dumplings that were available to the people. And given the fact of how food is so important in Chinese hospitality, it is unthinkable that anyone involved in what was for the Chinese government, an extremely important undertaking would have been shortchanged in that respect.
In Italy, there is now a spirit of picking up the Chinese technological torch for the 2026 Winter Olympics, which is planned for Milano-Cortina. Italy, historically and to the present, is a home of great engineers, as well as Renaissance artists, thinkers and statesmen. Italians are now looking forward to what wonderful things can be done in Milano-Cortina, including in the line of great cuisine.
