Olympic Mania Grips China
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BEIJING — A year before the Olympic games, work began here yesterday on the world’s biggest Ferris wheel. When complete in 2009, the Great Wheel of China will be 682 feet high, towering over the London Eye by 239 feet. China’s Olympic mania is showing signs of spreading out of control. It is responsible for a $40 billion rebuilding of Beijing, a rethink of government policy toward the press, and an adjustment in foreign policy on Sudan. Now it is taking extreme forms. Nearly 3,500 of the country’s younger residents are named “Olympics,” according to state press.
