Sloppy services bode ill for Guangzhou's Asian Games

• Source: Global Times
• [22:09 November 29 2009]
• Comments

Illustration: Liu Rui

By David Yang

I recently spent a weekend in Guangzhou for work.

It was exhilarating to be in the city at this time. Guangzhou is working hard on the infrastructure for the Games. New landmark buildings, subway lines, roads, and stadiums are being built, while old ones are being repaired and renovated.

Construction sites are everywhere, and frequent slogans keep reminding one that for the first time an international sports event is coming to Guangzhou.

Though the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee have said that their budget is 3 billion yuan ($439 million), the total spending for the Games is way more than that.

From 2004 until now, the municipal government spent nearly 200 billion yuan ($ 29.3 billion) in various infrastructure projects and 6 billion yuan ($ 878.9 million) in building and renovating stadiums.

Yet despite these numbers, I feel there are things Guangzhou might want to change to help upgrade its image and become more tourist-friendly.