The Chaoyang District government requests your cooperation | Beijing Olympics Blog

The familiar ring of my Chinese mobile phone - not the SI-issued one whose ring I couldn't recognize for the first few days I was here in Beijing, but the one I've been using for years on various trips to China - beeped again this afternoon. It's the Chinese/Nokia version of "You've got mail!" and this time, it was a Chinese-language missive from the Chaoyang District government, reminding me that the Olympics start tomorrow and to ask my support in helping to wish the athletes luck and to be extra-conscientous in order to have a successful Olympics. It's one of the peculiarily fascinating aspects of the social education story in China: the missives asking residents not to spit, to remember to stand in line and wait their turn to enter a subway car, and most interestingly, to pay attention to fire safety at home. (A few days ago I saw a large group of placards with cartoon illustrations and with text in Chinese and English on the general theme of fire safety: don't leave oil cooking unattended in the kitchen, make sure your fire extinguisher works, etc.) When I taught university in a small southern Chinese city, the local government sent along a message the day before local high schools students were to take the nationwide university entrance exam, reminding us to be extra-quiet over the weekend to give the students the best chance to succeed at the exams. In this country, nothing is left to chance when it comes to helping citizens understand their social responsibilities - so sometime this afternoon thousands upon thousands of cell phones in the Chaoyang District of Beijing beeped, one message for the masses a day before the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

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