Hello and welcome to Blogging Beijing - an online journal about China's capital city and the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Beijing is a fascinating place. Unlike its extroverted cousins, Shanghai and Hong Kong, Beijing is an urban preserve - for Chinese culture, Chinese history and the Chinese Communist Party. Foreign influences have always met resistance here.

Yet Beijing is changing, and in a monumental way as it prepares to host next August's Olympic Games. Preparations for the Games have already transformed the city physically, attracted global attention and sparked international exchange.

As a U.S. Fulbright Research Grantee, I'm here to study Beijingers' ideas and feelings vis-à-vis the Olympics. As a native Seattleite and the author of Blogging Beijing, I'm here to give you an inside look at this changing city.

Blogging Beijing will explore a different China than often appears in the news. It won't cover Party politics, or global warming, or Pacific-Rim business. It will comment on each - as each relates to Beijing's dynamic culture, landscape and people.

A street vendor weighs oranges in front of a government-sponsored advertisment. "Embrace the Olympics - study the 'ten dos and ten don'ts,'" the ad's smaller characters read.

"Do protect the Olympics' intellectual property rights. Don't buy or sell pirated imitations," warn the ad's larger characters.

More 'dos and don'ts' are plastered nearby. Behind the ads, construction workers carve out another subway line. Infrastructural improvements and public education campaigns have defined Beijing's Olympic preparations.

That's all for today - stop by again for stories, insights, travel tips and more. Thanks for visiting Blogging Beijing!

Post categories will include: 'Exploring Beijing,' 'Olympic Countdown,' 'Cultural Exchange,' 'Green Beijing' and 'Travelogue.'

Below each post, you'll find Blogging Beijing's interactive map and web-links to China/Olympics news.

Interactive Map of Beijing - Follow up on posts and get oriented (please allow time for features to load):

View Larger Map

Newslinks:

"Beijing's population exceeds 17. 4 million"

"Looking for a room in Beijing? Be patient"

"Beijing Olympic organizers provide air pollution findings to IOC"

"New subway lines start construction in Beijing"

"God and the Olympics"

"Not much Chinese food in Olympic Village"