You shuffle through the sliding glass doors at Beijing's Capital Airport and a gust of dusty December wind whips round your ears and neck. You take a look around.

Big, cold and gray.

You and your rumpled driver merge onto Beijing's Capital Expressway. He coughs loudly, coughs again, clears his throat and opens his window. A wad of gunk comes apart in mid-air. He rolls up his window. Coughs loudly. Coughs again. You take a look around.

Big, cold and gray.

Your cab inches into Beijing - a forest of concrete apartments and high-rise office buildings. Crowds form at every corner. A siren sounds, then a jackhammer. City girls and country stiffs text-message down heaving sidewalks. You take a look around.

Big, cold and gray.

That's one version of Beijing.

Another version is vibrant and colorful. It boasts palaces and museums. The Great Wall looms nearby. And crouched between its busy thoroughfares, 17 million people tend to a unique urban culture.

Squeeze close to that Beijing, and here's what you might hear, meet, touch, taste or see:

- Taiwanese pop blaring from a 24-hour karaoke bar
- A toothless pool hall attendant, bored out of her mind
- The smooth head of an elephant idol
- "Tang erduo" (candy ear), a deep-fried street-side snack
- Magpies wheeling overhead

- The rumble of an elevated train grinding down its tracks
- An elderly man with his 'erhu' (two-stringed instrument)
- The prickly mane of a fruit-cart pony
- Cow's tendon and robin's egg kebabs
- Clear blue skies

Since arriving in Beijing one month ago, I've often wondered: which verison of the city will its Olympic guests see?

Neither, most likely.

Beijing's officials are spending US$40-60 billion on the Games. They've built impressive stadiums (the colossal 'Bird's Nest' cost US$500 million alone), moved heavy industry outside the city and sponsored an inclusive English-learning campaign.

Why? In the words of one Chinese scholar, to guarantee "a robust, modern Beijing" is the version that foreigners see.

Next up...a construction discussion.

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"Beijing's Olympics Stadium"

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