Epilogue: Sideshow Beijing 2008: An Absence of Euphoria beyond the Southern Clouds

This analysis investigates an example of internal dissent regarding the assumed positive qualities of having the Olympics awarded to Beijing. The observations herein are located in the frontier and marginal points of view, being vantages with a historical depth of alternative understanding newly re-energized by the inherent divisiveness generated by China's recent neoliberal transformation. The sentiments of disagreement observed are excavated for the purposes of illuminating both the mechanisms of that dissent and the present-day concerns that preoccupy the dissenters. Therein is to be found a story of frontier-centre relationship, official-commoner interrelation and good old fashioned 'haves' vs. 'have-nots' socio-economic difference - a result not surprising in today's socially and developmentally bifurcated China.[1]