Eager to impress, the Chinese government is giving Beijing a made-for-TV face-lift

This article is from the July/August issue of Radar Magazine. For a risk-free issue, click here.

Stifling pollution, pet genocide, and the ubiquitous loogie might be the hallmarks of the Beijing that its 17 million residents know, but it's a long way from the cosmopolitan city the rest of the world will see during the 2008 Olympics.

Instead, the control-freak Chinese government will slap some lipstick on its human-rights-violating pig and present a cleaned-up version to the rest of the world—all at the expense of Chinese tradition (i.e., selling counterfeit key chains).

Read on for eight examples of China's Olympic face-lift.

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CHANGE #1
Reduced traffic
To avoid unglamorous congestion, the government will allow only half of Beijing's drivers to hit the streets on any given day, depending on whether their license plates end in odd or even numbers.

CHANGE #2
Less spitting
Convincing Beijingers to repress their loogies is like convincing Americans to give up Red Lobster, but determined officials are imposing a steep fine of up to 50 yuan and mobilizing a volunteer army to "offer" tissues to defiant hockers.