As promised, I will be doing a video feature with some interviews on how people view the Olympics now that they’re over (I plan to wait a little while so it sinks in), but on the way back from meeting a new Chinese friend today, I asked the cabbie what he thought, personally, about the effect of the Olympics now that they’re over.

Of course I don’t remember his exact response, but here’s the gist of it: ‘Of course, I think the Olympics were great for China, and very successful. And I hope that they will allow the West to gain a better understanding of China. But from an economic standpoint, places like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong–cities that hosted Olympic events–will benefit more than we will. That’s kind of a popular opinion here, that in the end the Olympics don’t have a lot to do with us in Harbin.’

Not the response I expected! Well, that’ll make the video interviews more interesting!