Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Free wireless! (hopefully)

My dad told me the other day that there would be free wireless internet service in Beijing in time for the Olympics. CECT-Chinacomm Communications is implementing the buildout, with the first phase to cover an area of 100 sq. kilometers already completed. I'm not sure what 100 sq. km covers, but my dad says there should be coverage up until about the 3rd ring. This is good news for us since our apartment is between the 2nd and 3rd Ring. For those of you unfamiliar with the rings, let me direct you to a city map:

As you can see, Beijing is centered around the Imperial Palace, located directly across from Tiananmen Square. The Second Ring Road, Third Ring Road, and Fourth Ring Road form concentric circles around the city center. Our apartment is near Yuyuantan Park, west of city center. The location is actually not ideal for the Olympics since most venues are located north/northeast of city center. The other day, we realized we would have to take 5 subway lines (yes, that's right, 5!) to get to the Olympic Stadium. But that's cool, we'll just get really adept at navigating the public transportation system. Or take a lot of cabs.

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