While debate continues over how much the Olympics changed China, a recent survey indicates that hosting the Beijing Games changed some views of China among the 4.7 billion people who watched the event on TV.
According to an online survey conducted by the Nielsen Co. of viewers in 16 countries after the closing ceremony, seven in ten said Beijing appeared more modern and high-tech than they had expected. Technology was one of the self-proclaimed pillars of Beijing's Games, and organizers put it on display during the opening ceremony, which featured a giant digital scroll.
About half of those surveyed by Nielsen also came away with a very good or somewhat good impression of Beijing's physical environment. Pollution levels in August reached some of their lowest levels in years, following a 71.3 billion yuan investment in environmental clean-up.
Inside China, the consensus is also that the Games changed how the world views the country. A post-Games survey of 500 urban Chinese by research house Synovate found that 60% felt the most important legacy was that 'the rest of the world has learned about China.'
Geoffrey A. Fowler
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