The Main Press Center (MPC) near the centerpiece Beijing Olympic venues is undoubtedly a refuge from the midsummer heatwave, with its cool air outflowing from the main entrance and felt from several paces away.
But coolness slowly escalates into bitter cold when one stays in the building for more than 30 minutes, and my colleagues and I who spend days on end in our newsroom have to put on jackets and even sweaters -- most of the time the indoor temperature here is no more than 22 degrees Celsius.
"You might feel cold, but many others will complain when the mercury goes up," a maintenance worker has told us.
Yet 26 is the minimum indoor temperature allowed for Chinese government offices in a nationwide campaign to cut energy consumption and improve efficiency. Government employees have also been told to take off their suits and ties in the office to stay cool.
The Games organizers may as well follow these practices and force extra doses of frugality.
In fact, extravagance was never part of the Beijing Games. Without any compromise of its architectural security and futuristic style, Beijing has "slimmed" the landmark Bird's Nest and cut construction cost by 400 million yuan (57 million U.S. dollars). Steel consumption alone was slashed by 12,000 tonnes.
To ensure the venues will not be left unused after the Games, Beijing has built 20 percent of its Olympic facilities on campus -- and four of all the 11 brand new stadiums are based in colleges and universities.
The MPC itself is exemplary in saving -- its 80,000 square meters of interior and exterior decoration cost 3 million yuan in total. Sources from the industry said the amount was only enough to decorate a five-star hotel lobby about several hundred square meters.
Beijing has promised "Green Olympics", a concept widely applauded internationally. But in many cases, to economize is essential if we wish to be "green".
Against the backdrop of a global economic slowdown, surging oil prices and the growing pressure from inflation and global warming, the Beijing Games need to be "green" and frugal more than ever.
Not to mention the needy population at home, including those people in the southwestern Sichuan Province whose homes toppled in the devastating May 12 earthquake.
Sure enough, the stadiums need to be air-conditioned to an ideal temperature -- probably around 20 degrees Celsius in some events. But at the press center, we will feel perfectly comfortable at 26 degrees.
(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2008)