Death in Beijing

Events are overshadowing the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing. A 'crazed' Chinese man plunged a fatal knife into an American tourist and wounded his female companion, and then to tart it all off, threw himself to his death from a Beijing tower. Viewers world over oohed and aahed at the mise en scene that Zhang Yimou orchestrated for the big display of fireworks and Chinese history. Yes, China has arrived in the same proud, over the top way, Herr Hitler had staged the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Somethings never change, only the costumes.