Signing Off

Dear Readers,

The KTSF Olympics Team (Kwokshu, Mei-ling, Jo, Jie, Dave, Vernon, Lia, and Ryan) want to thank you for tuning into our blog over the past several weeks. It's been an amazingly fun experience bringing you updates and reportage from Beijing. From pandas to protests, this extraordinary Olympic Games certainly gave us lots of material.

And thanks for sticking with Huan Shu, our KTSF mascot mouse. She arrived in Beijing without a name and quickly became a hit with the lao bai xing (ordinary people) of Beijing. She's been photographed all over town!

As we head back to the Bay Area, we wish you a fantastic end of summer!

Best from Beijing,
Ryan Kellett for KTSF 26

Kwokshu Poll 3: Self Heating Meal Answer

Kwokshu asked in his third and final poll: how did a self-heating meal at the Bird's Nest cost?

Answer: 20RMB

Day 21: Special Interviews

The Interviewers
Originally uploaded by KTSF at the Olympics

Tonight, we had the special treat of the USA Ping Pong team visiting us this evening. We put together a special forum for the four athletes: Gao Jun, Wang Chen, David Zhuang, and Crystal Huang.

Check out our photos and watch the segment on the next KTSF broadcast!

Kwokshu Poll 3: Self Heating Meal

Kwokshu recently took a day off and went to the Bird's Nest stadium to take in some track and field. Along the way, his stomach started growling so he stopped in to one of Coke's concession stands to pick up a bite to eat. Kwokshu was unimpressed by all options except one: the self heating meal. Below is the five steps of the self-heating meal:

Step One: Remove Packaging









Step Two: Set Up Chemical Packet









Step Three: Replace Food Platter









Step Four: Close lid, Look for String









Step Five: Pull String and Wait for 8 Mins









Step Six: Enjoy Steaming Hot Food









Quick fact: Soldiers in Afghanistan enjoy the same type of meal with the same self-heating technology.

And now the poll question: how much did this high tech dinner cost? Hint: a bottle of 20 oz. Coke costs 5RMB at the Coke concession stands in Beijing.

Answer to Kwokshu Poll 2

A few days ago, we asked readers to answer the second edition of the Kwokshu poll: What is the approximate value of the pin? And why? What type of pins would fetch a higher value?

Answer: The approximate value of the pin is $50USD. Pins such as these which are issued by a National Olympic Committee (in this case, Madagascar) are particularly valuable, but media pins (NBC, CCTV, etc.) are more valuable. The folks we talked to were outside the Olympic Village trying to get a few National Olympic Committee pins from various atheletes.

Check out the Wall Street Journal video on pin trading.

Day 19: All About TV

TV Commercial Director
Originally uploaded by KTSF at the Olympics

Kwokshu talks to television commercial director about Olympic commercials in China. We saw some of his latest works which include car and beer commercials. He also gave us a sampling of his musical stylings on the piano and guitar as well.

Day 18: Gorgeous Protest Parks

Ritan Park
Originally uploaded by KTSF at the Olympics

We paid a visit to two of the three protests sites in Beijing. Placed in beautiful parks, we found no signs of protesters! So instead, we took some footage for our music montages. Check out Dave hard at work.

Day 17: Silk Market

Silk Seller
Originally uploaded by KTSF at the Olympics

Jie Chen went to the Silk Market to pick up reactions to rising prices in Beijing and China. On the way, we paused to pick up a reaction story to Liu Xiang's attempt to defend his hurdling title. We gathered by a TV with lots of onlookers only to be disappointed when Liu Xiang left the stadium. The onlookers quickly dispersed with few words of comment. Many of the photos from today are from the dozens of people interviewed at the Silk Market.

Jo is doing a story on the Beijing Olympic legacy and Dave is once again editing a "MTV" piece of traditional music.

Today is (possibly) Vernon's last day in Beijing (depending on flight statuses). While we certainly miss him as we enter our final week of Olympics coverage, we wish him a safe flight home.

Ryan Kellett

Rumor Has It, You Can See it from Space!

Chillin-on-the-Wall-3
Originally uploaded by KTSF at the Olympics

So Huan Shu and the team had the day off yesterday. Check out their photos from Simatai, Great Wall!

KTSF Athlete Results: Day Six/Seven/Eight

KTSF is profiling twelve top U.S. athletes for the Olympic Games! Keep track of their progress right here on the China Games Blog.

The results from Aug. 14th through 16th:

• Table Tennis: Chen Wang and Crystal Huang advanced the U.S. Team with wins against Nigeria and a play-off win against Romania. She ultimately lost in the second play-off against Korea.
  
• Shooting: Sandra Fong placed 21st in her Women's 50m Rifle 3 Pos. Qualification
• Wrestling: Clarissa Chun won twice in the Women's FR 48 kg but lost Icho Chiharo of Japan in the semifinals. In the bronze medal game, Clarissa lost again and placed fourth overall.

Stay tuned for Synchronised Swimming. We will be following Annabelle Orme and her team.