The Olympics paid off in more ways than one for China. Sure, the country got awesome new hotels, venues and infrastructure built, but now, post-games, the country's also experiencing a boom in tourism. The New York Times reports that travelers want to experience for themselves what their favorite Olympians did--and tour groups are seeing bookings jump as much as 20 percent.]]>
Alright Phelps phanatics. If you didn't get a chance to play grab ass in Vegas with the gold medal god, you'll have another chance in Baltimore on October 4.
After a miscue in August, the Phelpstival is a go, and it starts with a "Parade of Gold" at 3 pm through Towson, Maryland, the suburb that the swimmer calls home. At 7 pm, a "Star-Spangled Salute" will be held at Fort McHenry.
One assumes the party won't stop just because it's getting late. While we can't guarantee a Phelps appearance, Max's Taphouse does have the biggest selection of beer in the city.
Related Stories:
· Phelpstival [Official Site]
· Max's Taphouse [Official Site]
· Michael Phelps coverage [Jaunted]]]>
Now that the Olympics are over, it's time for Baltimore to cash in on Michael Phelps' most recent gold medals. The Phelpstival--that we heard about last week--will start at 9 am on September 11 in the suburb of Towson, Maryland.
The party kicks off at Phelps' high school, where Cedar Avenue will be renamed in his honor. A parade will then march to the courthouse where the world record holder will receive a key to Baltimore County.
Here's hoping the Baltimore tourism board doesn't make him do a lap in a hotel pool.
Update: Don't believe everything you read at Baltimore.org! Turns out the tourism board posted info about 2004's Phelpstival on its official website before hyping the news on Twitter. Only later did officials realize that they'd made a mistake. When the real Phelpstival is announced, we'll let you know--as long as the tourism peeps give us the correct date!
Related Stories:
· Phelpstival [Official Site]
· Baltimore Tourism Wants a Piece of Michael Phelps [Jaunted]
[Photo: PopStarsPlus]]]>
Who doesn't want to siphon off a bit of that Michael Phelps glory these days? Baltimore, the record-smashing swimmer's hometown, is hoping to milk his eight-medal Olympics for as much tourism as the city can stand. The Baltimore Area CVA has even set up a specific URL for Phelps phanatics: Baltimore.org/phelps.
So far, the page is pretty much blank, with just a vague promise of more to come:
Check back to Baltimore.org for information on Phelps' Welcome Home Celebration.
Hopefully the party doesn't involve any lusty fans getting ill-advised tattoos!
Related Stories:
· Olympic Travel: Which Stars Are Watching the Games? [Jaunted]
· Olympics coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Allure]]]>
The world simultaneously giggled and rolled its eyes when the Guardian newspaper released a photo gallery of President Bush up to his usual hijinks at the 2008 Summer Olympics with wife Laura and daughter Barbara. But he's not the only non-competing celebrity to be hanging out in the host city, hoping to bump into Michael Phelps.
Blogger Beijing Boyce has been collecting celeb sightings of people like Bill and Melinda Gates on the Olympic green, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling at (where else?) the baseball stadium, and Jared Leto just about anywhere.
David Hasselhoff and John Mayer are rolling into town to celebrate the last leg of the Gumball 3000.
But the best celebrity leak so far involves a bunch of civilians who are being pressed into action to represent their country at the last minute. No, not as an ad hoc water polo team, but at the closing ceremonies Led Zeppelin will perform with Leona Lewis and David Beckham will speak for the next summer Olympics, in London in 2012. Reportedly, they will all have a red double-decker bus for a platform, which makes us both excited and nervous.
Related Stories:
· LOL Bush: The president at the Olympics [Guardian.co.uk]
· Beijing Olympics Celebrity Watch [Beijing Boyce]
· Gumball Rally To Arrive in Beijing Tomorrow [2008 Games Beijing]
· Beckham to appear at closing ceremony [BBC]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[LOLBush: the Guardian]]]>
If you've never been to an American embassy, we're here to tell you that it's not actually that much fun. (Well, maybe it's fun if you're invited to a party, but that's not why we stopped by!) Still, the new diplomatic mission in Beijing looks good enough to compete with The Bird's Nest and The Watercube.
The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill building opened the same day as the games, August 8, and is second in size only to the US embassy in Baghdad. The eight-floor facility covers 10 acres and cost $434 million to build. It's just outside Beijing's Third Ring Road.
Inside, you'll find a rich collection of contemporary art, including pieces from Louise Bourgeois, Martin Puryear, Maya Lin, Cai Guo-Qiang and Robert Rauschenberg. Because the embassy had a budget of "only" $800,000, many of the works were either donated or sold way below cost to the State Department. One exception is Jeff Koons' "Tulips" which is on a 10-year loan from the artist.
Related Stories:
· About the Embassy [Official Site]
· Cool New US Embassy in Beijing [BlackBook]
· More Embassy Travel: Let's Go See the Queen! [Jaunted]
[Photo: SOM]]]>
A friend of Jaunted is on-hand for the Olympics, and she'll be doing her best to keep us posted on what it's really like for a spectator in China. Here's her report from August 13:
]]>My family and I started the day off early with a visit to the Great Wall of China. We thought we were getting a head start arriving at 8:45 am, as we had gone to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, which is usually less crowded and more scenic than the Great Wall at Badaling. But instead, we found an unusually big crowd--due to the Badaling area being closed for an Olympic cycling race on the roads nearby.