One year later, Olympics boost China's confidence

Thousands of them visit the massive, empty building every day, making a connection with their nation's triumph.

They are people like businessman Sun Haijing, his wife and 6-year-old daughter. Decked out in matching pink polo shirts, they clasped a replica of the Beijing Olympic torch and mugged for photos recently in the Bird's Nest, the main stadium for the 2008 Summer Games.

China went into the Olympics hoping to send a message about it's place as a prosperous and influential world leader. Almost a year later, a tainted milk scandal and internal unrest may have dampened whatever bump China enjoyed in its international standing, though authorities have largely succeeded when it comes to another audience - the Chinese themselves.

"The Olympics brought glory to the country. It made us all very happy and proud," said Sun, who traveled to Beijing with his family from their northern hometown in Jilin province. The games "let other countries see how we've developed and helped push forward China's position in the world," he added, sweating in Beijing's August humidity.

Kicking off last Aug. 8 with a spectacular opening ceremony watched around the globe, many Chinese see the Olympics' success and the home country's dominance in the gold medal tally as an affirmation of their progress in the three decades since economic reforms were launched.

Abroad, the legacy is more mixed - a testimony both to the post-games hangover encountered by all Olympic host cities and China's rigid political system. While impressing millions with the grandeur of its venues and organizational flair, surveys show the games did little to soften China's image as an authoritarian state regarded with trepidation by many as it becomes more powerful.

The Olympics allowed international audiences to see China as "a modernized, urbanized and well-organized society," while failing to hide the flaws of its communist system, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an expert on Chinese politics at Hong Kong Baptist University.

"Every time there are riots or unrest in China, people will still say: 'OK, there's been a lot of modernization in China but the political environment remains very outdated,"' Cabestan said.

For Chinese such as the Sun family, however, the effect of the games on the national psyche remains considerable.

Their success, along with China's rising economy, has instilled a new confidence in many Chinese, correlating to a more assertive world role. The past 12 months have seen China take a high profile role in response to the global economic meltdown and dispatch ships to the international anti-piracy fleet off Somalia - the country's first-ever overseas naval deployment. It's reached out with greater self-assurance to rival Taiwan, and played hardball with other countries over thorny issues like Tibet and Xinjiang.

"The Chinese have suffered from an inferiority complex for many decades," said Xu Guoqi, the author of "Olympic Dreams: China and Sports 1895-2008."

"The success in hosting the Games and winning Olympic gold medals has largely cured this inferiority syndrome and helped them get rid of the label of China as 'the sick man of Asia."'

Steve Tsang, an expert on China at Oxford University, said the games also helped boost the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party. This is significant to a government that faces challenges from the rise of an independent urban middle class, rural unrest, and violence in Tibet and Xinjiang.

"The Games have made the Chinese Communist Party leadership and the general public in China feel more confident about China and its future," Tsang said.

The 91,000-seat National Stadium, built at a cost of $450 million, is perhaps the best symbol both of the pride that rose from hosting the games and the uncertainty of its long-term impact.

Despite its many visitors, the venue is only now preparing for its first post-Olympic athletic event - a preseason warmup between Italian clubs Inter Milan and Lazio on Saturday, the anniversary of the games.

"Beijing 2008" banners still hang from the rafters at the Bird's Nest and two jumbotrons play Olympic highlights, including the synchronized beating of drums by 2,008 performers at the opening ceremony and Jamaican sprint star and three-time gold medalist Usain Bolt striking his signature archer pose after crossing the finish line.

A layer of soot has dulled the stadium's soaring steel lattice and the paint in some parts is starting to peel. The huge expense of holding events there and China's still underdeveloped professional sports industry are largely to blame for the malaise, despite official pledges to utilize all Olympic venues to the fullest.

The nearby Water Cube swimming center where Michael Phelps won a record eight gold medals has also struggled to find a new purpose, although it is now being converted to a waterpark and shopping center.

Other changes added for the games may have longer-lasting effects on the city. China splashed out $40 billion on subway lines and other infrastructure, pushed out beggars and demanded citizens wait in line, stop spitting and drive better. Restrictions on factories and automobiles helped clean up the capital's notorious pollution for a time, although the smog has since largely returned.

Despite that, many observers also question whether China missed its big chance to redefine itself after decades of being portrayed as a repressive country. Tight media restrictions and Internet censorship have remained while political activists continue to be detained.

Post-Olympic euphoria also was quieted by troubles at home and abroad: Within weeks of the games, cracks in the global financial system began to deepen, and in China a crisis erupted after infant milk formula was found tainted with an industrial chemical, sickening hundreds of thousands of babies.

Public anger over official corruption and widening income gaps continue to drive protests that often turn violent. The country also saw its worst ethnic conflict in decades last month as riots shook the predominantly Muslim far west.

Dali Yang, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago, said the tainted milk scandal was a "major letdown" for the Chinese, especially as it unfolded shortly after the Olympics and China's first space walk mission.

"The question that should be asked is how come this country that can put its astronauts into space and hold the world's finest Olympics ever cannot guarantee the safety of milk products for its babies?" Yang said. "There was this disconnect, in a sense, because it showed the government's priorities in many ways."

For avant garde artist Ai Weiwei, a frequent government critic and consultant in the design of the futuristic Bird's Nest - which he later disassociated himself from - the games did little to bring loosening of political controls and more transparency.

"The whole Olympic show is just a fake smile," Ai said. "But there's something the government is not able to fake - the freedom and happiness of a civil society."