BEIJING SNAPSHOT: Together for a shared future, apart

By MALLIKA SEN
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — The ever-present slogan that governs these Winter Olympics is meant to evoke the ideal of one world. In reality, it’s two. Bus shelters, buildings and the walls that form the membrane of the Olympic bubble all exhort: “Together for a shared future.” But the Chinese residents waiting in front of these hoardings, bundled up against the frigid temperatures, are solidly out of the loop. At the opening ceremony, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach declared that the mission of the Olympics rested in “always building bridges, never erecting walls.” But with ticket sales closed to the public, the locals are walled out of their Olympics figuratively and literally.