KEY POINTS:
A disruptive commotion briefly flared on Tiananmen Square in Beijing yesterday.
The centre of attention were two women standing near the vast portrait of Chairman Mao over the Gate of Heavenly Peace, China's potent national icon.
Crowds crushed around them and soldiers gawked, warily at first, before relaxing. This was no security threat.
The cause of the kerfuffle was New Zealand's Olympic synchronised swimming sisters, Lisa and Nina Daniels.
Among throngs of local tourists, they stood out with their blonde hair and in their shorts and singlets.
As soon as the Herald photographer started taking pictures of them, the crowd mobbed forward, snapping pictures and talking excitedly among themselves.
The Daniels, taking in the sights before their competition starts on August 18, were unfazed.
When it was pointed out that they were stars, they giggled. "It's really busy, so many people," said Lisa.
Less than a day before the start of the Games, there is excitement on the streets of Beijing.
A 'Beijing 2008' sculpture in the middle of the square was a popular backdrop for locals to have their photos taken in front of, often waving Olympic flags.
Many people stared at our Olympic accreditation and asked to have their photos taken with us.
The atmosphere was of a festival. One man had come from Jiangsu province, on the eastern coast about 1000km from the capital. He was here for the Olympics, he told me, even though he did not have tickets.
I tried to ask him more questions, but he melted back into the crowd. It was a common response. Photographs were fine, but once I started asking questions, people backed away.
Sure, language was a barrier. Within the Olympic bubble, China has done an incredible job educating the volunteers in English. Outside, though, English is rare (and my Mandarin covers only the most basic phrases).
But you get the feeling that language was not the problem. It was the eyes of the soldiers and guards.
Security is tight around Tiananmen Square. It was impossible to walk across its imposing expanse, under the eyes of the security forces and the cameras, without thinking of the lives lost when the tanks rolled in to quash the student uprising in 1989.
The legacy of actions like that, probably, is the trepidation we noticed yesterday.
It was probably also why we were watched so closely.
Apart from having our bags searched when we entered the square through the checkpoint, and the sight of the soldiers and police lining the periphery and guarding the main monuments, the security was not overt.
But we were tailed throughout our visit by a pair of men with radios under their loose-fitting shirts, who stayed close by.
Still, the mere fact that we were allowed in the square is an advance. Not that long ago, journalists wishing to film there required permission. We didn't.
Maybe if authorities had known the fuss the Daniels would cause, things might have been different.
Eugene Bingham
Pictured above: Lisa (left) and Nina Daniels. Photo / Kenny Rodger
