Poorly attended news conferences, a meager global social media footprint and lack of "much obvious" enthusiasm on the ground: Beijing looks like an "improbable front-runner" to win the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, according to REUTERS. With Oslo dropping out of the race last year Beijing is left "facing the Kazakh city of Almaty." Unlike in the weeks ahead of the '01 decision to award the 2008 Olympics to China, when Beijing "buzzed with excitement," just weeks ahead of the July 31 decision on '22 there is "little sign of Olympic ardour, aside from a few posters in the subway." The government "appears to be setting expectations low for the public reaction should Beijing win the decision." When asked if public celebrations or watching the decision on big screens around the city were being considered, Beijing bid spokesperson Wang Hui said, "I've really not thought about this. I'm in charge of news and publicity, so it should be something I’ve thought of. But I’ve not." Whipping up popular and media interest in the immediate run-up to the decision has "proved a tough task." The official Twitter account for Beijing 2022 has 872 followers. Its Facebook page has just 502 likes. Both sites are "blocked on the mainland, underscoring another challenge: whether Beijing will, or can, really unblock the Internet for the Games, as it has promised" (REUTERS, 7/6).
