Entering Beijing’s Olympics Bubble Is A Surreal Experience
Jan 27, 2022, 10:53 AM
BEIJING, CHINA - DECEMBER 10: A general view of the interior of the Olympic Village for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games on December 10, 2021 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)
(Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)
BEIJING (AP) — For the thousands of athletes, journalists and others descending on Beijing for the Winter Olympics, China’s strict pandemic measures are creating a surreal and at times anxious experience.
China is isolating everyone coming from abroad from any contact with the general public for the duration of the Games, which open next week.
The room 🤩
(h/t @noemi_ryhner) pic.twitter.com/t7gWL4XMnH— Olympic Hockey Bubble (@olympic_bubble) January 27, 2022
That means being taken from the Beijing airport in special vehicles to a hotel surrounded by temporary barricades that keep participants in and the public out.
An AP photographer saw passengers met by workers in white, full-body protective gear.
Everyone is tested for COVID-19 at the airport before being transported to their barricaded hotels, the entrances protected by round-the-clock guards.
