Here’s a piece that I wrote for the Global Times about its unreadiness and, in case you don’t have time, my points below as to where the city can further improve itself:

• Taxi service: Do not reject passengers, at least don’t do this five in a row.
• Language help: Build more English signs for the buses, subways, etc., and offer basic English training to restaurant staff.
• Outlaw animal brutality and cat-eating

My friends in Guangzhou think the taxi and language problems can be solved before next November, but I do hope the city can offer more to an ordinary tourist like me with or without the Games, as it’s more about being a modern metropolis than preparing for a sporting event.

The cat-eating thing made me sick. It’s been reported over and over and will likely to remain so until the Guangdong provincial government finds a better animal for replacement, which looks impossible.

Links and Sources:

• WSJ China Real Time: Cats Rescued from Dinner Table Face Uncertain Futures
• Xinhua: 1,300 cats rescued from dinner table
• Global Times: Sloppy services bode ill for Guangzhou’s Asian Games