A Beijing story.

Special thanks to Desra Dawn who found this story and took the time to send it.

I ran across the following story in the South China Post (a Hong Kong publication). The international focus will be on China for the next few days so I thought I would pass it on as a reminder that although the actions of the Chinese government are appalling to most of us, the people of that country are kind and gentle and are no more responsible for the mistakes of their government than we are for ours. Many are secretly our bothers and sisters. Let's remember to pray for them.

There was ice in the air. It was a chilly Friday in Beijing, but there was bright sunshine in the hearts of a group of runners, stamping and snorting and stretching their limbs like thoroughbred racehorses.

The authorities in China know how to put a bit of pomp into mass events, and they had done a fine job on this breezy October day for the 1996 Beijing International Marathon.

Some 10,000 school children in colourful uniforms lined up in the Workers' Stadium, where the race would begin and end. Military bands played thundering marches. The Minister of Cultural Affairs was wheeled out to greet the competitors.

Some 300 of the runners were doing the full marathon of 43 kilometres, or 26 miles. Of these, there were only 20 Western faces. These naturally attracted attention because of their scarcity value.

Stuart White of Hong Kong was excited, especially after being interviewed by the Reuters news agency. Like all amateur runners, he had focused on the really important things: flashy new running shoes and a designer stopwatch.

The only nagging worry at the back of his mind was that they were all being treated as star athletes, and he knew that he, for one, was an amateur, albeit a keen one.

Still, he was looking forward to doing the circuit and taking the final steps back into this magnificent auditorium, to be greeted by thousands of cheering people.

But no time to think about that now.

Thwack! As the starting gun sounded, he mused that this really was marathon runners' heaven. Tarmac pounders such as himself were treated like gods. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Beijing to cheer the competitors on, and the atmosphere was wonderful.

The first hour or so was the usual bone-shaking blur. It was only after they had stamped the streets for a

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