Elizabeth VanderVen's Page

By now, “The Birds’ Nest” and “The Water Cube” are household names to millions of television viewers around the world who have been watching Olympic history being made these last couple of weeks.

What most viewers probably don’t know is that, as athletic records are being smashed and performances of lifetimes being delivered, a little bit of eco history has been more quietly occuring.

The Birds' Nest and Water Cube, both located on the Olympic Green in the northern part of Beijing, are… Continue

Victor and Anu Gbemudu

One evening recently, my photographer, Marcia, and I were hunting the Metro for interesting-looking riders. After we got on at Wilshire and Vermont on the Purple Line, Marcia spotted Victor’s chic straw hat as he hunched in a corner of the Metro car. “He looks really stylish,” she commented and rushed over to talk with him.





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Benjamin Hart, my friendly correspondent in Beijing, is keeping some of us across the Pacific visually apprised of Beijing's air quality via his fantastic photos. I had mentioned in a blog I posted about a week ago (July 31) that China's government has been trying to bring down the pollutants in the city's air through a variety of measures including reducing traffic and shutting down factories. Have these measures worked? Well, let's compare two of Ben's pictures of the Beijing skyline.

This… Continue

I've been riding the LA Metro a lot in the past couple years. The more I ride, the more I'm convinced that some of the most interesting, hip and cool people in LA are taking it too. They do interesting things, they look good, and they save money and gas! What's not to like?

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When I was in Beijing this past June, I was stunned at how dirty and hazy the air was. I choked on the smog. I felt wheezy. I left those running shoes that I ambitiously took along with me in my suitcase. And I’m not even asthmatic! Admittedly, sometimes overly dramatic, I worried to myself whether the Beijing air would sustain my life for the two-week duration of my trip, let alone support the intense world-class sports competition that I knew would descend upon it this August 8.

And dr… Continue