More from our Beijing ambassadors

Yesterday I told you about a program Coke had that sent around 30 employees to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Here are more comments from those employees, who blogged from Beijing on an employee-only site. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to go to the Olympics (or to go to China), read on!

From August 11 – from a colleague in Germany:
Mr. Muhtar Kent [our CEO] joined us for breakfast. It was a great honour and pleasure to have him with us and to get a chance listening to him. He gave us his view and outlook of the global business and was very excited about passion and productivity in our everyday live.
Next highlight was the Shuang Zone. Shuang means refreshing if you would like to translate it from Chinese. In China’s largest park during the Olympic Games Coca-Cola runs an interactive area. Funny to see features like the largest LED Coke bottle and screen in Asia, interactive games, oversized local designed Coca-Cola bottles (which I liked very much due to my arts passion), and of course the pin trade center. Can you imagine 32 Coke guys from all over the world trying to make up their mind and buying pins to take home with four shop-assistants behind the counter ...
By the way I bought a pin made out of the Birds Nest (new national Olympic Stadium) steel.
After this we were taken into the market by the Chinese Coca-Cola team. We visited some retail places. We were impressed by the best in class activations. First of all the cooled product placements and the variety of products like the local chilled green tee range. Impressing was the Birds Nest secondary placements. At all it is fantastic to see what the Chinese team transferred to get most out of the Olympic sponsorship.
And then the experience of the lifetime ... You have all seen an image of the Great Wall of China. But the marvelous pictures are absolutely nothing compared to the uplifting satisfaction of scaling it yourself. It is not simply a walk. It is a special experience with humble appreciation of its 2000-year-old history and the two million Chinese labourers it took to build it. The wall was originally built to protect Chinese borders. Through different periods it was demolished, rebuilt and conjoined. Impressive is the unique feeling standing up on a small part of 6700 kilometers. Walking in the humidity of Chinese summer is sometimes like spending time in a sauna, but being there could mean everything. You make new friends, get China lessons and sing together with people never met before ...

From August 12 – from a colleague in the Middle East Business Unit:
Another great day in this Unbelievable city… we went to the Tiananmen square and the Forbidden City. The Forbidden city is unique beautiful architectural work that is very well preserved. After a 2 hour walk we ate at a nice fish restaurant …
And finally for the moment we were waiting for ... our first Olympic game: the basketball game of China vs. Spain. It was simply a life time experience ... not only was it amazing to see all those great players compete in this festive atmosphere, but also China being one of teams made the crowd very excited. The game was very exciting with a tie at the end!!! Then Spain won ... but both played really well …
When we arrived at the Shuang zone, my first thought was that I was so proud to work for the Coca-Cola company … The entrance and the sky was bright Coca-Cola red… People everywhere were so impressed locals and foreigners alike ... It’s indescribable ... with so many great activations inside in made this experience so unique for everyone who attended, and some of the people in the street as well (who stopped and were watching from outside, with their jaws dropping…