WHY ME? Am I only the visiting American these things happen to? On Friday, I was riding on a bus back from some remote venue -- gee, there's something different --- and as we neared the Main Press Center, we began to pass through more and more security. As we rolled slowly through one, the bus stopped just as I was eye-to-eye with a Chinese soldier wearing camouflage and clutching a machine gun, his finger actually on the trigger. I smiled and waved and this guy's expression never wavered. In fact, it seemed to me that he was getting angrier, no doubt thinking, "Give me one quick burst at this knucklehead, Commisar. Please!" I stared to worry as his natural frown turned into a scowl. Just then, as the bus started moving, there was this loud rat-a-tat-tat from the undercarriage. I believe my leap would have earned me a medal in the high-jump.
 
BEST OLYMPIC MOMENTS:
 
  1. At the start of the opening ceremonies, the stadium went dark. The anticipation was as thick as the humidity. And then, suddenly and simultaneously, came a single dramatic beat on 2008 Fou drums. Souls were stirred instantly and the show never let down.

 2. Michael Phelps' edging Serbia's Milorad Cavic in a 100-butterfly finish that defied belief and eyesight. Phelps kept his 8 gold medal quest on track with the .01 of a second triumph, one that even after the official photos were released still defies description.

3. The stunningly easy and seemingly effortless three gold medals won by Jamaica's Usain Bolt. There was a lot of talk about who had the 2008 Games best performance, Phelps or Bolt. Either was worthy. Bolt broke three world records in his wins, Phelps seven. I gave the edge to Phelps only because, after he decided to go for eight, there was far more pressure on him than on Bolt.

4. Li Ning's lighting of the Olympic cauldron. The way the 45-year-old Chinese gymnast appeared to skywalk around the rim of the National Olympic Stadium before igniting the cauldron was breathtaking.

5. The U.S. 400-meter freeetyle relay team's remarkable comeback against France in another victory that kept alive Phelps' quest. When anchor Jason Lezak leaped into the pool he was neary a body length behind France's Alain Bernard, the man who wouild go on to win the 100-meter freestyle. Somehow, perhaps because he and his teammates had been upset by France's trash-talking, Lezak caught Bernard and out-touched him at the wall.

6. Cavic's post-race news conference. The Californian-born youngster was as gracious as any loser at these Olympics, despite the heartbreaking and controversial nature of his defeat.

7. The gauntlet of Chinese musicians, dancers and folk singers, all of them apparently just regular citizens, who came to the park behind the Temple of Heaven on Saturday. It was like Washington Square in the '60s.

8. The first sight of the Great Wall. Awe-inspiring.

9. The Chinese college student who, seeing I was hopelessly lost near Tiananmen Square -- my eyes were peeled for tanks all the while -- escorted me to a bus, boarded it with me and saw to it that I reached my destination, all the while telling me that Americans misunderstood the Chinese. "We are a peace-loving people," he said. Of course, he could have been a government plant tailing me.

10. The bus ride down one of Beijing's widest boulevards. The quantity of new construction was incredible, the daring architecture eye-catching, and the landscaping worthy of Longwood Gardens.