YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?: The Chinese, as the world now knows, are very sensitive to any criticism of their Olympic Games.

A BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games) official berated foreign journalists at a news conference  last week when he got too many questions about a British reporter who had been manhandled by police. The knee-jerk stories on smog, press censorship and Tibet have annoyed the hosts to no end. And in yesterday's China Daily, an English-language paper that serves as the government's house organ, one columnist was critical of all the stories comparing these Olympics to Hitler's 1936 Games in Berlin.

So who did the Chinese hire to design the magnificent Olympic complex?

Would you believe Albert Speer Jr.?

Speer Sr., you might recall, was the Nazi's  favorite architect, a member of Hitler's inner circle, and the man who designed those 1936 Olympics.

I'm certain his son is a fine man and there's no doubt that his German firm ranks among the world's best architectural companies.  The Olympic venues they designed are breathtaking.  But perhaps the Chinese have heard something about "the perception of reality".

If you don't want your Olympics to be compared to Hitler's, than don't hire Albert Speer Jr. That shouldn't be a tough concept for the people who invented the egg roll. It's like hiring Joseph Goebbels III to churn out press releases.
 
LIU'S BOO-BOO: The relationship between the Chinese and their top athletes is, I'm sure, more complex than it appears to visiting sportswriters. But, for a Philadelphian, the level of devotion displayed when defending gold-medalist Liu Xiang pulled out of the 110-meter hurdle heats with a foot injury was a little spooky.

People who were at National Olympic Stadium Monday when the announcement of his withdrawal was made said the collective gasp was nearly as loud as the cheer that greeted Liu when he was introduced. There were people in the stands crying -- many people according to the photos I've seen -- though the cultural divide made it impossible to detect if their tears were out of sympathy for Liu or disappointment for having shelled out big bucks for tickets that essentially were worthless.

In any event, Liu had to make one of those face-saving apologies the next day, news that made it to the top of all the front pages here.

"I know everyone was keenly expecting me to run," Liu said through an interpreter. "I wanted, as much as you did, to cross the finish, a scene you have already got used to. Please believe me. The sadness and pain I have been through are not less than yours."

Here's a letter that  one fan wrote to the local paper.

"My heart hurt when I saw the news. It was a great regret [him] not to break the world record, give his best performance, and for our spectators not to celebrate with him.  He is our dear family member. We will be together forever."

A front-runner if ever I heard one.
 
TAKE THAT YANKEE DOGS!: China's growing muscle has been manifested in yet another way. They've out-malled us.

The Golden Resources Shopping Mall in Beijing's Haidian district is 1 1/2 times the size of the Mall of America.

America, take note! The food-court gap is something that must be addressed! Save our treasured icons before it's too late!

The 680,000-square-foot mall's colorful neon facade looks like something you'd see in Las Vegas. Vegas' reputation as the world's greatest gambling destination is, as anyone who's visited Macao knows, also under siege.