I just got back from Beijing from the Olympics and was thrilled to get my copy of Out of Mao's Shadow. (Phil, your signed copy from way back still hasn't arrived...). I hadn't been to Beijing in just under two years (and that was just an overnight stop to say hi to friends) and hadn't really traveled around Beijing in six. The changes were breath-taking.

It was disorienting to go back to Beijing University (Beida), because -- as my classmates and I noted -- the changes were so dramatic that we couldn't even orient ourselves geographically. But the new buildings (and there are so many, everywhere) are architecturally impressive, and not just the Olympic venues. They are daring and playful and surprisingly more modern than anything I've seen built recently in the states.

The airport's glassy and airy terminal 3, shaped like a dragon, is a stark contrast to the one I landed in in 1999 when I came to Beijing -- a very military green, clunky, barely air-conditioned facility that screamed "Welcome to the developing nation."

Phil writes about China's bid for the Olympics in his epilogue. That it lost to Sydney for the 2000 games because of human rights concerns and it refashioned its bid as the 2008 games would incentivize them to improve on human rights. (The added bonus is that they got to start the games on 08/08/08 at 8 p.m.). That argument seemed to hold sway. Phil also details arrests that were part of a broad government crackdown on dissent ahead of the games. And there are still arrests even as the games proceed, including Tibet protesters and this septuagenarian ones.

While China has enjoyed distinct, remarkable and unexpected changes (media, employment controls, and non-profits) in the last two decades, a lot of progress has stalled in the years right before the Olympics as the government took care that nothing would mar their public image.

As Daniel Bell, a professor of political science at Qinghua University, said, "When you have guests coming over for dinner, you clean up the house and tell the children not to argue," Mr. Bell said.

And that in a way is what Beijing has felt like this time around. Easy flowing traffic, lack of migrant workers (who are like the Mexicans of China), and happy shiny volunteers who speak English everywhere. Even the weather cleared up for a few days last week. You could see the mountains. I had forgotten that Beijing was so near the mountains.