There used to be a popular slogan "New Beijing, New Olympics." It was part of China's campaign to become host of the 2008 Olympics. I still remember how the entire city of Beijing was transported with joy on the evening of July 13, 2001, when Juan Antonio Samaranch announced it had been awarded the right to host the global sports game.

Nearly seven years have passed since then. And, since I've been away from Beijing for a while, I decided to visit my second-hometown before tourists from all over the world embrace for the Summer Olympics in a city with 3,000 years of history. How did this new Beijing strike me?

In the taxi line of the Beijing Capital International Airport, I felt at home with all the Beijing and northern Chinese accents. My travel companion and I were greeted warmly by our cabby -- in English! Well, that's probably because we were speaking English when the cab pulled up. I started to chat with the 40-something driver in Chinese. But he asked me to switch back to English, so that he could test his language proficiency.

"I'm a volunteer for the Olympic Games," he said, with much pride. A native Beijing resident, he's been learning and using English for his job for seven years, he said. He will even take full-time training in June for Olympics volunteers. "I learn English from customers every day. I learned the word smoggy yesterday when a Canadian lady was commenting on the weather."

Photo taken by Nina Ying Sun

Well, it's true, I didn't see the clear, blue sky of my memory of Beijing in the springtime. It was a little smoggy, as you can see from the picture I took. But honestly, the air was better than Shanghai. The city has spent more than US$12 billion to improve air quality. Considering all the construction, the exploding number of vehicles and Beijing's location and climate (next to deserts, as opposed to Shanghai and Hong Kong by the sea), you can see that the government has been working hard.

But back to the language issue: Beijing is not as Westernized as Shanghai. Many service people still don't speak English. Hademen Hotel, where I stayed, is well-known for its traditional Chinese imperial furnishings. I saw more Western faces in the lobby and hallway than Chinese. But a bilingual sign in the bathroom caught my attention. A Chinese sentence reads: if you would like new towels, please place the used ones in the bathtub; if you need new disposable supplies (toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and soap), please throw the used ones in the trash bin. That's pretty reasonable, right? But the English translation, as you can see in the picture, instructs guests to throw towels into the trash bin! That's really sloppy, to say the least.

Photo taken by Nina Ying Sun

Sometimes, I feel it's too harsh to expect China to speak good English. Just like how an American would brush up French before going to Paris, why expect the Chinese, representing a quarter of the world's population, to quickly pick up on a language that uses letters instead of square characters?

Western expatriates in China in most cases don't speak Chinese. They have translators and assistants. It's alright for business people. But an interesting comparison of journalists tells something: Western correspondents in China usually rely on their local language aids for gathering info in Chinese language. They can say Ni Hao and Xie Xie, but rarely can conduct an interview in Chinese. But I've not met or heard of a Chinese national working for China-based Chinese-language media from the U.S. who doesn't speak fluent English.

Just a random thought. But it's not an issue of Chinese versus English the global business language. It's the subtle interaction between all other languages and English.