Just three weeks before the Beijing Olympics, concerns are growing that China's sweeping security measures could end up sucking all the fun out of the world's biggest sportsfest.
Pre-Olympic jitters are almost a tradition but a Chinese visa crackdown that has sent visitor numbers plunging, heightened security checks, dire warnings of terrorist attack and curbs on Beijing nightlife have led to some observers dubbing the 2008 Olympics the "no-fun games".
Michael Payne, the International Olympic Committee's head of marketing for the two decades to 2004, said that in meetings with top Beijing organisers he had stressed a single word of advice: smile.
"The biggest challenge they have to face now is ensuring that the security doesn't suffocate the festival," Mr Payne said. "The Olympics are only special if there is a festival outside the venues."
The atmosphere was less than festive this week at a checkpoint in Yanjiao on the outskirts of Beijing, one of hundreds thrown up around the capital where police with laptops and sniffer dogs halt traffic.
"I know they are working hard, but this really is overkill. We had been checked three times already before we arrived here," said a bus driver from neighbouring Hebei province.
The checkpoints are part of a security operation thrown up around the games by leaders who fear they could be marred by protests, sabotage by "hostile forces" or terrorist attack.
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