The offer of pirated DVDs used to be common in Beijing, but since the Olympic crackdown hit the city, the solicitation by the man sitting outside the Friendship Store in the Chinese capital has become a rare refrain.

The Olympics has changed China in a positive way, with the international spotlight helping to speed up its development into a true global city. The transformation encompasses both the hardware of the city -- in the shape of the fabulous new Olympic buildings and massively upgraded infrastructure -- as well as the software, with authorities clamping down on intellectual property infringements in what seems an effective way.

The first thing visitors to the Olympic host city see is the new Norman Foster-designed airport, done in a dragon theme. It's impressive, similar to the Hong Kong airport, though visitors with a keen eye will notice the absence of shops selling Western magazines or electronic goods. There is a Starbucks -- but you have to go to the departures area to find it.

Getting to the city is easy now with the new subway system in conjunction with buses and taxis, but pledges of widespread English-language abilities in the service sector haven't exactly materialized. People do not speak English widely in Beijing.

This means a lot of pointing in the city's fantastic jiaozi (dumpling) restaurants, though in the growing array of upmarket eateries you can order in English. Incredibly for a communist country, there are even one or two restaurants in which you can order in French or Italian. Just don't try a foreign language with your cab driver.

Top-class hotels were pretty much sold out ahead of the Opening Ceremony, but half of the four-star beds in Beijing were still available early last week, because tightening visa regulations and hotelier greed meant late bookings didn't happen.

While the city looks fantastic for the Games, and the atmosphere is upbeat, there is a sour note over the way China failed to meet many of its promises -- on media and Internet freedom, human-rights improvements and on boosting air quality. The Olympics have changed China, but not fundamentally.

Most of the Olympic events will be broadcast in the country in high-definition , but strict censorship means that post-Olympics, the state-of-the-art platform will be used to show the same tired costume dramas, propaganda skeins and tightly controlled news shows that are currently shown.

A few yards on from where the lone DVD seller pitched his wares, a uniformed soldier standing stiffly at attention demands I show my ID -- to get into the building where I live.

Security is, indeed, tight.

Then he says with a broad smile: "Hello! Welcome!"

For we residents, this is the most significant Olympic effect in Beijing -- everyone has turned friendly all of a sudden.

Let's hope it lasts.

© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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