September 10th 2014
Hebei, near Zhangjiakou
The European journalists were invited by the Beijing 2022 Olympic Bid Committee to tour the proposed winter sport sites in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province. The tour was originally a 2-day affair with bus transport from Beijing, but because of time/deadline constraints the journalists insisted on driving their own car and returning on the same day. Immediately after getting off the expressway in Chongli County, they were met by a motorcade of local officials. One of them insisted to go with them in their car to “lead the way”. During the whole day, two minders followed the journalists. One took notes during all interviews, and the other filmed the crew and interviewees with his mobile phone. The TV crew tried to get some voxpop from locals, but the minders interfered so people shied away from being interviewed. The TV crew wanted to film in villages near the proposed site of he Olympic Bid. Again the minders interfered and escorted the team to the highway to leave the area.
So the 2022 Olympic Bid committee broke the Olympic reporting rules from 2008.