Ｄｏｎ’ｔ Ｅｖｅｎ Ｔｈｉｎｋ ｏｆ Ａｓｋｉｎｇ

By FRANCISCO LITTLE

That old standby conversation openerbetween strangers may not cut it inBeijing right now. "Lovely weatherwe're having," is possibly the lastopening line local residents would want touse on foreign visitors streaming into thecity for the Olympics. The reason is simple.Beijing's skies have hung thick and gray fordays and unless the nature of the questionwas sarcastic, it would not be an option.