Beijing, China – Haven't you ever wanted to peek behind the curtains?

Come on now. Be honest. Haven't you wanted X-ray vision like Superman to peer inside that big Christmas present under the tree or read through the Book of Secrets that is sits on the desk of the President of the United States? In the world we live in today, there is nothing more magical and mysterious than the inner workings of the Chinese Government. No American is ever invited behind the curtain to sit and enjoy a lunch of dim sum with the Wizard of Oz.

Except me.

I was the sole American in senior management of the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, the greatest of all Olympiads. The interesting thing about being inside the machinery of the Chinese Government is that you think nothing of it, and you start to wonder why aren't there a dozen more guys like me here? How did I survive?  Basically I became wallpaper. I was a tree. A potted plant. I was seen and not seen and over time, the co-workers and even the BOCOG (Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) management looked at me no different than any of the people they broke bread with every noon at the staff canteen.


Journalists who came and went to the myriad press conferences held at the Olympic Media Centre prior to the Games and in the Main Press Centre during the Olympiad came away with exactly what we (meaning the collective we) wanted them to know. And after the media left, I stayed. I was in all of the back door meetings with senior leaders of the Chinese Government and a trusted confidant who re-wrote the speeches of the Chinese leadership.

IOC President Jacques Rogge and Liu Qi, President of Beijing 2008 appear during the Closing Ceremony

Let me share with you what you didn't see on global television.

What I saw when I worked for the BOCOG for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad were thousands of Chinese citizens with an incredible passion - a pure and unwavering commitment to create the greatest Olympics in the history of the Modern Age. The Chinese were driven by an unrivaled passion to make their first Olympic Games the very best that has been or will ever be – and they succeeded. Sydney may be the "best" but the Olympics in China were the "greatest" because the Chinese people understood and harnessed the incredible power of change that comes from the mantra: peace through sport.

Fan dancers rehearsed their routine in front of the Bird's Nest Stadium

When the Chinese are alone – away from the prying eyes of the outsiders and work daily together, it is an entirely different world. Lunch was for wimps.  Dinner is for cowards. I was part of endless debates by BOCOG management on what the international community would think about this and about that.  Wanting to drill home the superiority of the Chinese nation, the Chinese staff at BOCOG spent endless hours in preparation for the Olympic Games and did an awesome job. Take simple logistics as an example. Of this, the Chinese are experts in moving masses of people, as they do this each and every day. Moving spectators in and out of athletic venues is nothing here.  The same goes for teaching the Chinese people how to applaud or how to behave in a major Olympic venue. BOCOG masterfully and scientifically dissected the Olympics and then reassembled it with Chinese characteristics.

Commuters at a subway in Beijing during rush hour during the Games

Nothing was ever left to chance. What I saw being inside the Chinese machinery was that the Chinese nation is here. Today – and inside the Beijing Olympics, every day, the Chinese worked like church mice in making every facet of the Games flawless. Transportation, food, housing, hotel accommodations, air transportation – the list is near endless. Everything worked and the entire Chinese nation was honed and laser focused on these Games.

Sure, you can compare the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 2012 London Olympics all you want. Good luck on that. London Olympic Organisers spent around $10 billion (£6 billion/€8 billion) over the original $4 billion (£2.5 billion/€3 billion) budget and will probably end up burdened in debt for the next two decades. Instead, the Chinese ended their Games with a $10 million (£6 million/€8 million) profit, with four new subway lines, a new airport, the Bird's Nest, Beijing's official National Stadium and the Water Cub, Beijing's National Aquatics Centre.

Swimmers at the Water Cube broke 25 world records during the 2008 Olympics

No Games will ever come close to what was done in Beijing and none should. The bar is set just too high. What I learned from the Olympics in China is that the Games are not about big buildings, instead the Chinese proved to us all that the Olympics are about the language, history, art, science and food of the host nation that beckons the world to the shining city on a hill to watch games that children play.

With unity and harmony, the Chinese showed the world how the Olympics should be done.

Jeff Ruffolo served as the senior expert for the Beijing and is author of a new book - Inside the Beijing Olympics - available on Amazon.com.