The Olympics pull back the curtain on the host country in ways perhaps impossible by other means.

When that country is China, among the world's oldest civilizations but one that largely was a secretive and closed society until the past two or three decades, the spotlight shines on many things — jewels and warts — far beyond the sports arenas.

The Summer Olympics in Beijing have shown off China's exploding economic might, growing athletic prowess, and rich culture and history. The games also have been a forum for denunciations and protests of China's human rights record, and an ugly portal into air pollution and other environmental problems it faces amid rapid change between old and new.

For members of the local Chinese American community, the Olympics in Beijing are a source of pride and hope — hope for a better China.

"I think this is a great opportunity to open the vision of China and present it to the world," said Juliet Sun, a 29-year-old Camarillo businesswoman and president of the Ventura County Chinese American Association. "It has broadened the vision for a lot of Americans who haven't been to China yet."

Debby Chang, an Oak Park resident who teaches Chinese at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, sees the Olympics as a "real milestone" for China and a chance to show how far it has progressed in the past 30 years.

"I think Chinese society will be a better one after the Olympics," said Chang, 59, who was born in Taiwan, grew up in Hong Kong and came to the United States 40 years ago.

Helen Shih, immediate past president of the Conejo Chinese Cultural Association, also is optimistic but a bit more cautious.

"I'm going to be very eager to know if the government will be changed to give the people more freedoms — like we have here," said Shih, a 50-year-old Thousand Oaks health insurance worker who came to Ventura County from Taiwan in 1987. "That is my hope, that China will be a better human rights country."

China on display

The microscope on China has been big, beyond NBC's wall of coverage and countless articles. Ted Koppel did a four-part series for the Discovery Channel. The BBC recently did a series called "Wild China" that showed the country has a plethora of wildlife beyond just its national symbol, the giant panda.

The Travel Channel sent Samantha Brown there to show off the Great Wall, Beijing's Forbidden City, the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian and other cultural touchstones that speak to old ways, emperors and dynasties. Brown also offered a snapshot look at China's cuisine and arts, such as dance and theater.

"It's a coming-out party," said Dr. George Yu, a lung specialist, Camarillo resident and chairman of the Ventura County Chinese American Historical Society. The 20-year county resident grew up in Hong Kong and once lived in Beijing.

China, the world's most populous country, with 1.3 billion people, and fourth-largest in land mass, has the longest continuously used written language system. It is also the country that brought us paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder, among other inventions.

The opening ceremonies hinted at its fascinating culture and history. Sun, who grew up in the old city of Suchou, deemed the ceremonies the "best ever." Shih called them "quite amazing" and said she received numerous e-mails from friends living in Taiwan and mainland China.

Chang is among those who are watching the Olympics day and night. Like the United States, she said, China is a sports-crazy nation; the country trains children for sports starting "at a very young age."

China appears to have sewn up the race for gold medals. At one point Wednesday, it led 45 to 26 over second-place United States, though America led the overall medal count, 82-79, over China.

At gatherings, Chang and friends root for the United States in certain sports and China in other ones.

"I'm loyal to my mother country, China, and to the country I've lived in for so long," Chang said.

Shih agreed, saying, "I want China and America to win at the same time."

Old and new

For some with Chinese roots, though, the games don't stir emotions.

"I don't feel it," said Dr. Thomas Quin Kong Jr., a 45-year-old Ventura cardiologist. Kong, noting that his family came to the United States more than a century ago, said ties have waned. Many American-born Chinese like him, he said, likely also don't have strong sentiments.

"It's nice to see the Olympics in China, but from a heritage point of view, most of us are well-removed from that," he said. "I don't look at it as my home country.

"There is a demonstration of Chinese strength and prowess over there," Kong continued, "but there are negatives, too."

Air pollution is an issue, he said. Sun, who lived in Beijing for two years earlier this decade before coming to Ventura County, agreed.

China's economic growth is staggering. It is now the world's second-largest energy user and second-biggest car market.

China also recently became the world's third-largest car manufacturer. This summer, it passed the United States as the world's biggest Internet market, with some 253 million users, both the CIA (World Fact Book) and China Today reported.

"China has shown the world its progress," Chang noted, "but it is at such a fast-moving pace. But I think the future will be more rational."

It's been dizzying. Shanghai, Chang said, has more high-rises than New York. Yu went back to Beijing two years ago and didn't recognize the neighborhood he lived in during the early 1980s. Twenty years ago, Sun noted, the few foreigners in China drew stares. Now, she said, English is so popular in China that many taxi drivers are learning it.

Shih and others see hope.

Still, Shih said, "many Chinese today only look at ways to earn money. That really worries me." Yu, the lung doctor, frets about pollution and the growing influence of Western diets, adding that the country must "temper growth with ensuring environmental health for the people."

An open future

Shih and Chang are among those who feel the Olympic experience will, in effect, force China to improve the environment and its human rights. Now that the society is more open, Shih said, it'll be more difficult to hide problems.

On the eve of the games, President Bush denounced China's human rights record. Said Chang: "I was a little surprised he said something right before going to Beijing, but he has a right to talk about human rights."

The Chinese government quelled protests in Tibet over the region's long quest for independence. Internationally, similar protests erupted along the Olympic torch relay route.

The Tibet issue, Sun said, "is a very complicated one. If California said today that it wanted to be independent, would the U.S. government say OK'? Sovereignty is never an easy thing to give up."

Both Sun, who was in Tibet last year, and Chang said the Chinese government has improved things in Tibet, pumping in money for better education and infrastructure. Many people, Chang said, don't understand all the issues; too often, she added, the Olympics are used as a political stage.

Tibetans, Sun said, have killed people, too, adding, "To me, that's not a Buddhist thing to do, to go against government in that way."

On the other hand, she said, the Chinese government needs to allow freedom of the press. It has tried to control that.

Progress is slow

Yu, who's also visited Tibet, noted the "One world, one dream" Olympic motto. "Well," he said, "the Chinese and Tibetans are one people." Hopefully, he added, China will respect Tibet's rights.

"It is very difficult," Sun said, "when you talk about these issues. China is such a huge country. Progress is slow, but they are working on it."

In a country with 1.3 billion people and 56 recognized nationalities, Sun noted, "it's not easy to keep everyone happy."

The Olympics, Chang said, represent an opportunity for China "to open the door to the world" — and keep it open.

Yu indicated that it's amazing how much good will an Olympic Games — this one features about 11,000 athletes from 204 recognized nations competing in 302 events in 28 sports — can foster.

The world is watching China now, and it needs to continue watching once the games end, he observed.

Said Yu: "We have to make sure we check up on them in the future."