For Hosts, Games Lose Some Luster

"It's worse than I thought. There are so many new regulations on which kinds of things cannot be mailed from or to Beijing," said Jian Yamin, a chemical engineer.

"I want to buy a new cellphone, but I cannot use an express company to deliver it since it's an electronic good," said Jian, who added that development in the capital has driven up rent prices.

Even the authorities may have overestimated the level of interest in the Games. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games continues to predict the event will draw more than 1 million domestic visitors and 500,000 foreigners, including 22,000 credentialed foreign journalists. And yet tougher enforcement of rules governing visas and residential permits has forced thousands of foreigners to leave China and many Chinese migrant workers to leave the capital.

"If tourists want to extend their visas, they have to provide proof that they have at least $3,000 in the bank and residential papers for where they're staying," said Liu Jia, a Beijing-based visa agent. "The new visa policy is tighter because the government is afraid something will happen during the Olympics. . . . The new policy will try to keep foreigners out of China."

The restrictions, which in some cases require tourists to prove they have tickets for the Games and hotel reservations, have sent hotel occupancy rates plummeting. In June, four-star hotels reported only a 45.5 percent occupancy rate. The city's five-star hotels, with average room prices of $500 a night, reported an occupancy rate of about 78 percent.

Zhang Bin, a saleswoman at the four-star Sunjoy Hotel, said that the daily rate at the hotel averages about $285 a night but that "there's still room to lower the price."

"We were optimistic about the market last year, but there's such a big distance between reality and our expectations," Zhang said.

Like many Beijingers, Liu Qifei, a magazine vendor, assumed that the Olympics would bring real improvements to life in the city. But it hasn't quite turned out that way.

"Look at this street. The old buildings have been newly painted. Just opposite, the buildings facing the street have been decorated. But the buildings behind them are unchanged," said Liu, 55, who plans to watch the Games on television. "I don't like those facade projects because they are useless to our ordinary citizens."

Liu said the Olympics have led to some benefits, at least in the short term. Bus tickets are discounted, and traffic is being restricted to cut back on pollution. Such changes, though, are intended mainly to ensure a smooth event.

"I'm worried that after the Olympics, everything will return to the old orbit," Liu said.

Researcher Zhang Jie contributed to this report.