AUGUST 2008 www.passportmagazine.ru ESa^SOY ZPVSMBOHVBHF /bAOdO\beSQ][PW\SeSabS`\[O\OUS[S\babgZS eWbVZ]QOZY\]eZSRUSO\Rc\RS`abO\RW\UEWbVO QZSO`dWaW]\O\RORWabW\QbWdSO^^`]OQVeS^`]RcQS SfQS^bW]\OZ`SacZba 8FBSFSFBEZUPEPUIFTBNFGPSZPV 1SPKFDU.BOBHFNFOU Moscow Office 2AYMOND&aDEL $POTUSVDUJPO.BOBHFNFOU TEl: +7 495 783 73 60 %FTJHO EMail: rAYMONDfADEL SAVANTINTERNATIONALCOM $PTU.BOBHFNFOU St. Petersburg Office *OWFTUNFOU$POTVMUBODZ SERGEY3VESHKOV TEl: + 7 812 703 57 75 EMail: SErGEySVESHKOV SAVANTINTERNATIONALCOM wwwsaVANTiNTERNaTiONalCOM Russia & CI3s5NITED+INgDOMs#ENTral & EASTERN%UrOPEs"ALTICSs3OUTH%ASTERN%UROPE advertising ADVERTISEMENT Contents 4 Calendar and Editor’s Choice What to do in Moscow in August 8 August in Russian History 10 Film, Books, and Music 4 12 Art History The Versatile Talent of Lev Kropivnitsky 14 Travel Sochi Beijing 14 18 Metro Feature The End of an Era 20 The Sporting Life Is 2008 the Year of the Bear? 22 Olympics 2008: J.R. Holden 16 Wait, who’s that guy scoring for Russia? 24 Olympics 2008: Russia’s Team Whom to watch 28 Russian Star: Larisa Latynina Russia’s gymnastics legend 20 30 Tea The story behind your cup of chai 32 Real Estate Island Paradise 34 Wine & Dine 24 40 Columns 44 Out & About 48 The Last Word Passport Poll 34 Letter from the Publisher Since the eyes of the world will be fi xed this month on the summer Olympics in Beijing, the ever au courant magazine you hold in your hands wanted to be in the swim (relay, backstroke, freestyle, maybe even butterfl y) as well. We thus bring you our August issue, devoted to the Olympics and their 2008 host country, China. Inside you’ll fi nd the terminus of Neil McGowan’s rail journey east: Aft er months aboard a train, he’s fi nally arrived in Beijing, and tells a bit about it (page 16). As Andy Potts notes, the year of the rat has been a good one for Russia, athletically speaking (page 20). So, for those gearing up to take in some sports on TV, Passport gives you a viewing guide of selected Olympic events (page 3) as well as a primer on Russian athletic achievements past and present. Meet J.R. Holden of the Russian national basketball team (page 22), some Russian medal contenders to watch (page 24), and Soviet gymnastics legend Larisa Latynina (page 28). Th en we look ahead to 2014, when Russia will next play Olympic host, with two articles on Sochi (Weekend Getaway on page 14 and Real Estate on page 32). While many Muscovites may be enjoying themselves out of town, those of us left here in August John Ortega can take some refuge in the metro — that is, in the conclusion of Ray Nayler’s eight-part series examining Moscow’s underground transport. Owner and Publisher Plus, have you ever wondered how Russians came to love tea, not to mention why they call it chai? Turn to page 30 to fi nd out. Along with our regular monthly fi xtures (columns on the arts, law, and Lipp Service along with wine and restaurant reviews), check out highlights of Olympics past in Last Word (page 48), Passport’s poll of most memorable Olympic moments. (And if that’s not suffi cient to sate your alliteration appetite then perhaps you should look at Larisa Latynina again.) Do you have a story you’d like to tell? Do you have a story you’d like to read? Passport wants to hear from you! Send comments, ideas, suggestions, requests to [email protected] Owner and Publisher Designer Accounting and Legal Services John Ortega, +7 (985) 784-2834 Andrey Vodenikov Vista Foreign Business Support [email protected] [email protected] Trubnaya St. 25/1, Moscow +7 (495) 933-7822 Editor Cover Art Contributors Isabelle Hale Sergei Elkin Yelena Biberman, Charles Borden, Piers Gladstone, [email protected] Copy Editor Ross Hunter, Drew Ingersoll, Tristan Kennedy, Deputy Editor Linda Lippner Daniel Klein, Linda Lippner, Vladimir Kozlov, Anna Kulyagina Claire Marsden, Neil McGowan, Ray Nayler, Andy Potts, Photographers Olga Slobodkina-von Brømssen, Maria Uspenski [email protected] Sergei Koshkin, Alevtina Kashitsina Arts Editor Interns Alevtina Kashitsina Drew Ingersoll, Peter Worger [email protected] Webmaster Advertising Manager Alexey Timokhin Simon Connolly [email protected] [email protected] Editorial Address: Published by OOO Passport Magazine. All rights reserved. Passport occasionally uses material we believe has been 42 Volgogradsky Prospekt, Bldg. 23 This publication is registered by the Press Ministry placed in the public domain. Sometimes it is not possible Office 013, 1st floor No. 77-18639. 08.10.04 to identify and contact the copyright owner. If you claim 109316 Moscow, Printed by Mozhaysky Poligrafichesky Kombinat ownership of something we have published, we will be 93 Mir Street, 143200 Mozhaysk, Russia pleased to make a proper acknowledgment. Russia Tel/Fax +7 (495) 620-0888 www.passportmagazine.ru 2 August 2008 2008 Summer Olympics Viewing Guide All times are shown in Moscow Daylight Savings time. Beijing is 4 hours ahead. TENNIS 13 Aug 12:00—18:00 Doubles: men’s quarterfi nals BASKETBALL 14 Aug 12:00 — 18:00 Singles: men’s and women’s 19 Aug 16:00 — 20:00 20 Aug 16:00 — 20:00 women’s quarterfi quarterfi nals nals Doubles: men’s semifi nals 21 Aug 16:00 — 20:00 men’s quarterfi women’s semifi nals Doubles: women’s quarterfi nals 22 Aug 16:00 — 20:00 nals 23 Aug 15:30 — 20:30 men’s semifi 15 Aug 12:00 — 18:00 Singles: men’s and women’s nals match and fi women’s 3rd place semifi nals men’s 3rd place match Doubles: men’s 3rd place match nals and fi Doubles: women’s semifi nals nals 16 Aug12:00 — 18:30 Singles: men’s 3rd place match women’s 3rd place match and fi nals men’s fi nals Doubles: women’s 3rd place match 17 Aug12:00 — 18:30 Singles: men’s and women’s fi nal Doubles: women’s fi nals SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING 18 Aug 11:00 — 13:10 duet preliminary program 19 Aug 13:00 — 14:30 duet nalsfi ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS 21 Aug 12:00 — 12:45 group technical program 12 Aug 06:00 — 09:00 22 Aug 12:00 — 13:30 group nalsfi 13 Aug 06:00 — 08:00 men’s team championship 14 Aug 07:00 — 09:50 women’s team championship 15 Aug 07:00 — 09:00 men’s all around fi 17 Aug 14:00 — 17:00 women’s all around nalfi pommelmen’s fl horse fi oor exercises and nal women’s fl vault nal fi Aug 18: 14:00 — 16:15 oor exercises and nal women’s uneven bars men’s fi still rings and vault fi 19 Aug 14:00 — 16:15 nals men’sbars high bar and parallel nalsfi FENCING women’s balance beam fi nals 9 Aug 06:00 — 09:45 saber fencing quarterfi nals 12 Aug 06:00 — 09:45 saber fencing fi nals nal 17 Aug 05:30 — 11:20 men’s saber fencing 5th-8th place matches women’s nals semifi 20 Aug 05:30 — 11:20 saber fencing men’s semifi nals women’s 5th-8th place matches 21 Aug 03:00 — 15:10 men’s nalfi BOXING 22 Aug 03:00 — 15:10 women’s fi nal 23 August 15:00 — 17:55 51 kg, 57 kg, 64 kg, 75 kg, 91 kg - fi nals 24 August 09:30 — 13:00 48 kg, 54 kg, 60 kg, 69 kg, 81 kg, +91 kg - fi nals August 2008 3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Th ursday Friday On your mark...Get set...Go! Sleeping Beauty (ballet) Russian Academic Youth Th eater, 19:00 Also August 2, 10 To include an event Kostroma Russian National Show Kosmos Hotel, 19:30 in our calendar, Th rough Sept. 1 Wonderful World of Nature please email information to Sand Sculpture Festival 1Moscow State Botanical Garden [email protected] Th rough Sept. 15 Russian Railways Football Cup or call 620-0888 Lokomotiv Stadium Milan v. Seville, 18:30 by the 15th of the month Lokomotiv v. Chelsea, 21:15 prior to the event. Also August 3 Eteri Beriashvili & Eteri Jaz Under the Parisian Sky Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 20:00 Popast v Tochku [Hit the Mark] Festival Jane Air (rock) Tochka Club, 18:30 Tochka Club, 18:00 Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (ballet) Sergey Manukyan (vocal, percussion) Russian Academic Youth Th eater, 19:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 20:00 Also August 7, 15, 16, 23, 24 Unearth (USA) Also August 14, 21, 28 Tochka Club, 20:00 Retro Wednesday (Russian rock-pop) DJ Old Dog Nikolaev Blue Guitars, Singing Hearts, Flirt Minkus’ Don Quixote (ballet) Propaganda Club, 21:00 Konets Filma [End of Film] (rock) Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 20:00 45678Russian Academic Youth Th eater, 19:00 Ensemble of Ermitazh soloists (classical) Tochka Club, 22:30 Balzaminov Marriage (based on the Also August 17, 29 Prokofi ev’s Romeo and Juliet (ballet) Ostankino Mansion, 19:00 Tchaikovsky’s Th e Nutcracker (ballet) Nikolai Ostrovsky play) Viva Cuba Caribbean Dance Nights Russian Academic Youth Th eater, 19:00 Amphibian Man (musical) Russian Academic Youth Th eater, 19:00 Chikhachev Musical Th eater, 19:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 20:00 Also August 21, 31 Chikhachev Musical Th eater, 19:00 Also August 14, 18, 25 Also August 1 DJ Partyphone (dance) Elinte Trio (fl amenco, Latino) Latino Boom Boom with DJ Pinky “Let’s Gather Our Friends Together” “Let’s Gather Our Friends Together” Propaganda Club, 21:00 Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 19:30 (Cuba) Second International Music Festival Second International Music Festival Soyuz Kompositorov Club, 22:00 FOR KIDS! On your mark...Get set..