As the 2008 Olympic summer games draw to a close, it will be interesting to see how China assesses its success in changing the nation’s image in the eyes of the world.

In the years leading up to the games, Chinese leaders were outspoken about their desire to open their doors to the world and show what a progressive and modern country China had become. Like the athletes at the games, they succeeded on some counts and failed on others.

Before the games, a variety of concerns was expressed. Would China be able to finish the Olympic facilities on time? Would air and water quality hamper the athletes’ performances? Would Beijing be prepared to handle the large crowds expected for the games?

Concerns about facilities appear to have been largely unfounded. China even footed the bill at the last minute to lay down a new surface for the race walking event after participants complained about the dangerous granite course. Environmental factors haven’t seemed to be a major issue, and few complaints have been heard about crowds or transportation. The murder of a U.S. citizen at the beginning of the games was tragic, but such an isolated incident could easily have occurred elsewhere, with or without the Olympics.

The Opening Ceremonies were stunning. The flap about computer-enhanced fireworks and the lip-synching girl turned out to be hardly worth mentioning. The Chinese hadn’t tried to hide the fireworks trick, and do we really think other countries, including the United States, wouldn’t do the same thing in this age of computer graphics?

There were, however, some darker sides to the games, that crept out around the edges. Two elderly Chinese women who applied to hold a protest during the Olympics were ordered to spend a year in a labor camp. So much for the Beijing protest “zones” in parks far from the Olympic venues. Officials received 77 protest applications and approved none.

Chinese gymnasts performed spectacularly, winning the gold medal in both the men’s and women’s team competition. But, wait, some of those “women” looked awfully young. Various documents have turned up that raise questions about whether the Chinese gymnasts all met the requirement to turn 16 during the Olympic year. The Chinese government, however, has issued the documents that say they did, and it will be difficult to prove otherwise.

An interesting story also came out this week detailing what it had taken to pull off the dramatic Opening Ceremonies. Performers in the synchronized tai-chi routine had lived in army barracks for three months and practiced 16 hours a day in preparation. Nine hundred performers in another segment of the ceremonies wore adult diapers so they could crouch beneath boxes for at least five hours.

That level of control was a source of great pride to the director of the ceremonies. Only communist North Korea might have been able to do a better job of getting thousands of performers to move in unison, he said. “North Korea is No. 1 in the world when it comes to uniformity.”

That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?

In China, it’s all about toeing the line, doing what you’re told, not rocking the boat. That level of discipline may be admirable in some ways, but when it’s enforced by government mandate, it loses some of its luster. Uniformity may help a country pull off an efficient and visually beautiful Olympic games, but before, during and after the games, Chinese citizens still pay a high price in terms of individual freedom.