China definitely delivered on the world stage as the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and its athletes won the most gold medals, finishing with an impressive total of 51. Yet, what long-term impact will the games have on the Asian power?

During the run-up to the Olympics, there were calls to boycott due to China's crackdown on pro-independence demonstrations in Tibet, media censorship and oppression of religious groups and political dissidents. Many human rights activists claimed the Beijing Games would be a front to mask the government's continued suppression of basic freedoms.

I asked Yinghong Li and Zun H. Lin, two of my students from China, their impressions of their country in terms of human rights and political progress in the aftermath of the Olympics.

"China is more open now than ever before," Li said. "There was a time when there was no foreign television access to our country at all. We still have a long way to go regarding human rights but we are improving."

Lin was not quite as optimistic, saying, "We are making progress but many local people will not talk about their frustration concerning the government. People went to Beijing for the Games and learned a little about Chinese culture and got a modern view of the country. But, one of the biggest problems the government still has is that funds are not flowing to improve infrastructures in needy provinces."

Well, funds certainly are flowing through China. Its $1.6-trillion economy is nipping at the heels of America in the global marketplace, and the government opened its checkbook and doled out more than $40 billion for the Games, the most in Olympic history.

However, the dissatisfaction Lin conveyed will continue as the coastal cities prosper and those living in rural areas struggle to survive. The Olympic venues will be used to host major sporting and entertainment events that will bring in revenue, but China still faces a daunting domestic task as up to 300 million of its people live in poverty.

Although International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge heaped praise on China for "truly exceptional Games," many will remember the stories of citizens being uprooted for Olympic construction in Beijing and recall local protests of the growing gap between rich and poor.

China hopes the games will prompt the world to view the country in a more positive light. From a sporting perspective, those who watched the Olympics could see that China definitely knows how to play the sponsorship game as well as any Western nation.

Adidas was an official Olympic sportswear partner, outfitting 3,000 Chinese athletes and more than 100,000 volunteers and technical staff.

Yet while the Olympics showcased China's modernized sporting culture and emerging wealth, it also provided a little more exposure of its internal unrest, as officials could not clamp down on all of the foreign media. By opening up to the world, China put itself on a global watch, and part of the legacy of the Beijing Olympic Games will be determined by how the government deals with its social and political problems in the future.