In addition to spying on your phone calls and private information, China has been working with engineers to monitor the structural integrity of the

Beijing National Stadium with a special system of hardware and software.

The China Earthquake Administration hired

CGM Engineering and National Instruments to develop and install a structural health monitoring system in the stadium in early 2008.

Sensors installed throughout the stadium measure vibration frequencies, which are transmitted to a computer with graphical monitoring software;

a GPS module is used to keep everything in sync. If frequencies are deemed unsafe, stadium officials can be instructed to make necessary renovations.

Engineers across the globe have been stressing the importance of structural health monitoring, since structures over time only get weaker.

So when you're visiting China and writing e-mails and blogs backwards, just remember – the government cares about your safety, too.

(Photo credit: Don Domingo/Flickr)