Beijing Olympics 2008

Transport during the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games will not be a problem and foreign reporters are welcome, the executive vice-president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) has said.
“People don’t have to worry about transport during the Beijing Games. It will definitely be smooth for the competition and we have taken into consideration the concerns of the city’s residents,” BOCOG vice-president Jiang Xiaoyu said.
“Overseas media are very welcome to come to Beijing and their working conditions during the Games are guaranteed by State Council Decree No. 477 and several related media guides.
“If there are any problems, foreign journalists can go to the relevent departments, such as the foreign affairs offices and the Main Press Center (MPC), or International Broadcast Center (IBC),” Jiang said.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

Five short films about the preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games shot by world renowned directors will be broadcast by television stations in and out of China as from Thursday.
The five films will be shown on China Central Television as well as on Beijing TV, the national TV stations of Italy, France and Iran.
Meanwhile, sohu.com will put the films online for viewers across the world.
In July 2006, Beijing invited Giuseppe Tornatore from Italy, Majid Majidi from Iran, Patrice Leconte of France, Daryl Goodrich of Britain as well as Andrew Lau Wai Keung from Hong Kong to make a short film each telling stories concerning Chinese people’s preparation for the August 8-24 Games.
As Tornatore’s first trip to China, the Italian director made “Reunion”, telling a story about how a group of students and their teacher got back together after 30 years.
It was also the first time Majidi had visited China. He chose his favorite subject, children. In “Colors Fly”, Majidi focused on children looking forward to the Games.
Leconte was a stranger to Beijing too, but he was soon up to pace with his knowledge of the Chinese capital, and shot “Beijing — A Film Impressionistic”, in which he depicted Beijing through various structures including the Summer Palace and Olympic venues.
Having retired as an athlete, Goodrich found his career in a combination of sport and film-making. His five-minute film, entitled “Belief”, focused on the hard work and thrill of athletic competition.
Hong Kong director Lau, the only Chinese director invited to the project, showed his love for Chinese food and culture in “Color, Fragrance, Taste Beijing”.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

The Chinese media and Internet users have expressed their bafflement and disappointment over Hollywood director Steven Spielberg’s recent withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics as its artistic director, but still admire the Oscar-winner’s artistic achievements.
“Mr Spielberg knows nothing about China’s endeavor to solve the Darfur issue … He is unqualified to blame the Chinese government,” a commentary published in Saturday’s Guangming Daily, one of the country’s leading newspapers, said.
Spielberg announced his intention on Wednesday to quit his role at the upcoming Games, citing concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, which he linked to the Chinese government.
The American movie director was appointed artistic consultant by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympics in April 2006, and became involved with the opening and closing ceremonies of the event, together with Chinese film director Zhang Yimou and Ric Rirch, the Australian director behind ceremonies at the Sydney Games in 2000.
Many Chinese have said they are shocked by Spielberg’s decision and found it “unacceptable”.
“This person is living in his sci-fi world and cannot distinguish dream from reality,” a commentary in Saturday’s China Youth Daily said.
Websites such as Sina.com, Sohu.com and China.com carried thousands of comments on Spielberg’s move.
Jiang Bojing from Hebei province said in an online forum: “Mr Spielberg shouldn’t use the Olympics as an opportunity to make indiscreet political remarks about China.”
Spielberg’s movies, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. and Schindler’s List, have proven popular with Chinese.
Xinghe, a writer, said Spielberg has inspired many Chinese youngsters who love science fiction.
“He has great talent. We regret his decision, but we still like his movies,” he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao also said last week that Spielberg’s decision was “regretful”.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

China’s information industry authority plans to expand broadband service to more than 95 percent of the nation’s villages in 2008.
Some of the central and eastern provinces will have all their townships and villages covered by broadband service by the end of this year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII).
Telephone service will be expanded further in the rural areas, the ministry said on Sunday, which vowed a more extensive Internet connection to the rural areas with better quality.
Of late some 99.5 percent of the country’s villages have access to telephone links, and the broadband connection have reached 92 percent of the villages nationwide.
Last year, 73 million people were added to the nation’s total netizen population. Of the increment, 29.17 million, or 40 percent,lived in rural areas. This brought the number of rural Internet users to 52.62 million at the end of 2007, up 127.7 percent year-on-year. The rate was much higher than the 38.2 percent for urban areas.
The impressive growth in rural regions was due largely to government efforts and the robust demand from those areas.
China had 210 million Internet users at the end of 2007 and its online population is on course to become the world’s largest at the beginning of this year.
China had so far about 122 million broadband users, ranking top among the world.

from: beijing2008.cn

A English-Chinese edition of first aid guidance has been issued to help athletes and tourists at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The pamphlet translates medical expressions on different types of allergies, diarrhea and fever, and contains a map of hospitals and first aid centers in the Chinese capital.
In case of emergency, the brochure can also be used as an SOS sign, as the bright red color of its cover is easily seen.
Sources claim other seven-foreign-language versions of the pamphlet will be released during the Beijing Olympic Games in this summer.
Beijing has launched a series of campaigns to ensure food safety and the health and personal security of foreign athletes and tourists for the Games.
From January to May this year, local police will beef up campaigns against organized crime, robbery, murder and other severe criminal offenses as well as collect illegally-held explosives, guns and ammunition, and strengthen control over bows and crossbows.
The police will also step up surveillance of entertainment venues to fight pornography and gambling, and remove safety hazards within 200 meters of Olympic venues.
The city expects to welcome more than 500,000 visitors from overseas during the games, with the largest daily visitor-inflow estimated at 300,000. It has 806 star-ranking tourist hotels offering 130,000 guest-rooms or 220,000 beds. Other public lodging houses and inns will serve another 646,000 beds.
Beijing is also expected to solicit around 1,000 local households as “Olympic Family Hotels” to receive foreign visitors in effort to increase the city’s guest room supply.
Also, it is estimated that 450,000 tickets for this summer’s Olympic Games have been allocated, accounting for about a quarter of the tickets available for sale in the second phase.
More than 700,000 orders for 4.2 million tickets were received, but only 123,000 bookings were confirmed after a computerized random draw.

On Sunday afternoon, the singing voices of Olympic volunteers were beefed up with the strong sound of the famous Chinese singer Emil Chau. Chau rushed to the home of two Olympic volunteers after flying into Beijing in order to invite the family to participate in a music video presentation of the Olympic volunteer song, “I am a Star.”

At around 10 in the morning, Chau, with CD in hand, stormed through the capital’s airport to speed over to the home of Mr. Dong, a dedicated Olympic volunteer. Mr. Dong’s home overflows with Olympic spirit; he has been approved to help out with the volunteer work for the Olympics, his daughter, Dong Yang, is employed with the BOCOG, and his daughter’s boyfriend is currently a volunteer in the Olympic program.
Needless to say, the hot topic around the conversation table between Mr. Dong’s family and the famous singer surrounded Olympic volunteerism. An excited Chau showed the family the “I am a Star” music video, and helped them quickly learn the performance piece.
Dong Yang noted that Olympic volunteers are looking forward to the Olympics with a sense of utmost pride. She especially likes the lyrics to the “I am a Star” song, explaining that to her, the language in the music expresses that volunteers are little stars themselves, throwing small points of light individually, but as a whole, reflecting the intense brilliance of teamwork that can illuminate the world.
On the 200 day countdown to the Olympic Games, the presentation of this song to ordinary Beijing volunteers portrays the deeply planted familial spirit of the Games. Chau expressed that every Beijing family is an example of Olympic success, as every citizen is an unsung hero, regardless of whether or not anyone in the household officially became a volunteer. He believes that the volunteer spirit is embodied in the soul of every Beijinger, and as such, would like to pay tribute to all of these special people.
Chau accompanied the three people in the Dong family to the China Millennium Monument, where, in front of 300 Olympic volunteers and reporters, the quartet was joined by BOCOG representatives and Volkswagen public relations representative Lu Minjie. The group then unveiled the “I am a Star” music video, after which Chau told a happy audience about his excitement over volunteer work and responsibilities. The music video depicts a sweaty, but smiley, image of Olympic volunteers.

Emil Chau happily poses with children for pictures.
Director Zhao Dongming of the BOCOG Cultural Activities Department believes that the “I am a Star” song will bring each volunteer a sense of honor and pride, inspiring them to understand both themselves and their work. At the same time, he hopes that this will enable the public to more warmly welcome Olympic volunteers, encouraging the masses to help the Olympic spirit flourish.
The lyrics to “I am a Star” were written by the famous poet Lin Yi, while the music itself was composed and sung by Emil Chau. After the song’s debut in Tiananmen Square on the one year countdown to the Olympics, its popularity grew rapidly, especially among Olympic volunteers. The music video to accompany the song was completed by September of last year; starting from the Spring Festival holiday, “I am a Star” will be played on national television and may be seen and heard through various other channels for the public to enjoy.

from: beijing2008.cn 

China’s youngsters compete hard to become Olympic cheerleaders where judges are looking for a bit of tradition in the performances.
Cheerleading originated in the United States in the late 19th century as a way to rev up spectators and support athletes at university sporting events. Now it’s evolved into a fully fledged sport itself.

China’s Olympic games will be held from August 8, 2008, and officials are looking to find the best cheerleaders to showcase Beijing to the world.

from: Reuters.com

Japanese Media comment on Olympics Impact on Economy.

Japanese Industry News predicts China’s economy will realize soft landing after 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It is predicted that the overall direct and indirect investment will have mounted up to 4000 million dollars by then. Half of the investment came from field and building constructions.
According to the China National Information Center, Olympics have contributed a two percent raise annually from 2002 to 2007. Experts say Beijing Olympics won’t result in economic downturn, as opposed to Japan’s 1964 Olympic Games, according to the magazine.
East Asia Economy, on the other hand, predicted China’s economy will confront side effects of hot economy after 2008. According to its analyzes, Olympics will bring in too much currency trading, which will result in hot economy and essentially—inflation. The current economic growth of 12 per cent is exceeding China’s potential capacity of economic growth. Therefore, economic adjustment is necessary after year 2008. If the central government is unable to control the tendency of “over-heating”, then the economic growth rate will be even higher. And there will appear economy bubble in real estate industry.
Take Japan for example. Japan experienced severe economic depression and security crisis after holding 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. But Japan have successfully recovered from it and achieved jack-ups after a short period of time. Japan’s success is as a result of the common use of high technology, improved ability of exporting, high needs of national commodities.
But China’s situation is fairly different. China doesn’t possess some of the key elements under the current situation, which are needed for economic recovery. Some of the concerns are the raising price of oil and rice and the high fluid of currency, which never happened in Japan.

from: jappone.blogspot.com

In this video clip, Chinese women are in training to become hostesses for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

The media accreditation for the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay in the Mainland of China begins Thursday, according to BOCOG.
Media outside of the Mainland of China (including the media from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) are welcome to Beijing Olympic Torch Relay.
To cover the Olympic Torch Relay outside the Mainland of China, media can communicate directly with the city task force in each relay host city for media accreditation.
To cover the Olympic Torch Relay in the Mainland of China, media can apply to BOCOG. The Beijing Olympic Media Centre will process media applications. Media centres in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities will provide support to media.
In addition, a Service Guide of Coverage of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay for Media outside the Mainland of China is published on website Thursday to facilitate the coverage of the Olympic Torch Relay. The Guide compiles of 4 sections, regarding media policy, accreditation process, and services for the relay in the Mainland of China and access to official information.
On March 24, 2008, the Olympic flame that represents peace, friendship and hope will be lit once again in Olympia, Greece. As the prelude to the Beijing Olympic Games, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay marks a significant step in public’s anticipation of Beijing Olympic Games.
Under the slogan of “Light the Passion, Share the Dream”, the Olympic flame will embark on a “Journey of Harmony” by visiting 21 cities on the five continents, and traveling across all 31 Provinces, Autonomous Regions and Municipalities in the Mainland of China. The Olympic flame will also reach the world’s highest mountain – Mt. Qomolangma before it arrives at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to light the main cauldron on 8 August 2008. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay, with the participation of more than 20,000 Torchbearers, the duration of 130 days, and a distance of approximately 137,000 km, will be remembered as the one that covers the longest distance and the widest geographical expanse and that involves the largest number of participants in the history of the modern Olympic Movement.

from: xinhuanet.com