As Beijing on Tuesday marks the one-month countdown to the start of the Olympics, here are 30 reasons which make the Games special:

1. Volunteers
The 100,000-strong army of Beijing Olympic volunteers is the largest in Olympic history.
Each of the 70,000 Olympic and 30,000 Paralympic volunteers has undergone months of training.
The good Samaritans from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Europe, the US and Australia will join 400,000 city volunteers who will help visitors on Beijing’s streets.
Volunteers were honored with the song, I Am a Star.

2. Double the responsibility
2008 is the first time one organizing team will oversee both the Olympics and Paralympics.
The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) is the first organization to shoulder such a formidable responsibility and BOCOG has promised the two events will be of equal splendor.

3. First digital broadcast
High-definition technology will be used for all TV broadcast operations, with all events and ceremonies enjoying 5.1 surround sound, a first for the Olympics.
Clearer screen pictures and scenery will be a feature of the Beijing Games.

4. Biggest TV audience ever
A record 4 billion people are set to watch the Beijing Games.
Beijing Olympic Broadcasting (BOB), the official broadcaster of the Games, will produce about 5,400 hours of programs during the 17-day gala, 2,000 more than in Athens four years ago.

5. Multimedia for the first time
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has, for the first time, separately sold broadcasting rights for television and new media such as Internet and mobile networks.
CCTV acquired the TV rights for the Beijing Games, while CCTV.com was awarded the domestic Internet and mobile platform license. CCTV.com recently signed an agreement with Sohu.com, the Games’ Internet content services sponsor, to share content.

6. Biggest media contingent ever
About 40,000 journalists will cover the Games, including 21,600 accredited media workers in press, broadcasting and television.
The Beijing International Media Center will also provide some 10,000 non-accredited journalists work areas and accommodation, among other services.

7. Largest number of host cities
To help host a successful Games, six cities in China have joined Beijing as co-hosts. Tianjin, Shanghai, Qinhuangdao in Hebei province and Shenyang in Liaoning province will stage some Olympic soccer matches.
The coastal city of Qingdao in Shandong province will host the sailing regatta, while Hong Kong, a city with a long history of horse racing and matching first-class facilities, will play host to equestrian events.

8. New sports
To modernize the Games, the IOC will introduce two new sports to the Beijing Games: Bicycle motocross (BMX) and the 10km marathon swim.
BMX will offer two gold medals in individual men and women’s competitions.
Marathon swimming will be held in Shunyi Water Park and offer two gold medals in individual men and women’s competitions.
Owing to limited participation worldwide, softball and baseball are expected to make their final Olympic appearance in Beijing after being axed from the London program.

9. Cheerleaders
Some 600 cheerleaders from all over the country will go all out to entertain spectators with Chinese folk dancing, acrobatics, drum shows, lion dancing and martial arts during time-outs. Cheerleaders were selected from national Olympic cheerleading competitions and local clubs.

10. The Beijing Green
The Olympic Forest Park, 680 hectares of plantation and lakes, has given the city a new green lung.
Beijing also built a number of new water purification plants for daily water recycling, replaced dated equipment at its power plants and retrofitted gas stations citywide.
The inclusion of solar power, rain-recycling and energy-saving facilities during venue construction are all helping the Games live up to its “Green Olympics” billing.
Beijing has also planted millions of trees to minimize sandstorms. It is also working with neighboring provinces to cut emissions.

11. Torch relay the longest, highest
The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay was scheduled to travel the longest distance and include the largest number of people over 130 days.
It reached the highest peak of Mount Qomolangma on May 8. Following the Sichuan earthquake, the torch relay route was curtailed in each city and special mourning sessions were added.
The leg in earthquake-hit Sichuan province has been rescheduled to August, just before the Games begins.

12. English, English
A 170-page Chinese Menu in English Version is seen as exemplary of one success of the English-speaking campaign throughout the city.
Pop stars teaching audiences correct English pronunciation and cab drivers toting language books all are part of Beijing’s multilingual pre-Olympic effort.
“It’s not just about the language, it’s about how open and confident we are,” said Li Yang, founder of Crazy English.

13. Babies named after Olympics
A total of 4,104 Chinese have been named Aoyun (Chinese for “the Olympics”) in homage to the Beijing Olympic Games, according to the figures released by the National Citizen Identity Information Center under the Ministry of Public Security in June.
Nearly 700 of the names were registered in 1992, when Beijing first applied to host the Games and another 553 were registered in 2001, when the city officially won the bid.
About 92 percent of those named Aoyun are male.

14. Weddings during the year and on opening day
Aug 8, 2008, or 08-08-08, is more than just a date: it marks both the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games and is considered a lucky day for marriage with so many eights. It is estimated that 15,000 couples will marry in Beijing on the day and 130,000-140,000 this year.

15. Highest number of cultural festivals
Games organizers have held an annual Olympic cultural festival since 2003, with the sixth beginning two weeks ago and running for the next three months.
China’s ancient culture and civilization are now being showcased to promote the Olympic spirit and publicize a green, hi-tech and people’s Olympics.

16. Massive Olympic education campaign
Educating young people through sports is one of the primary goals of the Olympic Movement.
About 400 million young people in more than 500,000 schools across the country have received Olympic lessons ahead of the Beijing Games. More than 500 model schools have been named and a series of Olympic readers compiled and presented to students.

17. Highest number of doping tests
The anti-doping effort at the Beijing Games will be more extensive than ever, with as many as 4,500 doping tests, 25 percent more than in Athens four years ago and 90 percent more than in Sydney in 2000.
Tests will be carried out from July 27 at 41 test stations at the Olympic Village and all Olympic match venues.

18. Highest spending
The cost of the Beijing Games will dwarf the previous Olympics in Greece with total investment likely to reach $43 billion.
Venues, estimated to have cost about $1.8 billion to build, will be utilized as public sport and entertainment complexes afterwards.
Beijing also spent $16 billion in the past decade reducing smog, while additional infrastructure, such as the world’s largest airport terminal, T3, an advanced railway station and new subway systems required vast expenditure.

19. Largest transport expansion
Beijing’s first subway linking Fuxingmen and Beijing Railway Station was initially built for military use, but today, 1.5 million passengers ride the 2-yuan subway each day.
The existing subway network spans 155 km and has 93 stations. Three new lines will open shortly before the Games, to transport visitors to and from the new airport terminal and between the Bird’s Nest and downtown, and construction of more lines will continue following them.
At least six others are already under construction, with an aim to stretch the network to more than 561 km and 420 stations.

20. Highest number of mascots - five
Multiple Olympic mascots are not uncommon, but for the first time more than three figures will share Summer Olympic mascot duty when the five Fuwa take center stage.
Featuring four of China’s most popular animals - the fish, the panda, the Tibetan antelope and the swallow - and the Olympic flame, the mascots’ names are “Beibei,” “Jingjing,” “Huanhuan,” “Yingying” and “Nini,” which together reads in Chinese as “Beijing welcomes you”.

21. Venues on fengshui
Beijing wished for its Olympic venues to be an expansion of its history and culture, both of which are firmly set on the spine of the city, a 7.7 km axis line running right through the emperor’s seat at the Forbidden City, the middle of Tian’anmen Square, the Drum and Bell towers and Yongdingmen.
The north-south axis was believed to bring eternal stability, prompting designers of the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube to position them on either side of it.
In doing so, they have integrated modern ideas with the deep-rooted spirit of the Middle Kingdom.

22. Record number of sponsors, revenue
Since launching the Beijing 2008 Olympic Marketing Plan in September 2003, a total of 63 enterprises have become sponsors of the Beijing Games, including 12 worldwide Olympic partners.
BOCOG’s deal with sports equipment supplier adidas covers 18 sports, and more than 6,000 officially licensed Olympic products have hit the market.

23. Largest ever team from China
China will field its largest Olympic team to date when about 570 athletes contest 28 sports in Beijing.
But Chinese sports officials are trying to downplay predictions that the nation will scoop the most gold medals, affirming US and Russia as sporting powerhouses.
At the 2004 Athens Games, 407 Chinese athletes participated in 26 sports and finished second on the medal tally after the US.

24. Lowest ticket prices
Taking into account China’s average purchasing power, BOCOG ensured a low-price policy for Beijing Olympic and Paralympic tickets.
Opening ceremony prices were capped at 5,000 yuan ($641) per head, while the lowest price to a sports competition was 30 yuan ($4).
Closing ceremony tickets ranged from 150-3,000 yuan ($19-385), preliminary competition tickets from 30-300 yuan ($4-39) and tickets to the finals cost between 60 and 1,000 yuan ($8-128).
BOCOG also reserved about 14 percent of all domestically sold tickets for students at the handsome price of 5 yuan ($0.6) and 10 yuan ($1.2) for preliminaries and finals respectively.

25. Highest number of foreign coaches
In striving for excellence, various Chinese national teams have invited foreign coaches to guide them.
More than 30 foreign coaches are currently working with the Chinese Olympic team.
Many among them, such as men’s basketball coach Jonas Kazlauskas (right) from Lithuania and synchronized swimming head coach Masayo Imura from Japan, are expected to lead the home outfits to their peak performances.

26. Number of China-born athletes representing other federations
A group of Chinese-born athletes representing other countries or regions will be an important force in Beijing.
Led by former badminton national team member Zhou Mi and Wang Chen, who represent Hong Kong, and table tennis player Li Jiawei of Singapore, they will pose formidable challenges to their Chinese rivals.

27. Number of Chinese coaches in other countries and regions
A number of Chinese coaches will lead foreign teams on home soil, such as women’s volleyball legend Lang Ping (right), who will lead the US women’s team.
Meanwhile, former coach of the Chinese badminton team Li Mao will lead the South Korean team.

28. Medals of jade
Olympic medals are for the first time made of metal and jade. The medals were inlaid with Kunlun jade from China’s Qinghai province in a symbol of “respect” and “virtue” in the Chinese tradition.
China’s rich culture and history is clearly embodied in the winning designs, which reflect the values of ethics and honor, combined the with Olympic and Paralympic spirit.

29. Wushu
People who love Chinese martial arts must not miss the Beijing 2008 Wushu Tournament to be held on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympic Games from Aug 21 to 24 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium.
About 128 athletes from 43 countries and regions will contest. Approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Chinese martial arts competition will feature 15 events, including 10 in Taolu (the routines) and five for Sanshou (fights).
Although not a medal sport, the tournament will be an important showcase and springboard for wushu’s wish to join the Olympic family.

30. Significance of 08-08-08
It is no coincidence that the Beijing Games begins at 8 pm on the 8th day of the 8th month of ‘08.
The number 8 has special significance to the Chinese, because 8 in Chinese is pronounced “ba”, which sounds a lot like “fa”, which means prosperity or wealth, as in “”, which means to become rich.
In Chinese culture, 8 also denotes the number of immortals and structure of trigrams, both of which are linked to auspicious ideas.
Also, when two digits of the number 8 are placed together - “88″ - they resemble the stylized form of two Chinese “”characters, hence representing double happiness, a popular motif and design usually pasted upon the doors of newly married Chinese couples.
The number 8 is highly favored among the Chinese for its connotations of good luck, fortune and longevity.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Saturday’s announcement that the National Stadium has become fully functional marked the completion of all the Beijing Olympic Games’ 37 venues.
Nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest” because of its shape, the venue covers 258,000 sq m of the Olympic Green in the northern part of the capital.
In addition to hosting football and other sports events, it would be the site of the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies.

“We hope we can provide better services for the Olympic Games with better facilities,” National Stadium CEO Li Aiqing said at a ceremony celebrating the venue’s completion on Saturday.
Swiss firm Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, and China Architecture Design & Research Institute, won the international design competition in 2003, and construction began at the end of that year.
It has since become a Beijing icon, attracting photo-snapping crowds every day.
The design’s complexity challenged builders, but they were proud of overcoming all trials.
“The most outstanding feature of the stadium is its beam structure,” chief engineer Li Jiulin said. “The architects imagined several intertwining lines, which we translated into reality with steel and concrete.”
Time magazine earlier this year listed the building - the largest steel structure in the world - atop its “100 Most Influential Designs”.
Prior to its official completion, the 91,000-seat venue underwent two test events in April and May.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said here on Tuesday that sporting events should not be exploited for political ends.
Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Frattini said the Olympics “are and will be a major sporting event which should not be mingled with politics.”
“A boycott is unacceptable because sports must be kept separate from politics,” he said.
Yang Jiechi, who is on a three-nation tour to Europe, held talks with his Italian counterpart before the press conference.
Both sides agreed to maintain high-level contacts between the two countries, enhance cooperation in dealing with international affairs, further strategic consultation, promote economic and trade ties and strengthen judicial cooperation.

from: xinhuanet.com

The election of the host city of the 2016 Games will take place on 2 October 2009 during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen. IOC members will cast their votes until one city has obtained a majority.

from: olympic.org

Hundreds of Chinese students in Japan signed their names on three flags on Saturday to extend their support for the Beijing Olympic Games.
The campaign, initiated by the Chinese Students in Japan Friendship Association, plans to collect over 10,000 signatures of Chinese students and scholars in Japan.
At the opening ceremony of the campaign held in the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, the Chinese students set up banners promoting Olympic spirits and the Beijing Olympics slogans such as “One World, One Dream.”
“Through the campaign, we want to spread the Olympic spirits and the notion of peace, and to call on the people who support the Beijing Olympics to join together,” said Zhang Bi, secretary general of the Chinese Students Association in Japan.
“We also want to tell Japanese students that the Olympic Games is not only for China, but the whole world and the entire humankind,” Zhang told Xinhua.
During the Olympic torch relay in Japan’s Nagano city on April 26, the three flags, with the color of red, yellow and blue respectively, will be extended to spectators for their signatures.
The flags will then be presented to the Organizing Committee of the Beijing Olympic Games, said Li Guangzhe, chairman of the association.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

NEW DELHI - Seventy torchbearers are set to carry the Beijing Olympic flame here on Thursday for the 11th leg of its global journey.
The 70 torchbearers will cover a distance of just 2.5 kilometers from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate starting from the 4 p.m. local time.
The torchbearers include sportspersons, Bollywood stars and politicians, according to Suresh Kalmadi, the president of Indian Olympic Committee.
The country’s top current and former athletes, including sprint stars Anju Bobby George, PT Usha, ace tennis star Leander Paes, shooters Manavjit Singh and Abhinav Bindra, boxer Akhil Kumar and hockey player Dhanraj Pillay, will be part of the run.
Actors Saif Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Sagarika Ghatge of “Chak De India” fame and Sarod player Ayan Ali Khan will also be seen in action.
Sachin Tendulkar, who was supposed to carry the flames, has pulled out at the last minute.
“He is not well and he has also an Indian Premier League captain’s meeting to attend. But he has shown his solidarity for the Olympic movement,” Kalmadi said on Wednesday.
Out of 70 torchbearers, 47 have been chosen by India and five by the BOCOG, the Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games, while Olympic presenting partners have selected 19 runners.
Kalmadi expects for a great relay in New Dehli. “The entire world is looking to India and the expectation is that the torch relay will be one of the greatest shows here,” said Kalmadi.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to live up to the expectations of the world community.”
“We do not want to see a repeat of what happened in Paris and London. It is a sacred torch and its safety is our responsibility,” Kalmadi told a press conference.
“We are not afraid of any movement. They can have the movement anywhere else. We just want the torch relay to be safe. The safety of the torch is our responsibility and we are hopeful that the relay will go on well without any disruption,” added he.

from: xinhuanet.com

The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday that Beijing is right on track to deliver a superb Olympic Games in August.
“We can again report that the commission has seen that BOCOG’s operations are absolutely right on track,” Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC coordination commission, told reporters as the commission wrapped its last inspection tour of the Chinese capital.
“We believe that the coming August will be able to give a superb organization to the athletes.
“All the organizations have been progressing according to the plan,” he added.
Verbruggen said the IOC coordination commission had examined Beijing’s preparatory work in 44 areas and received satisfactory feedbacks.
“We were very satisfied with the assurance we received in a number of areas … media services, internet access and live broadcast, where some concerns exist,” he said.
“There is every reason to believe that we will see here a gold-medal performance in August, also superb organization of the Olympic Games.”
Verbruggen reiterated that the IOC was a sporting organization and not a political one, and would not get involved in political issues.
“The games have been drawn into issues that do not necessarily have a link with the operations of the games. It’s the truth. We are all aware that the international community is discussing these topics,” he said.
Verbruggen also rejected the conclusions by an Amnesty International report this week that awarding the Olympic Games to China had made human rights worse.
“To go that far to say the Games contributed to a worsening situation in human rights, I would call blatantly untrue,” said Verbruggen.
“It is something very difficult to prove for them but we can easily prove that bringing the Games here has let to improvements.”
Wang Wei, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee (BOCOG), echoed these remarks.
“The Chinese people now enjoy great freedom of speech, and people can comment on and criticize the government’s work,” he said. “The Olympic Games is an opportunity for china to further open up and develop… and also will contribute to the improvement of human rights courses.”
Commenting on threats by some EU politicians recently of boycotting the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games, Verbruggen said that decision to boycott the opening ceremony or the Olympics should be made by athletes and not by politicians.
“I have very little admiration for politicians that come here to sign big business contracts and three or four months later say ‘ perhaps I won’t come to the opening ceremony’,” he said.
“The athletes have more than enough information to make up their own minds. It’s not up to some politicians making cheap use of the sport at the same time as signing big business contracts.”

from: xinhuanet.com 

The city of San Francisco has made public the Beijing Olympic torch route which will travel about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) along San Francisco’s waterfront, it was reported on Wednesday.
In discussing the details of the route, mayor Garvin Newsom asked activist groups to remember that the Olympics are not about politics but about the performance of athletes and “the spirit of unity and the things that unite us,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
City leaders, including Newsom, have expressed concerns over the past few weeks that releasing details of the torch route would jeopardize security of the event by encouraging people who want to disrupt or stop the relay.
The torch relay will start with a ceremony at McCovey Cove, travel along the Embarcadero past Fisherman’s Wharf and briefly through the Marina District, and head back along the Embarcadero to Justin Herman Plaza. A closing ceremony is scheduled to take place at the plaza.
The event will start at 1 p.m., and it will take the torch about an hour and a half to traverse the route. More than 80 people from across North America have been selected to carry the flame. Their names have not been made known.

from: xinhuanet.com 

Most people in France believe their country should attend the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, according to a poll by Ifop published in L’Equipe. 60 per cent of respondents think France should not boycott the games to protest China’s human rights record and recent events in Tibet.
In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was established as a one-party state. In the 1980s, the ruling Communist Party of China (ZGD) loosened a series of authoritarian restrictions and allowed private enterprise for the first time in decades. The country currently has one of the world’s fastest growing economies, becoming a global exporter and a very attractive venue for foreign investors.
China’s human rights record has remained a concern. Several campaigners claim the communist regime continues to torture and execute people. The country’s rule over Tibet has also been a point of contention.
Earlier this month, Reporters Without Borders called on heads of state and governments to boycott the opening ceremonies of this year’s Olympic Games as a way to underline China’s poor treatment of human rights. Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin agrees with the idea, and has called on French president Nicolas Sarkozy to second it. 54 per cent of respondents would agree with French leaders boycotting the opening ceremony of the games.
On Mar. 25, French swimmer Alain Bernard discussed his views, saying, “Boycott the opening ceremony, why not? It would be a huge message from the politicians. Boycotting is a very delicate question. As a sportsman, we will have an important role to play because what we are going to produce there, our results, will attract the eyes of the world. After that side of things, boycotting becomes a political decision. It is very delicate for us.”
Also on Mar. 25, Daniel Bilalian, director of sports at France Televisions, said the network may boycott coverage of the Beijing Olympics if China bans the broadcast of footage from demonstrations against the games.

Polling Data

Due to China’s human rights record and recent events in Tibet, there have been some discussions about boycotting the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Should France boycott the Beijing 2008 Olympics?

Yes 39%
No 60%
Not sure 1%

If France takes part in the Beijing 2008 Olympics, do you think French leaders should boycott the opening ceremony?

Yes 54%
No 45%
Not sure 1%

Source: Ifop / L’Equipe
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,007 French adults, conducted on Mar. 20 and Mar. 21, 2008. No margin of error was provided.
from: angus-reid.com

Chinese President Hu Jintao lit a cauldron at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square with the Olympic torch Monday morning, marking the official start of the round-the-world relay.
The ceremony kicked off on the square at the heart of Beijing two hours after a specially chartered Air China plane carrying the flame from Greece touched down at about 9 a.m.
Vice President Xi Jinping, member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), addressed the ceremony.
Zhou Yongkang, member of the nine-man Political Bureau Standing Committee, and other CPC and state leaders attended the ceremony.
Also present was International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission chairman Hein Verbruggen, who addressed the ceremony on behalf of IOC president Jacques Rogge.
The flame is scheduled to depart from Beijing on Tuesday for the Kazakh city of Almaty, the first stop in its global tour of 135 cities.
The relay will cover 137,000 kilometers in 130 days before the flame finally arrives at the National Stadium in Beijing on Aug 8,2008 for the opening ceremony.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (1st R) shakes hands with Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the Coordination Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), during a welcome ceremony for the Olympic flame and launching of the Beijing Olympic torch relay at the Tian’anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, on March 31, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

from: xinhuanet.com