Delegation to Beijing Paralympic Games largest in Chinese history

BEIJING, July 17) -- The Chinese delegation to the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games hosted a press conference on Thursday, revealing that a total of 547 representatives will be part of the group, which includes 332 athletes who will be competing in all 20 events.
197 men and 135 women will make up the competitive team, the largest in Chinese history; the oldest athlete is 51-years-old and the youngest is 15-years-old. Compared to the Athens Paralympic Games, the Chinese delegation this time around has increased by 261 people, which includes 132 more athletes than in 2004. The athletes come from all walks of life from all over the country: students, farmers, self-employed individuals and workers will be representing China in September. For 226 of these athletes, 2008 will be their Olympic debut year.

For the first time in any Paralympic Games, equestrian, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball, rowing, sailing, boccia, goalball, football 5-a-side and football 7-a-side events will be held.
The Paralympic Games have continuously gained popularity over the years, not only in China, but worldwide. It occupies the same stage as the Olympic Games as an internationally celebrated event, as awareness and support of people with disabilities increase.

source: http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/others/n214459089.shtml

For some Beijingers, the Olympics are a lost opportunity

For some Beijingers, the Olympics are a lost opportunity

Reuters, Tuesday July 15 2008

By Jason Subler
BEIJING, July 15 (Reuters) - Zhou Zhilian is one of thousands of entrepreneurs for whom the Olympic Games next month represent more a missed opportunity than a chance to cash in on the influx of visitors expected to pour into Beijing.
The market in which Zhou runs an undergarment shop will soon be closed down for a month due to authorities' worries that visitors might be able to find a scattering of fake name-brand goods among its predominantly cheap yet bona fide clothes.
That will force her to return to her native Zhejiang province until at least late August, with no income during that time and no guarantee that the business she has worked hard to build up will survive once she is able to reopen it.
"Who knows what will happen?" Zhou remarked between customers, trying to make as many sales as she can before she's shut down.
"There are other shops, and people will go there in the meantime. It'll be really difficult to get them to come back here."
Zhou's experience is being repeated in varying ways and degrees by small business owners across Beijing and beyond, as they are impacted by the government's relentless drive to do anything it takes to ensure that the Games go off without a hitch.
In contrast with the firms that have gotten a piece of the $35-40 billion spent on improving infrastructure or the millions of dollars that visitors are expected to spend, many small businesses are finding themselves caught up in a web of often invasive measures.
Use of private cars will be restricted from later this month, and security checkpoints for vehicles arriving from outside the city are leading to long lines of trucks and cars waiting to get in.
The government is forcing hundreds of steel mills and other polluting factories in neighbouring provinces to shut down or cut production as part of its bid for cleaner air, and many construction projects will be halted during the Games to cut down on dust.
LITTLE MACRO IMPACT
Economists say the temporary restrictions on construction and production are unlikely to have much of an impact on national economic growth, given that Beijing accounts for less than 4 percent of the overall economy.
"And spending by tourists, athletes, officials and media will mitigate much of the impact of industrial closures on the local economy," Andy Rothman, strategist with brokerage CLSA in Shanghai, said in a research note.
But that is little consolation to small businesses that are seeing their bottom lines hit, without the bargaining power that bigger firms have to seek sweeteners for their sacrifice.
A number of restaurants and bars near an Olympic venue in central Beijing have reportedly been told to shut their doors during the Games out of security concerns, forcing some of them to cancel lucrative contracts to host events for major companies.
Xu Yongji runs the Neweast School, a private institute in Beijing that trains students from around the country in the art of Chinese cuisine.
While the Olympics have increased demand for graduates, the school currently has around 300 fewer students than normal because of restrictions on non-Beijing residents staying in the city, Xu said, seriously impacting tuition revenue.
"Most of the schools inside the third ring road have been told to have vacations," Xu said, explaining that his school was at least able to remain open because it lies further outside the city centre.
"But many students have called us to ask if we are going to close down during the Games."
Authorities have been stepping up checks on people without Beijing residency over the past months, many people affected say, in a sweep that has taken aim at clearing the city of potential protesters and others, including poor migrant workers, who might dent Beijing's image as a modern metropolis.
TAKING BUSINESS ELSEWHERE
Paul French, chief China analyst at research firm Access Asia, points to potentially long-lasting problems for exporters around the country due to tighter visa controls for foreigners, as Beijing seeks to prevent potential troublemakers from entering the country.
A number of Western brands have been unable to get visas for their factory inspectors, meaning that they may not be able to award contracts to Chinese firms for Christmas orders if they cannot get the inspections done in time, French said.
"That cannot wait until September. Basically, everyone is scrambling around looking for capacity in Vietnam and Bangladesh," he said.
"This is actually going to start hitting business pretty severely."
To Zhao Jing, the Olympics have so far brought a double disappointment to her pocketbook.
Not only have universities near her clothing shop cut back on summer classes and encouraged students to go home, bringing the flow of customers to a trickle, but her investments are performing poorly.
China's stock market dropped around 45 percent so far this year, cutting off a source of income that she and many other Chinese people had counted on through the Olympics.
"Other countries saw their stock markets go up before the Olympics -- they all made something out of it, so I don't understand why we haven't," Zhao said.
She was not consoled by the fact that the market's drop has been part of a global fall in equities in the wake of the U.S. subprime crisis.
"Most of us are just affected negatively by the Olympics. The businesses that can make money out of them are very few." (Additional reporting by Kitty Bu and Ben Blanchard; editing by Megan Goldin) (For more stories visit our multimedia website "Road to Beijing" at http://www.reuters.com/news/sports/2008olympics; and see our blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)

China to issue special 10-yuan notes to mark Olympics

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, is to issue a commemorative bank note with a face value of 10 yuan ($1.46) from Tuesday to mark the Beijing Olympic Games, the bank said in a statement on Sunday.
The PBOC said it would issue a total of 6 million such notes, which would be circulated in the currency market with the same denomination as the ordinary 10-yuan notes.
The new note, in cyan, is 148.5 millimeters long and 72 millimeters wide, according to the central bank. While the ordinary 10-yuan notes are in cobalt black, 140 millimeters long and 70 millimeters wide.
On one side is a picture of the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, the main venue for the Games in August. Above the picture is the emblem of the Beijing Games, "Chinese Seal, Dancing Beijing". The picture of national stadium and the emblem are both set against the backdrop of the Temple of Heaven, one of the country's best-known landmarks.
This takes the place of the portrait of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong and China's national emblem on the ordinary 10-yuan notes.
The other side features the famous ancient Greek marble statue of a discus-thrower, Discobolus, portraits of athletes and the Arabic numeral "2008".
These replace the drawing of the scenic Three Gorges, but the name of the PBOC in Chinese pinyin, Mongolian, Tibetan, Ugyur and Zhuang, remains in the top right corner.
The central bank also said it incorporated watermarks and other technologies to prevent counterfeiting of the notes.
A clear watermark appears on the picture of the National Stadium in the shape of the Arabic numeral "10" and the Games of XXIX Olympiad in the Chinese characters, said the bank.
Source: (China Daily)

At one-month mark, China making final Games preparations

BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- With just 30 days until the Olympics opens, officials gathered here on Wednesday to review preparations for the event, with security and stadium management as priorities.
"We will do our utmost to fulfill the tasks in the final preparations. We will host exciting, wonderful and successful Olympics and Paralympic Games that will satisfy the world, the athletes and the audience," Vice President Xi Jinping told the gathering.
With assistance from the International Olympic Committee and the world, all preparations were going smoothly, he said, extending appreciation to those in China and abroad for contributing to the Games.
In the next 30 days, the country will repeatedly test its security measures to ensure the safety of the coming torch relay in Beijing, the events and the venues, he said.
The local governments of Beijing and its neighboring provinces were urged to finalize their security measures and develop contingency plans.
Residents are welcome to participate in the work, Xi said, adding: "We will enhance international cooperation in this aspect of the preparations."
Another major task will be to have test runs of the venues and improve their efficiency and management, Xi said. "We will test every detail at every post and make sure we find any flaws and correct them as quickly as possible, even during the Games."
Xi also promised to provide good service to journalists coming to cover the Games and good treatment for all foreign guests.
He urged relevant departments to ensure food safety, standard air quality and good traffic conditions, as well as water, power and gas supplies, and to avoid disturbing the daily life of the public.
"We should also do preparation work well for the Paralympics, which means checking working plans for the Paralympic stadiums, examining barrier-free facilities, and mobilizing the public to care about Paralympic sports," he said.
Chinese athletes should train well and prepare for the contests, he said, adding that strict penalties should be introduced against doping, to ensure that all athletes show good spirit and morality.
Xi also urged enhancement of the "civilization campaign" and etiquette education among the public. He said that local spectators should respect players from all over the world, to present a good image of China as a "country of etiquette."
Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, also attended the meeting.
Source: http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/news/official/n214444408.shtml

Beijing opens new bus tour routes for Olympics

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Two new sightseeing bus tour routes will soon be launched in Beijing to help visitors experience both the ancient and modern in the Chinese capital during the Olympics.
One route starts at Yongdingmen Gate in southern Beijing, and passes several major historic attractions including the Temple of Heaven, the Front Gate (Qianmen), the Tian'anmen Gate, Jingshan Park and the Drum Tower.
The other route starts at Datun, outside the north fourth ring road, and passes major Olympic venues and facilities like the Olympic Green, the Olympic village and the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium.
The new routes, measuring 18.1 km and 16.25 km respectively, would be operational starting July 20, according to the Beijing Public Transport Holdings Ltd. Group.
The tour buses would be double-deckers and air-conditioned.
The fare for the routes would be set in the next few days to come, said the group.
The spokesman said more special tour routes would be opened if they were called for.
The Beijing Olympics opens on Aug. 8.

Source: http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/olympiccities/beijing/n214445747.shtml

Beijing offers free bus, subway for Olympic ticket holders

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will offer free bus and subway services for Olympic ticket holders during the Games, as the Chinese capital gears up to provide swift transport for 8 million athletes, media people and spectators.
In addition, the city will extend the operation time of more than 350 bus routes and open 34 new routes connecting the city with each of the Olympic competition venue, according to Zhou Zhengyu, Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications director.
The authorities were still working on details for the free bus and subway services for spectators, reporters and Games' staff.
Spectators can take buses and subways free in downtown Beijing till 4 a.m. the next day of the ticket date. However, they would have to pay for buses on the outskirts of the city and the airport express subway.
Beijing is expect to handle 15 million bus trips per day and 21.1 million trips on its public transport network during the Games.
Beijing, which hosts the Olympics from Aug. 8 to 24 and the Paralympics from Sept. 6 to 17, is expected to draw about 500,000 overseas visitors during the Games period, according to a Beijing Municipal Tourism Administration forecast.

Source: http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/olympiccities/beijing/n214445667.shtml

Olympic Village impresses mock dwellers with Chinese culture

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Over 2,000 "athletes" who poured into the Beijing Olympic Village in the latest test run of the athletes' compounds were asked to be picky and choosy.
Mock dwellers, however, gave thumbs-up to the facilities and were impressed with Chinese culture that permeates the village, said the village's general secretary Wu Jingmin.
Non-Chinese Olympic villagers, if they like, can pick up their Chinese names which use phonetic sounds for foreign names.
Sun Shishu, a Chinese language teacher working in the village, gave dozens of Chinese names in the first several hours of the trial run of the village.

"Let your surname be An, which means peace and safety. And your first name is Taifu, which means peace and happiness," Sun explained to Typhen Ann, an engineer from Britain, who works at the Main Cafeteria of the Olympic Village.
The village, which is the home to about 16,000 athletes and officials during the Games, sits on the north end of the axis of Beijing. Important buildings of all ages, including the Forbidden City and the Tiananmen Square, are aligned down this line.
Further north lies the Olympic Green. To the south is the National Stadium, popularly known as the "Bird Nest".
Deng Yaping, the village's vice mayor and four-time table tennis Olympic champion, believes the biggest attraction for the Olympic Village lies in its Chinese culture.
"For most of the (foreign) athletes I've talked with, they are amazed at Chinese culture. They want to try, to feel what is the real Chinese culture," Deng said.
"The village is a place where the athletes can unwind and get to know Chinese culture. We want to give them a full experience with Chinese culture."
The Olympic Village is divided into northern and southern halves. In the north, or the International Area, are the Head of Village Office, Flag Square, shopping areas, restaurants, entertainment and fitness facilities. In the south are athletes' apartments, whose main gates is decorated with a bronze art panel.
On the lawns around the apartments stand Chinese traditional lamp posts and dragon-patterned stone pillars, while water lilies float on the ponds.
The buildings in the International Area are temporary, except for a Chinese temple compound right next to the Flag Square, which is used as the Head of Village Office where Deng will work during the Games.

Chinese handicraft workroom sits in the International Area, painted with Chinese traditional colors of red, yellow and blue. About 20 handicraftsmen will show their talent in embroidery, woodcarving, painting and Beijing Opera mask making during the Games.
"Athletes can watch the artists finishing their works, and they can buy whatever they like," said Wang Jinqiang, the workroom manager.
The Beijing Olympic Village will officially open on July 27 and close on August 27. Also as the Paralympic Village, it will reopen on August 30 and close on September 20.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/10/content_8522081.htm