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Etiquette Spotlighted in Beijing

A public relations campaign encouraging the Chinese people to be on their very best behaviour during the 2008 Olympic Games is under way in Beijing.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) campaign began in January and first targeted the city's laobaixing (ordinary people). Since the world's attention will be on Beijing during the Games, people's etiquette in daily life and at Olympic venues will play an important role in forming the world's impression of Beijing.

Every two months in 2005, a series of events will focus on a specific aspect of etiquette. In January and February the emphasis will be on etiquette in families and in the community. In March and April, environmental protection and social ethics will be discussed, followed, in later months, by examples of public behaviour expected at Olympic and other venues in the city.

The city's media will get involved in the campaign with advertisements on etiquette, especially on television. Photo and cartoon-design contests will be held, but even mobile telephone short messages will be used to spread the message.