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It was cold in Beijing on February 8, 2008, the second day of lunar New Spring Year. The ponds in Longtanhu Park in southern Beijing were frozen over, except for a few sun-warmed patches where mandarin ducks bobbed and preened. Park visitors looked down on them from a white arched bridge festooned with pastel-coloured festival flags, red lanterns and giant red balloons trailing inscribed banners that were anchored to the bridge.

It was a normal Spring Festival scene, except for a peculiar line of people who disappeared into a huge white tent in the park. A sign outside the tent, which turned out to house an interactive display concerning Olympic basketball, said “FAW-VOLKSWAGEN Olympic Park.” In the peculiar line stood, perhaps, a surprising white-haired couple who were patiently awaiting their chance to enter the venue so they, too, could experience basketball. Finally, their chance came and the elderly man handed his walking cane to his wife. Grasping the round ball, he exclaimed: “Let me do it!” But despite several tries, the old man was no Yao Ming or Yi Jianlian; the ball never quite made it to the basket, missing short and wide. Still, the crowd applauded his effort, and his wife smiled with satisfaction.

Such was one scene in the FAW-VOLKSWAGEN Olympic Park, sponsored by the FAW-VW Automotive Company Limited, an official 2008 Olympic Partner, during the annual Longtanhu Temple Fair. From white-haired senior citizens to eager small children, and even busy middle-aged celebrants shuttled among the crowds to experience this special Olympic programme, completely ignoring the stilling winter chill.

Setting the FAW-VOLKSWAGEN Olympic Park up in Longtanhu Park gave more than one million local residents an extraordinary chance to participate in “Let’s Olympic” in this special Olympic park during this time of rest, leisure and family fun. One participant was overheard saying: “Thanks, today, here, I truly experienced the Olympics, and I also experienced the support of Chinese people for the Beijing Olympic Games.”

The FAW-VOLKSWAGEN Olympic Park was originally announced on Tiananmen Square during the 500-day countdown celebration to the opening of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. After touring Changchun, Shanghai and Chongqing, it returned to Beijing on February 6 and concluded on February 12, 2008, having given ordinary people a chance to personally experience the Olympic spirit and sports culture. Activities of the FAW-VOLKSWAGEN Olympic Park included Olympic Competition Programmes Experiencing (hands-on sports), Olympic Knowledge, Olympic Cultures and Olympic Volunteers.

The Olympic Park was organized with a central exhibition hall and eight Olympic activity halls. In the activity halls, high-technology equipment and special sports  such as no-water swimming, multimedia archery, digital introduction to boxing and simulated rowing brought these unusual experiences to the lives of the participants, many for the first time. No-water swimming was especially popular, because it allowed people to lie on their stomachs and swim as if in mid-air.

In addition, the One Day One Olympic Champion programme easily seized the people's attention. Each day, an Olympic champion was invited to the Olympic Park to “compete” with visitors in a given sports activity. The participants’ enthusiasm was aroused when they met the real Olympic athletes.

Love was also in evidence at the Olympic Park. The Love-Care Donation receptacle in front of the Archery and Shooting Hall was an activity of the China's New Future programme, which is jointly sponsored by the FAW-VW Automotive Company Limited and The Chinese Athletes Educational Foundation. The donated money will be used to buy and install sports equipment at primary schools in low-income areas. Olympic venue construction workers were also honoured at the exhibit. The FAW-VW Automotive Company Limited provided a lot of Olympic Park tickets to the workers who continued their work on the National Stadium—the Bird’s Nest or main venue of the 2008 Olympics—during the Spring Festival.

The “People’s Olympics” public-participation theme was clearly evident in the play of young children, perhaps 5 or 6 years old, who entered the activity halls with curious eyes and ended up wildly swinging hockey sticks at balls on the ground while shouting and laughing with glee. Here, too, you could easily see why Olympic volunteers are considered so essential to the success of the Beijing Games.

A volunteer said: “To let more people participate in and feel the enthusiasm of the Olympic Games, maybe, this is the true Olympic spirit.”