News and Updates

Getting Married on the Opening Day of the Beijing Games

 

Beijing will try its best to meet its citizen's aspirations for marriage registration on August 8, the opening day of the Olympic Games, Vice-Mayor Ding Xiangyang said on April 2, 2008.

His remarks came during a civil affairs working meeting where he said citizens who want to register their marriages on this special day can fulfil their wishes if they meet the legal requirements.

Ding also suggested online booking to avoid registration jams. Through the Internet, only two days advance registration is required.

Chinese couples are keen to tie the knot on an auspicious date. August 8, 2008, is more than just a date, it marks both the opening of the Beijing Olympics and is considered a lucky day for marriage with all the number eights in the date.

Eight is the most auspicious number for Chinese, who believe it could bring them fortune and happiness.

 

Restaurants Exempt from Smoking Ban

 

Restaurants, bars and Internet cafes in Beijing have been exempted from a proposed smoking ban at public facilities in response to concerns expressed by business owners.

These places will only be told to separate smoking and non-smoking areas from May 1 as part of the new regulation, the China Daily reported on April 14, 2008.

The paper quoted Zhang Peili, an official with the Municipal Government's Legislative Affairs Office, as saying the back-tracking on smoking regulations were recently approved.

Lawmakers and health experts said the difficulty in imposing the smoking ban underlines the grave challenges faced in a country with the largest number of smokers.

Beijing had originally wanted restaurants to keep 70 percent of their areas smoke-free, but the plan was dropped amid restaurant owners' worries about potential business declines.

It was reported on March 29 that a strict smoking ban from May 1 would expand to bars, restaurants and Internet cafes in Beijing.

But the amended rule means only government offices, schools, museums, hospitals and sports venues will be designated smoke-free areas.

 

New Terminal at Capital International Airport in Operation

 

On March 26, 2008, following a busy night of airplane migration, the third terminal of the Beijing Capital International Airport began full operations, the Beijing Morning Post reported on the same day.

More than 70 airplanes belonging to 20 airlines were towed from T2 to the parking site of T3 on the night of March 25. Their relocations took just six hours, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

The move of 26 airlines to the new terminal took place in two phases. On February 29, six airlines, including Shandong Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Qantas moved to T3. On March 26, the remaining 20 airlines, including Air China, Asian Airlines, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and Dragon Air, followed suit.

With the completion of the second phase of migration, about 60 percent of the airport's capacity is operating out of T3, accounting for about 80,000 travellers daily.

The 986,000-square-metre Terminal 3 took nearly four years to build.

The expanded Capital International Airport will be the nation's first to have three terminals, two towers and three runways in operation simultaneously. Its operations will increase from a daily average of 1,000 to 1,700 to 1,800 flights, and its new runway can also accept a new generation of big aircraft such as the Airbus A380. The peak volume of passengers at the airport is expected to reach 5.56 million during the Olympic Games, and with T3 in operation, the demand can be met.

 

72-Hour Air Quality Forecast during Olympics

 

During the Olympic Games, Beijing's air will be strictly monitored to assure its quality. In addition, a 72-hour forecast of air quality will be available during Games-time, so that pollution can be minimized. The Beijing Municipal Government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have agreed to work cooperatively to accomplish this goal, the Beijing Daily reported on April 17, 2008.

The Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau is currently using standard methods to evaluate air quality; during the Olympics, more technologically advanced systems, including radar and remote satellite sensing abilities, will be used to observe levels of pollution. These highly advanced techniques, which will be used for the first time in China, can assure proper and accurate measurements of air quality in the capital city.

After the Olympics, the Chinese Academy of the Sciences will continue to monitor various forms of pollution in the city, including air, water, and noise, to ensure long-term improvements in the quality of life in China’s capital.

 

Olympic Homestays to Be Offered in Organized Way

 

Beijing is expected to announce its "Olympic Family Hotels" by the end of June, the Beijing Daily reported on April 18, 2008.

A number of Beijing residents have inquired about how to apply to be host households to international visitors during the Olympic Games in August and the Paralympic Games in September.

Zhou Shuqi, an official from the Beijing Municipal Administration of Tourism, said residents in Haidian and Chaoyang districts, where most Olympic venues are located, could be the major source of Olympic homestays. Residents of siheyuan in Dongcheng and Xicheng districts may offer visitors a chance to stay in their traditional courtyard houses.

The eight urban districts have been entrusted to find qualified neighbourhoods to receive applications, Zhou said. The neighbourhoods should meet stringent security, hygiene and accommodations standards set by the authorities, he said.

The family hotels will be recruited on a community rather than family basis to meet the demands of travel tour groups, said Zhou. “Normally, a travel tour group has 20 odd members that need to stay together. If there are only two or three family hotels available in a community, not as many tourists can be accommodated at the same time.”

He also mentioned the qualification requirements: a member of the host family must live in the house while hosting the international occupants, and they cannot rent out an entire house or apartment; at least one family member must hold conversation skills in a language other than Chinese; the house should be equipped with everyday toiletries.

 

Subways Operate Around the Clock for Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies

 

For the first time in the history of Beijing's subway system, 24-hour subway service will be offered during the opening and closing days of the Beijing Olympic Games, subway corporation sources said on March 25, 2008.

The subway is expected to account for the bulk of passenger transportation on the Olympic opening day on August 8, 2008, when some 100,000 people are expected to attend the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium, the "Bird's Nest," which has a capacity of about 90,000. In addition, more than 10,000 artists, security officers and other personnel will also need to depart from the venue after the ceremony is over.

To ensure the timely exit of spectators, the subway will enter a "peak operation time" 30 minutes ahead of the windup of the opening and closing ceremonies, with a minimum interval of three minutes, subway sources were quoted by Xinhua as saying.

According to the Beijing Daily, the subway will extend its operating hours during the Olympic Games from August 8 to 24, and a "green passage" will be opened at subway stations for Olympic ticket-holding passengers, Games organizers and volunteers, who will be exempted from paying the two-yuan subway fee.

 

Two Million Trees Planted on Annual Voluntary Tree

Planting Day

 

Nearly 2 million Beijing citizens and servicemen planted 2.39 million trees on April 5, 2008, the 24th Beijing Voluntary Tree Planting Day, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on April 6.

The volunteers also cleaned 13.1 million square metres of lawns and forested areas and dispatched 1.16 million pamphlets on the importance of afforestation.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and other state leaders took part in the voluntary tree planting activity at Beijing's Olympic Forest Park on April 5.

Official figures showed that 168 million trees were planted in the 1981–2007 period in the Chinese capital, where air quality and sandstorm were long-time headaches.

 

Plastic Bag Ban Tested for Effectiveness

 

A wholesale market in Beijing has started a pilot campaign to discourage the use of plastic bags, over one month ahead of the scheduled plastic bag ban. Many welcome the move, while others worry about its effectiveness.

Chinese shoppers in the 1980s used cloth bags or baskets to tote their purchases. Now the trend is re-emerging.

Since April 20, 2008, vendors in Beijing's Glorious Land Wholesale Market have been charging extra for plastic bags as a test run of the approaching ban. Dealers believe this will help reduce the use of plastic bags.

Shen Yue'e, a wholesaler at the market, says she will try her best not to hand out plastic bags.

"If the consumers insist, I will give them the plastic bags. Otherwise, for the sake of reducing pollution, I won't."

White pollution has become a concern as Chinese consumers have grown accustomed to free plastic bags since shopkeepers began offering them more than a decade ago.

However, many consumers have welcomed the pilot campaign with open arms and have managed to strike a balance between convenience and environmental-friendliness.

It is estimated that millions of plastic bags are used every day in China, and billions of yuan are spent every year handling and recycling them. Plastic bags, if biodegradable at all, take 300 years to break down.

The State Council in January 2008 ordered a complete ban on the production and use of ultra-thin plastic bags that are not biodegradable. It will go into effect on June 1.

 

Foreign Students Not Required to Leave China during Olympics

 

Overseas media reports that foreign students in China would have to leave the country during the August Olympic Games were “totally fabricated,” the Ministry of Education said on April 18, 2008.

“Recently, some foreign media said China requires foreign students to leave during the Games. It completely goes against the facts,” ministry spokesman Wang Xuming said.

Relevant departments and universities “have never asked foreign students to leave China during the Olympics and Paralympics. During that time, foreign students can stay and some of them can join volunteer services.”

He added that international cooperation and exchanges in the educational field would proceed as usual, including accepting foreign students who plan to come to study in China.

Official statistics show China attracted more than 162,000 students from 185 countries and regions in 2006, triple that of 2000.

Foreign students entered more than 500 schools of higher learning and their majors covered almost all academic subjects available in China.

 

International Automotive Exhibition Highlights Energy Saving

 

The 2008 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, the largest in the event’s history, opened on April 20 at the all-new China International Exhibition Centre in Shunyi District, attracting more than 2,000 automakers from 18 countries on the first day.

With eight pavilions and 180,000 square metres of show area, the nine-day pageant played host to 890 vehicles, 300 more new models than last year, including 55 concept cars, seven international premiers and 24 Asian debuts.

Cars that run on clean fuels and that have energy-saving functions were highlighted at the exhibition, which featured the first homemade dual-fuel vehicle with a Euro IV emissions standard.

Three-hundred newly designed cleaning vehicles were also displayed. They will be employed for the Beijing Olympics.

The auto event, which closed on April 28, is considered an international A-class auto show. Its theme this year was "Dream, Harmony and New Vision."    

 

Corridor to Cut Flight Delays

 

Flight delays at Beijing Capital International Airport are expected to ease in summer of 2008, thanks to a new corridor that allows aircraft to bypass the city's crowded skies when flying between Europe and the southern cities of China, an official of the Air Traffic Management Bureau said on April 14, 2008.

The corridor, which opened on April 10, 2008, is the latest move to reduce air traffic congestion ahead of the Olympics, the bureau, which is under the General Administration of Civil Aviation, said.

With the new route, flights from Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong to Europe will no longer be required to pass through Beijing.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the corridor will shorten flights by an average of 60 nautical miles (111 kilometres), save 26,000 tons of fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 83,000 tons per year.

"Our estimates show the corridor will reduce air traffic over Beijing by one-sixth, or by 70 to 80 flights per day," Liu Song, an official with the Air Traffic Management Bureau, said.