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Beijing Gears up for 2008

Among the issues discussed at this year's annual sessions, topics concerning the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games stood out notably and brought a fresh focus on preparations for the Games in Beijing and the six co-host cities: Shenyang, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin, Shanghai, Qingdao and Hong Kong.

With a little more than a year before the launch of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in China, preparations seem to be proceeding well. Stadiums are being built, volunteers are being recruited, and enthusiasm for the Games among Beijingers remains high. Celebrations marking the 500-day countdown to the opening of the Games were well-attended, including the unveiling of victors’ medals for the Games by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) on March 27, 2007. Thousands gathered before the Olympic Countdown Clock on Tian’anmen Square on March 26 in anticipation of the countdown clock’s rolling over to 500 days at midnight. Thousands more gathered there the next morning for the opening ceremony for the 2007 “Beijing--An Olympic City in View” photo contest.

2007 is a key year for Olympic preparations, BOCOG Executive Vice-President Jiang Xiaoyu said. “We have to finish four major tasks this year, namely completion of stadium construction, readying the Olympic host cities’ transportation systems, preparing the operating system between BOCOG and other municipal organs, and recruiting manpower for the Games.”

The Beijing Olympic Games will take place in 37 gymnasiums or stadiums and will require 63 training centres. Among the stadiums, 31 are located in Beijing: the others are in Qingdao, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao and Hong Kong. Renovation or the construction of these venues will have been finished within the year and tests will begin in July 2007, ending in May 2008.

As for the Olympic volunteer programme, the recruitment of volunteers in Beijing began on August 28, 2006, before spreading to the rest of the mainland in January 2007. So far, 410,000 applicants have been received with more than 280,000 coming from Beijing and 130,000 from the rest of China. On March 28, BOCOG launched recruitment drives for volunteers coming from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the overseas Chinese and from foreigners around the world.

While infrastructural development looks good, the Beijing Municipal Government is also concentrating “software” efforts.

“We are confident that the °Æsoft’ environment of the Beijing Olympic Games will meet the needs of the Olympic Games,”  BOCOG President Liu Qi said during the Fifth Session of the 10th National People's Congress in March.

Liu, who also serves as secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that BOCOG and the Chinese Government are paying great attention to the safety of the Games’ food supply. A special coordination group has been set up to deal with this issue.

Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan said that after the Games are over, Beijing's new ability to stage large sporting events and its city operations, services and working standards will also benefit from the Games, becoming a part of the city’s Olympic legacy.

But Wang warned that “the various departments of the Beijing Municipal Government need to improve their collaboration if they are to deal effectively with any crises during the 2008 Olympics.” All the city’s departments, whether concerned with the airport, civil aviation, air traffic management, meteorology or transportation administration must improve their systems.

Wang said the city government needs to take advantage of any opportunity to rehearse cooperation and coordination over the next 17 months when encountering incidents such as an airport closed because of fog or railway lines blocked by snow. “Every incident should be a drill for the Games,” said Wang.

There are still issues to be resolved. One delegate to the CPPCC, suggested that smoking be restricted at the Olympic venues. The Chinese people smoke about two trillion cigarettes each year and smoking bans are often ignored.

“BOCOG is discussing with the Health Ministry to set aside special smoking areas at Games venues to ensure that most parts of these venues are free of tobacco smog,” said Vice-Mayor Liu Jingmin, also an executive vice-president of BOCOG.

Beijing has already launched a campaign to improve the manners of its more than 15 million residents in time for the Games, with spitting in public places and queue jumping coming under particular scrutiny.

The municipal government also proposed that swearing at sporting events, whether in Mandarin or in local dialects, be added to the list of social ills to be stamped out.

Attention is also being focused on the cleanup of vulgar wording, anti-spitting patrols, etiquette lessons for hotel staff and English training for taxi drivers and the police.