OLYMPIC GAMES ARE CLOSE AT HAND

A1+
08 July, 2008

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games initiate in a month and from now on China
is ready to receive her guests.

A month before the Olympic Games the construction processes are already
over. The games will chiefly be held in Beijing, though other great
cities of China will host tournaments too.

37 sports grounds have been renovated and constructed in China on
the occasion of the Olympic Games.

In the morning of June 28, China’s National Stadium resonated with
cheers. After years of hard work, the "Bird’s Nest" was finally
completed. President Liu Qi of BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee
for the Olympic Games), who is also a member of the CPC Central
Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee,
together with Guo Jinlong, vice-secretary of the Beijing Municipal
Party Committee, Mayor of Beijing and executive president of BOCOG,
were present at the National Stadium’s celebratory ceremony.

"After years of effort, the National Stadium is finally completed. We
hope that we can provide better services for the Olympic Games with
better equipment," remarked Li.

The National Stadium, known as the "Bird’s Nest," will serve as the
main venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It is located in the
Olympic Green and occupies 21.4 hectares. It stretches 333 meters from
north to south and 298 meters from east to west, covering an area of
258,000 square meters. The National Stadium is 68 meters high and
holds 91,000 seats. The opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008
Olympic Games, Athletics and Football events will be held in it.

The national stadium is surrounded in a sort of membrane. Unlike
China’s National Aquatics Center, or "Water Cube," another Olympic
venue which is also surrounded in this membrane, the Bird’s Nest
version is curved and double-layered, offering gracefully decorative
soundproof, wind-proof, rain-proof, and even UVA protection to its
already impressive body.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are likely to be the best-organized
games throughout the world. The Main Press Center (MPC) for the
Beijing Olympics, together with the International Broadcast Center
(IBC), formally opened on Tuesday, July 8 and will follow a 24-hour
operation schedule between July 25 and August 27 for media crews
from around the world. The Chinese government, Beijing Municipal
Government and BOCOG have attached great importance to media services
with courtesy for media members a top consideration.

With a floor space of 62,000 square meters, the MPC is the largest
media center in Olympic history. Located within reach of the "Bird’s
Nest", "Water Cube", National Indoor Stadium, the Olympic Fencing Hall,
the Olympic Village, Media Village and other venues, the MPC allows
for more convenient news coverage and easy access by journalists.

The two media hotels are conjoined to the MPC, allowing for direct
flow between media work space and living quarters, setting a precedent
for the Olympic Games.

With 971 workstations, the press work room is also the largest in
Olympic history. Among these workstations, 680 are equipped with
electrical and network interface features to provide media crews with
optimal communication capabilities. An additional 206 workstations
will be available for photographers. W-LAN and laptop locks will
accompany all stations for user convenience. To date a record 144
media organizations have rented 110 offices at the facility.