The Olympic torch relay began its final leg in Beijing on Wednesday, travelling through the host city, which celebrated the torch arrival with flying flags and beaming smiles.
“Beijing is fully ready for the Olympic Games. The city is opening its arms to guests from around the world,” said Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong at a brief ceremony. The torch returned from a journey of 129 days and 1,37,000 km through six continents under the theme “Journey of Harmony,” the longest since the tradition started at the 1936 Berlin Games.
A cheerful and eager crowd had gathered in Tiananmen Square since early morning, holding high the Chinese national flag and Olympic flags. Besides them was a clock numbering the days before the Games start. The square was decorated with a multitude of flowers, Olympic signs and flags were seen in every corner and songs with Olympic themes were played in taxies passing by.
In the northern part of the city, the National Stadium and National Aquatics Centre — nicknamed Bird’s Nest and Water Cube, respectively — showed their magnificence. After a century-old Olympic expectation and seven years of preparation, China is opening its arms to guests from all over the world with hospitality, and with confidence.
All venues and facilities are in operation, and all staff are in their posts. Most of the 205 delegations have checked into the Olympic Village, and were satisfied with the best-ever Olympic venues. Volunteers could be the first ones to impress guests with hospitality.
There were about 47,000 volunteers for the Sydney Games, while Beijing has nearly 1,00,000 in Olympic venues, 4,00,000 around the venues and along the streets, and 1 million serving in communities. Meanwhile, drivers of about 67,000 taxis in Beijing wore their new uniform, a yellow shirt and blue trousers, for the first time on August 1.
“They say our taxi drivers are the face of Beijing. We should leave visitors a good first impression,” said driver Jin Shunhai. On the same day, about 25,000 security personnel started working on thousands of buses and at stations to remove possible safety risks during the Games.
The security personnel, comprising mechanics, management and support personnel of the Beijing Public Transport Holdings Ltd., were deployed at every bus station and on every bus.
Beijingers were also encouraged to learn English, queue for buses, stop spitting and use correct translations for restaurant menus.
China has also been opening up to international media. The government issued a series of regulations at the end of 2006, which stipulated foreign journalists could conduct interviews in China as long as they had consent from the intended interviewees.Open door
“China’s open door to the foreign media will not close after the Games,” said Liu Binjie, the General Administration of Press and Publication Minister. With this policy, the international media reported China’s preparations for the Olympic gala, and the violent protests in Tibet, Zhejiang and Guizhou, as well as other scandals.
The open-door policy has shown the confidence of the Chinese government, which now believes negative reports, seen in every country, cannot negate what China’s achievements over the past 30 years, said Yin Yungong, a member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Li Meiying, a 67-year-old retiree, greeted foreign photographers with smiles at a downtown plaza, where she dances for daily exercise. “Welcome to China watching Olympic Games!” Ms. Li told the photographers in English. — Xinhua
“Beijing is fully ready for the Olympic Games. The city is opening its arms to guests from around the world,” said Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong at a brief ceremony. The torch returned from a journey of 129 days and 1,37,000 km through six continents under the theme “Journey of Harmony,” the longest since the tradition started at the 1936 Berlin Games.
A cheerful and eager crowd had gathered in Tiananmen Square since early morning, holding high the Chinese national flag and Olympic flags. Besides them was a clock numbering the days before the Games start. The square was decorated with a multitude of flowers, Olympic signs and flags were seen in every corner and songs with Olympic themes were played in taxies passing by.
In the northern part of the city, the National Stadium and National Aquatics Centre — nicknamed Bird’s Nest and Water Cube, respectively — showed their magnificence. After a century-old Olympic expectation and seven years of preparation, China is opening its arms to guests from all over the world with hospitality, and with confidence.
All venues and facilities are in operation, and all staff are in their posts. Most of the 205 delegations have checked into the Olympic Village, and were satisfied with the best-ever Olympic venues. Volunteers could be the first ones to impress guests with hospitality.
There were about 47,000 volunteers for the Sydney Games, while Beijing has nearly 1,00,000 in Olympic venues, 4,00,000 around the venues and along the streets, and 1 million serving in communities. Meanwhile, drivers of about 67,000 taxis in Beijing wore their new uniform, a yellow shirt and blue trousers, for the first time on August 1.
“They say our taxi drivers are the face of Beijing. We should leave visitors a good first impression,” said driver Jin Shunhai. On the same day, about 25,000 security personnel started working on thousands of buses and at stations to remove possible safety risks during the Games.
The security personnel, comprising mechanics, management and support personnel of the Beijing Public Transport Holdings Ltd., were deployed at every bus station and on every bus.
Beijingers were also encouraged to learn English, queue for buses, stop spitting and use correct translations for restaurant menus.
China has also been opening up to international media. The government issued a series of regulations at the end of 2006, which stipulated foreign journalists could conduct interviews in China as long as they had consent from the intended interviewees.Open door
“China’s open door to the foreign media will not close after the Games,” said Liu Binjie, the General Administration of Press and Publication Minister. With this policy, the international media reported China’s preparations for the Olympic gala, and the violent protests in Tibet, Zhejiang and Guizhou, as well as other scandals.
The open-door policy has shown the confidence of the Chinese government, which now believes negative reports, seen in every country, cannot negate what China’s achievements over the past 30 years, said Yin Yungong, a member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Li Meiying, a 67-year-old retiree, greeted foreign photographers with smiles at a downtown plaza, where she dances for daily exercise. “Welcome to China watching Olympic Games!” Ms. Li told the photographers in English. — Xinhua
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