2008 Beijing Olympics

Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics, mostly in a newly developed Olympics Park in the north of the city - in fact, on the ancient north-south axis that includes the Forbidden City. The opening ceremony will be held at 8pm on 08/08/08. Eight is a lucky number in chinese culture.

A model of the Olympic Green.

Beijing China won the hosting of the 2008 Olympics by a landslide vote in 2001, with 56 votes to nearest placed Toronto Canada with 22 (the winter Olympics of 2010 will be held in Vancouver Canada).

A large Olympics poster in a Beijing subway station.

The coming 2008 Beijing Olympics have generated a lot of excitement. Sports stars beam out from many posters around the city and taxi drivers are making an effort to learn english through tapes and radio.

Beach volleyball, sailing, and open water swimming events will be held in QingDao, a coastal city to the south east of Beijing. Equestrian events will be held in Hong Kong. Football preliminaries will also held in the cities of ShangHai, TianJin and QinHuangDao.

The chinese Olympics teams have been getting nearer and nearer to coming first overall, and this could well be the year when China comes out on top for the first time.

The 'Bird's Nest, National Olympic Stadium.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics emblem, entitled 'Dancing Beijing', combines elements of traditional Chinese culture - a red seal and the calligraphic word for 'jing' ('national capital') with athletic features.

The Friendlies (mascots) were unveiled on November 11, 2005 at an event marking the 1000th day before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

The Friendlies consists of five members: BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing, and NiNi. The five mascots incorporate fish, giant panda, fire, Tibetan antelope, and swallow designs respectively, and each also represents one of the five Olympic Rings. When the five names are put together, they form a pun on the phrase 'Beijing HuanYing Ni' which means 'Beijing Welcomes You'.

The current plan for the Olympics torch relay is through the sites of ancient civilisations - Greece, Italy, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, India and China. The 2008 Beijing Olympics torch relay will achieve a world record as eighty specially trained mountaineers carry the Olympic flame to the top of Mount Everest (known to the Tibetans as Chomolangma), making it the highest altitude achieved in the history of Olympic torch relays. It will be carried up the southern slope from Nepal before carried down the northern slope into the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Olympic torch will pass through 78 cities in China on its way to Beijing.

Beijing Olympics 2008 Sculpture Exhibition : held in Beijing, summer 2007.

Beijing Olympics 2008 News : the latest news on Beijing's preparations for the 2008 Olympics.