QIQIHAR - The Olympic torch kicked off its relay in Qiqihar, the second largest city in China’s northeastern Heilongjiang Province, at 8:10 on Sunday morning.

Torchbearer Liu Yan runs with the torch during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Qiqihar, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, July 13, 2008. [Xinhua]

Liu Yan, winner at the 2008 National Grand Prix Figure Skating, ran the first leg of the relay, starting from the Municipal Public Square in Qiqihar, which is well-known for red-crowned cranes.

BEIJING - When He Zhenliang, a then member of the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board, presented the last statement of the Beijing’s 2008 bid on behalf of China in Moscow on July 13, 2001, he and the Chinese people were already determined to live up to their words.

“Choosing Beijing as the host city for the Olympics, you will bring the first ever Games in Olympic history to a nation containing one-fifth of the world’s population, and 1.3 billion Chinese people will dedicate their efforts to the Olympic Movement,” said He.

“If you award the chance of hosting the Olympics to Beijing, I can assure you that seven years later you will be proud of the decision you make today.”

Seven years after He made the promise, the Beijing organizers have turned the bid into reality.Unlike that of previous Olympics, Beijing’s prep work has kept to plan and some stadiums and infrastructure have even been finished ahead of schedule.

The city has spent US$40 billion on infrastructure, including a new airport terminal and subway lines, as well as US$2.1 billion to cover the cost of running the Games.

The torch relay, now progressing on Chinese soil, is the longest ever in the Olympic history, lasting 130 days and covering 137,000 kilometers (85,000 miles) worldwide.

The holy flame was also carried to the top of the Mt. Qomolangma for the first time in history, a grand ascent hailed by the whole world as heroism.

Even after the massive quake rocked southwest China’s Sichuan province on May 12 and already claimed around 70,000 lives, the organizers quickly picked up themselves from mourning and continued the fine-tuning on the Games.

“The Chinese people have pledged to the world to host a successful Olympic Games. To honor those killed in the earthquake, my colleagues and I feel obliged to make the Beijing Olympics a great success,” said Wang Pingjiu, a staff member of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG).

Beijing subway passengers have been receiving security checks starting from June 29 as China beefs up security.

National-level anti-terrorist drills were launched to prepare the security forces against chemical attacks, hijacking and other possible contingencies. Sniffer dogs will be brought into the capital to help detect explosives.

Beginning from June, the country’s postal service has suspended mailing parcels containing liquids until October 31, following a previous liquid ban introduced in April on carry-on baggage in domestic flights.

 

Performers who will perform during the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics wait before a rehearsal at the National Stadium, also known as the “Bird’s Nest”, in Beijing July 11, 2008. [Agencies]

Since being awarded the 2008 Games seven years ago, Beijing has engaged in an aggressive effort to clean up the capital’s air pollution and ease traffic on the clogged highways. The city has spent nearly more than US$15 billion on anti-pollution measures such as moving factories and adding subway.The latest move was taking 300,000 high-emission cars off its roads early this month and Beijing also announced that private cars will be banned on alternate days from July 20, depending on whether their number plates end in odd or even numbers.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned it may reschedule endurance events to remove a potential health risk but now the fears seem to be dwindling amid the continual improvement of the air quality.

The earthquake has taken off much of the country’s festive mood towards the Games, but will in no way take away China’s enthusiasm for hosting the Beijing Games.People lined the torch relay routes, unfurling the national and Olympic flags and shouting “Go China Go” and “Go Olympics Go”.

“Holding the Olympics is a century-long dream for the Chinese, and we have been preparing and looked forward to it since July 13, 2001,” said Deng Yaping, a four-times Olympic table tennis gold winner when she visited the children in the quake areas.

“We have taught the children a lot about the Olympics in the last seven years, and the kids have already known about the Olympic spirit - higher, faster, stronger,” added Deng, now a Beijing Olympic official preparing the Olympic village. “They really like the Fuwa (mascot) we give them, and we hope that they never give up in life and pursue their best.”

Besides, various campaigns aimed at improving the behavior of local citizens finally turned the tide. More and more people are getting to abandon bad habits like spitting, not queuing up, smoking anywhere, swearing in Beijing dialect and littering.

A survey released by Renmin University of China in February found that in 2007, 2.54 percent of people still spat, roughly a half of the figure for 2006, and the occurrence of littering in public dropped from 5.3 percent in 2006 to 2.86 percent in 2007 and queue-jumping from 6 percent to 1.5 percent.

Double amputee Oscar Pistorius (L) of South Africa crosses the finish line of the men’s 400 meters during the Golden Gala IAAF Golden League at the Olympic stadium in Rome July 11, 2008. [Agencies]

ROME - Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius has missed out in another attempt to qualify for the Olympics.

The South African timed 46.62 seconds to finish seventh in the 400 meter B race at the Golden Gala meet Friday. He must run a 45.55 to qualify for the Olympics.

His personal best is 46.36.

Pistorius resumed training less than two months ago after a sports arbitration court ruled he was eligible to run in Beijing.

The court overturned a decision by the IAAF that Pistorius’ carbon-fiber prosthetics gave him an unfair advantage and that he should be banned from the Olympics and other able-bodied races.

Travel agencies are preparing for a boom in customers ahead of the Olympic Games, while large numbers of reservations are being made at prime hotels and for homestay rooms, a city tourism official said on Friday.

About 78 percent of rooms at five-star hotels in Beijing have been booked, at an average rate of 3,464 yuan ($506) per night, 3.6 times the rate a year earlier, Xiong Yumei, the Beijing Tourism Bureau’s vice-director, said.

At four-star hotels, 48.5 percent of rooms have been reserved, at an average rate of 2,185 yuan per night, 4.6 times that of a year earlier. Lower-ranked hotels have lower reservation rates.

Among all the star-ranked hotels in the capital, 119 have signed contracts with the Olympics authorities.

Most of the contracted hotels are five-star facilities, and Xiong said most of them were largely booked out.

Xiong, who is also the bureau’s spokeswoman, said the hotel reservation rate is unlikely to change much ahead of the Games, and the priority now is to get fully prepared for incoming guests.

More than 200,000 employees have received training about the Olympics, international etiquette and foreign languages. Many chefs specializing in Western cuisine at contracted hotels have also learned to speak English.

To supplement Beijing’s hotel resources, 598 homestay households were selected, offering 726 rooms for more than 1,000 potential guests.

An authorization ceremony for those families was held by the bureau on Friday morning at Shichahai, a popular bar spot in central Beijing.

The “Olympic family hotels” program, which was created in April, offers overseas visitors a chance to experience Beijing residents’ real lives.

Xiong said travel agencies from many countries have considered renting rooms from these families. Up to 450,000 overseas tourists are expected to arrive in August, including 120,000 for the sporting event, she said.