Background: On July 13th 2001 the

IOC elected Beijing to be the host of the Olympic Games in 2008. Beijing was selected over its competitors Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul. The slogan of the games is “One World, One Dream” and there are three main themes:

•  Green Olympic Games•    High-Tech Olympic Games•    People‘s Olympic Games

Preparations for the Olympics 2008

The whole of China celebrated the 1-year-countdown to the opening of the Olympic Games 2008 on 08-08-08. Preparations have been intensified as China nears the opening of the games. The work on the construction of the Olympic sports facilities, the training of policeman and also the ‘beautification’ of Beijing is well on the way. An attempt to make the city greener is being strongly asserted.

The operational schedule for the individual days during the games has already been decided and test match plans for the facilities have already been submitted. All in all, the progress of the preparations seems to be advanced every day a little bit more. In the following sections you can read which projects have already been realized and which are still not yet completed.

Altogether 37 stadiums and sports halls will be used during the 2008 Olympics, 12 of these are being built especially for the games. By the end of 2007 all building projects are expected to be completed on time. The Swimming Centre, the National Stadium, the racecourse in Hong Kong, the Olympic Centre in Qinhuangdao and the Sports Centre in Shenjiang have already been completed.

Not only is the speed of the construction

impressive, but above all so is the architecture of the buildings. The National Stadium in Beijing carries the name the ‘Birds Nest’ and is widely regarded as an architectural masterpiece. It is expected that work on the stadium will be finished at the start of 2008. With the new natatorium called the' Water Cube’ and the sports hall ‘UFO’ Beijing gains two further architectural highlights. According to the BOCOG all construction work is progressing according to the set time frame and by the end of 2007 most of the work will have been completed

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Behavior Introductions for the habitants from Beijing:

Besides the structural measure of the city, the BOCOG tasked itself with showing off China’s best side. Therefore, a large-scale campaign was started. This is visible by the many new sport parks, which were established in the city.

The population is to hold itself physically fit ‘we

move us, therefore we are healthy. We are healthy, therefore we are merry. We go with the Olympic Movement’.

To fulfill this task almost every larger block of flats

now has an assortment of sports equipment such as trim-you-wheels etc. Not only the physical condition, but also the behavior of the Chinese population is thought to have to be changed. Particularly the custom of public spitting the BOCOG is suspending a lot.

With leaflets and information days they want to convince the population that it is unhygienic and that this manner is going to create a negative impression for foreigners about Chinese culture. Everyone who does not want to be convinced and who is caught must pay a high fee. In addition the guilty must remove the public annoyance with a cloth. Also, the inhabitants should not grumble loudly and respect the traffic rules more than they do at the moment.