Today we open arms and celebrate

[kvLin]

One World, One Dream
The Beijing Games will show the world what the Olympic Games really are: a gathering of young people who share the same goal and the same enthusiasm for sport. As well as inviting the finest athletes in the world to compete against each other, the Games will also provide a stage for China to present itself to the world during 16 days and 17 nights of sporting celebration.
--IOC

Green Beijing

 

[kvLin]

 

[EagleEyes]

Yay! Lets do it.

 

[kvLin]

Olympic Venues:

The National Stadium --Track and field, Football

National Aquatics Center--Swimming, Diving, Water ballet

National Indoor Stadium--Gymnastics,Trampoline, Handball

 

[kvLin]

Shenyang Olympic Stadium--Football


Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center--Football


Shanghai Stadium--Football

Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center

the Equestrian Venues in HongKong

Tianjin Olympic Center--Football

Wukesong Basketball Gymnasium

Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium--Judo,Kickboxing

 

[kvLin]

Olympic Green Hockey Field

Olympic Green Tennis Court

China Agricultural University Gymnasium--Wrestling

Beijing University of Aeronautics&Astronautics Gymnasium--Weight Lifting

Beijing Workers' Stadium--Football

Chaoyang Park Beach Voleyball Ground

Beijing Olympic Green Archery Field

Beijing Wukesong Sports Center Baseball Field

 

[kvLin]

Other Olympic Venues

 

[Flintlock]

Well I won't be celebrating or anything, but I will def. be watching the opening ceremony.

 

[kvLin]

The egg-shaped national theatre

In the build up to the Olympics city officials hired some of the worlds leading architects and if you're looking for a conversation here in Beijing just mention some of the new buildings that have sprung up.

First up and for many, the first entrance to the middle kingdom is the new terminal three at Beijing Capital International Airport. On entering T3 one is met by a reddish orange glow shining down from the sunlit ceiling, always a lucky color in Chinese culture. Passengers here are lucky too, with the amount of space and room - T3 is the world's biggest passenger terminal and in this the Olympic year is expected to handle more than 60 million passengers.

And out the front in time for the games a new rail link has opened running direct to downtown Dongzhimen

Next up, travelling along the newly opened subway line 10, get off at Jintaixizhao Station, in Beijing's Chaoyang Central Business District and the soon to be complete CCTV tower. Coming in at over 230-metres high once finished, it'll become a workplace for more than 10,000 people.

From the CCTV tower we now cut across town into the heart of old Beijing into the soul of the city's ancient past and the arts - paying a visit to the national theatre tucked neatly next to Tiananmen Square. This luminescent bubble serves as an opera house seating up to 6,500 people. Up close the titanium and glass dome floats like a lily pad on a lake blending the organic with the futuristic.

Let's leave the arts and travel north to the centre of the city's sports where one arrives at The National Aquatic Centre, the location for the swimming, diving, and synchronized swimming Olympic events. Structured like a soap bubble it glows a translucent blue at night.

And finally our tour finishes arriving at what has been referred to as the defining landmark, not just of the Olympics, but of the new China -- the National Stadium, or the Birds' Nest.

Perhaps no insight into contemporary Beijing would be complete without looking at the Water Cube and Bird's Nest. These two locations add to the city in a way that is just as fascinating as any visit to the Great Wall.

And perhaps, years later, visitors to the city will still be coming here and commenting on the legacy that was left behind in the build up to the Olympics.

video: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/home/2008-08/05/content_6905532.htm

 

[Flintlock]

^^^The National Theatre is a really glorious looking building.

 

[IceCold]

Lovely man, i think i just missed something worth watching. I was planning to go to china hmmm well got stuck in alot of stuff lately in Pakistan. I'll sure miss this one.

 

[kvLin]

Athletes


Ceremony actors


Olympic weddings


Authorities

 

[kvLin]

BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese singer Liu Huan and British singer Sarah Brightman will jointly present the theme song of the Beijing Olympic Games, the Games organizers revealed here on Wednesday.

The two star singers will sing the theme song, the title and content of which remain a mystery for now, at the Games' grand opening ceremony scheduled for Friday evening, said Zhang Heping, an official in charge of the opening ceremony preparations with the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games (BOCOG), at a press conference.

Liu Huan, 45, is one of the most popular male pop singers in China, while Sarah Brightman, 48, is a world famous soprano who is also an actress, song writer and dancer.

Liu Huan, Sarah Brightman to jointly present theme song_English_Xinhua

 

[kvLin]

Air is fine, let the Games begin

International Olympic Committee president Thursday praised China for the "extraordinary" job it had done to clean the air for the Beijing Games.

China has done everything "humanly possible" to combat air pollution, and conditions will be fine for athletes, Jacques Rogge said.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge speaks during a press conference on August 7, 2008 in Beijing. [Agencies]


"What they (China) have done is extraordinary: planting millions of trees between the Gobi Desert and Beijing, removing hundreds of thousands of polluting cars, closing polluting petrol stations I think they have done a commendable job. The statistics are very clear. The pollution levels are coming down. It is not yet perfect. (But) it is safe for the athletes."

Rogge had a word of advice on the haze that shrouded Beijing a day before the start of the Olympics, too. There is a difference between the haze enveloping the city and damaging air pollution, he said, rubbishing claims to the contrary.

What you see is the result of "humidity and heat", he said. It does not mean it "is the same as pollution".

After winning the right in 2001 to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Beijing has made a lot of efforts to hold a "high-level Olympic Games with distinguishing features".

Rogge is highly satisfied with the preparations. "We have worked very hard with BOCOG for seven years Let me say that we are extremely eager for the Games to start."

Air is fine, let the Games begin

 

[kvLin]

Lovely man, i think i just missed something worth watching. I was planning to go to china hmmm well got stuck in alot of stuff lately in Pakistan. I'll sure miss this one.

Hey I saw your PM arriving at Beijing, what about President Musharraf, is he coming?

and has this hockey hero arrived with Pakistan team?

photos of Pakistani delegation in Beijing

Flag-rising

Pakistan owns 10 Olympic medals, I wish them good luck at the 29th games in Beijing. believe it or not, most of Chinese audience will cheer for them.