02. Juli 2008  
Peking / China  
Artistic Gymnastics

GYMmedia visit to the Olympic City of 2008 ... ONE WORLD - ONE DREAM is Beijings Olympic motto

From Beijing for GYMmedia:
Giancarlo MORA

About 13 months before they start, G YM media INTERNATIONAL is beginning an occasional series of articles from the city which will host the "Game of the XXIXth Olympiad", which will take place from August 8th to 24th 2008 in Beijing.                 
GYMmedia correspondent Giancarlo MORA has been in China for some months, observing the scenery, atmosphere and development of the country and its people with respect to the preparations for the Olympic Games.                                  
In one of the coming installments he will attempt to establish contact with the elite gymnastics training centres in China, and particularly in Beijing...

GYMmedia correspondent Giancarlo MORA in front of the main Olympic stadium in Beijing
- Photos and Report: G. Mora


"One World one Dream ..."
- by Giancarlo MORA exclusively for GYMmedia  -

...that is the city's motto for the XXIXth Olympic Summer Games, which are due to take place in Beijing from August 8th to 24th 2008; for this reason, the city is preparing for millions of guests. Many of the Olympic building have already taken shape and some are already in regular use, such as the Olympic Press Centre in the north of Beijing, close to the Huabei-Hotel, which has been open since 2005, and where the OC plans to hold daily press conferences.

All the preparations at the huge Olympic site have little effect on dalVon all den olympischen Vorbereitung in diesem riesigen Areal ist im Alltag vieler Menschen in den Pekinger Vorstädten, den traditionellen 'Hutongs' so gut wie nichts zu spüren.

I have been in Beijing for 4 months and have been able to learn at first hand that about 58% of the tickets for the games will cost 100 RMB, which is equivalent to about 10 Euros (RMB = Chinese currency "Renminbi"; Abb. ¥.; the units are Yuán (元, sign: 圆, unit), Jiǎo (角) and Fēn (分). One Yuan equals 10 Jiao and 100 Fen. ).
14 % of these are reserved for Chinese students!
The most expensive tickets will cost about 500 RMB (approx. 50 Euro).

Daily activity in the Chinese metropolis

The subway system will also be extended and the city intends to break its citizens of some typical bad habits until the Olympic games.
For instance the habit of spitting all over the place ... not just 'Laowai' (the Chinese term for a foreigner, which literally translates as 'the old one from outside') object to this, many Chinese compatriots also find it repulsive.

Modernity and history exist side by side in the Chinese capital. And because China does not merely wish to present a cultural event to the world, but also wishes to show that it is a modern and innovative country, it promises to make these games a very special event.

Just over a year before the beginning of the games building sites are sprouting from the ground like the proverbial mushrooms. Floodlights are attached to the cranes on the construction sites so that construction can go on night and day.

The main Olympic stadium in Beijing, a building inspired by a bird's nest...!

The main stadium, which will cost 290 million Euro and is called the “Bird's Nest” - ist unique both in its appearance and its many functions.

In my next report for GYMmedia I will attempt to find out about the Chines preparations for the gymnastics events.


* Aus Beijing - exklusiv für GYMmedia: Giancarlo MORA