The Beijing Olympics is officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be celebrated from August 8, 2008, to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony commencing at 08:08:08 pm CST (12:08:08 UTC) at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Some events will be held outside Beijing, namely football (soccer) (in Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang and Tianjin), equestrian (in Hong Kong) and sailing (in Qingdao).
The Olympic torch relay concluded in Paris Monday afternoon, after repeated disruptions by Tibetan separatists and their supporters which aroused indignation from spectators and sports officials.
The torch was forced to be put on an accompanying bus for four times in the afternoon as precautions against the protestors, a Xinhua photographer reported. The journey was cut short and brought to the final place by bus.
Earlier, a protestor tried to use a fire extinguisher to put out the Olympic torch, but was stopped by police, and another one failed in his attempt to snatch the torch from a torchbearer.
At least five protesters were detained for blocking the Beijing Olympic torch relay in the French capital, the AFP news agency reported.
Henri Serandour, head of the French Olympic Committee on Monday criticized the protests as "highly regrettable."
"I think that people should have let this flame through, that they could have held their protests to one side," he said.
"Everyone has a right to express themselves but to stop it passing shows a lack of respect for the basic freedom of our athletes to carry this flame, which is a message of peace to the whole world," the chief said.
Another member of the French Olympic Committee said here Monday that the Olympic torch relay should not be affected in any way.
"The Olympic sacred fire is a symbol of peace, tolerance... and should not be affected by anybody in any way," Guy Drut told France 3 television.
Spectators of the Beijing Olympic torch relay were greatly annoyed and angered by Tibetan separatists and their supporters attempting to disrupt the Monday event in Paris, the fifth leg of the flame's global tour.
"We've come here only to watch the torch relay," said a Paris student, who gave his first name as Mark.
"What in the world does this have anything to do with us except for annoying us?" he added, pointing to Tibetan separatist demonstrators.
Liu Zijun, a Chinese student studying in Paris told Xinhua that the Beijing Olympic Games is a big event for China, she and her friends were very angry about the protests around the relay of the sacred fire.
"A majority of the French people are friendly towards China, but they have no knowledge about what really happened in Tibet and have been misled by some western media's distorted reports," Liu said, adding those media have played a "very bad role" in the matter.
Tens of thousands spectators went to the street of Paris to watch the torch relay, which covers 28 kilometers starting the Eiffel Tower and ending at the Stade (Stadium) Charlety in the south of the city.
Many on-lookers waved Chinese flags to cheer the event or put flag stickers on the face.
One of them told Xinhua that some of the flags were hand-made by themselves or posted by their friends in China.
Spokesman of the torch relay center of the Beijing Olympic Organization Committee Qu Yingpu said that the torch relay started in Paris smoothly, but has encountered protests during the process. Due to technical and safety reasons, the relay team had to change the ways of torch bearing four times during the process and put the torch onto the bus before the relay was resumed towards the south of Paris.
On Sunday, he said that as the highest symbol of the Olympic spirit, the Olympic flame represents peace, friendship and progress. Under the authorization of the International Olympic Committee, the Beijing Olympic torch relay is taking its journey of harmony throughout the world, sharing the passion and glory of the Olympics with the world, and has received warm welcome from the people en route.
However, a few "pro-Tibet independence" activists have attempted to interrupt the torch relay during its journey in grave violation of the Olympic spirit, as the Olympic flame belongs to the world. The act will surely arouse resentment of the peace-loving people, and is bound to fail, he said.
The Beijing Olympic torch relay takes place on Monday in Paris, the fifth leg of its global tour.
The 2008 Olympic flame was ignited on March 24 in Ancient Olympia of Greece and was handed over to Beijing on March 31 after a six-day relay in Greece.
The 130-day torch relay will cover 137,000 km before the flame returns to Beijing and enters the National Stadium on Aug. 8 for the Olympics' opening ceremony.
A total of 21,880 torch bearers will be participating in the unprecedented relay, which is held under the theme of "Journey of Harmony."
Source: Xinhua
Chinese beauties lining up for Olympic ceremony ushers
CHANGCHUN, Northeast China -- Liu Chang arrived at Jilin College of Art early Sunday morning. Sided by her mother and a friend, she seemed a little bit nervous as directors of the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies from Beijing would test her on manners and postures hours later.
Liu is one of the girls who want to become the Olympic ushers during the opening and closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics.
At the selection of Changchun division, tall and young girls with good figures and pretty faces lined up at the waiting room outside the scene of selection.
"I came to Changchun yesterday to get better prepared for the selection." said Liu Jilin, whose hometown is the city of Jilin, 127 kilometers away from Changchun.
"My aunt saw the recruiting advertisement on TV and told me about it, and I thought, maybe I could be the one," she said.
The nationwide selection, starting from late March, will pick out 260 ushers during the opening and closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics. Changchun is one of the 12 cities that hold the preliminary selection.
According to the recruiting advertisement, young Chinese girls taller than 1.68 meters can apply for the position. The ushers will be holding the brand with country names in front of athlete delegations at the four ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics.
Nearly 500 people signed up for the position in Changchun division in the three-day application, said Chen Yong, who is in charge of the program organization. More than 100 applicants have been chosen to attend the preliminary selection, and most of them are college students.
Feng Jianing, 13, is the youngest among all the girls on the scene.
"The Beijing Olympics will be the best ever one, and I also want to do my best to participate in it," Feng said. She's still a primary school student in the sixth grade, with tall figures and experiences at model training school.
Xu Beini, a junior of the Northeast Normal University, was one the participants who finished the morning session early.
"They (the directors) made me walk and smile, and they took photos," said an excited Xu. "It was really nervous."
"I'm quite confident in my smile," she said while beaming, "but you know, there are so many girls with right qualifications. The competition is tough."
The second round would continue on Sunday afternoon with more complicated tests including language skills and rhythm sensation. The selection will end with 10 to 20 candidates entering the nationwide competition.
The final selection will finish at the end of April, and those who picked for ushers will get trained in Beijing.
"The Olympics is a festival that the Chinese people all expect, and we just want to try our best to be part of it," Liu Chang said before she entered the selection hall.
Beijing gets full support
A declaration to give full support to the upcoming Beijing Games was approved by the heads of 205 national and regional Olympic committees Monday at the morning session of their general assembly in the capital.
Announced by Gunilla Lindberg, secretary-general of the Association of the National Olympic Committees (ANOC), the declaration includes the following:
Athletes worldwide are willing to participate in the Beijing Games;
Any activities using the Olympic Games for political purposes will be rejected;
China has the confidence to seek solutions to its internal affairs.
The NOCs, under the International Olympic Committee (IOC), are responsible for organizing their respective countries' participation in the Games.
The special statement comes amid disruptions by Tibetan separatists and is expected to be issued after a joint meeting of the ANOC and the IOC Executive Board on Thursday.
The three-day biennial meeting of the ANOC in Beijing, which has attracted more than 700 representatives this time, will last till tomorrow, with the heads of national and regional Olympic committees worldwide coming together to discuss issues related to the Olympics.
Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attended the opening ceremony Monday morning, reiterating that China will fulfill its commitment to hold a successful Olympic Games this August.
"Holding the Olympic Games is the longtime expectation of Chinese people and hosting a high-level Olympic Games and a high-level Paralympic Games is the solemn commitment we have made to the whole world," Wu said.
"In the lead-up to the Games the Chinese government and Chinese people will fulfill our commitment to ensure the success of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. We warmly welcome athletes, coaches and guests from all over the world to participate, witness and report the Beijing Games."
"The ANOC has supported very resolutely and firmly the organization of the Beijing Olympic Games and it will make all efforts so that the Games may achieve the greatest success for the benefit of the young athletes, and as a contribution towards friendship, solidarity and peace among the youth and all peoples from around the world," ANOC president Mario Vazquez Rana added in his opening speech.
"Organizing an Olympic Games is an extremely arduous and complex task. Only the closest cooperation between all members of the Olympic movement as well as the political will of China's government will make it possible to reach the high objectives sought with the Beijing Olympic Games," he said.
