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Yearender: New Beijing Benefits from Pursuing Great Olympics
"New Beijing, Great Olympics", the official motto for Beijing's bid for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, is not only what the Chinese media preach, but also what the Chinese capital actually aims at and approaches.
Beijing, along with Paris, Istanbul, Osaka and Toronto, has been shortlisted earlier this year by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as official candidate cities for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Beijing has worked out and started to implement ambitious plans to make itself a more open, socially advanced and environmentally friendly metropolis.
A total sum of about 100 billion yuan RMB (US$12 billion) will have been invested in the face-lift of the city with a population of 13 million, for the Games.
Beijing with a 300-year-old history has invested heavily to upgrade the city's traffic network. Among the numerous projects planned or already started are two subway lines and a new ring road. Most of the major Olympic venues planned for the 2008 event are to be by the northern section of the city's fourth ring road due to open to traffic in mid-2001.
While modernizing the "hardware", Beijing is racing against time to catch up with the world's high-tech trend, planning a three-year development program worth of 1.5 billion yuan RMB (US$180 million) for the Zhongguancun area in northwestern Beijing, China's "Silicon Valley".
Beijing, which had launched a digitalization project, promises to apply state-of-the-art technologies if it is authorized to stage the 2008 Olympic Games.
"The Games will be characterized by strong high-tech presence,"said Liu Jinmin, vice president of Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee (BOGBC).
The bid has now been recognized and accepted not just the business of the bid committee or the local government, it's a dream to come true for all Beijing residents as well the whole of Chinese people.
"We receive phone calls from across the country almost everyday. They throw their support in various ways," said Liu.
"I fully support Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games," a resident in Taipei wrote in an e-mail sent to the BOGBC.
"I'm confident that Beijing will succeed in the Olympic bid and I long for the peaceful reunification of our country. Nothing would be more difficult if we Chinese could win 28 Olympic gold medals (in this year's Sydney Games). Don't let us down. We shall cheer on for Beijing," the e-mail read.
Through cooperation with about 20 nongovernment environmental groups, a large number of shops, schools and communities throughout the city joined the campaign for staging a "Green Olympics".
Recycled paper, clean fuel, sorted rubbish, along with water-saving and energy-efficient facilities have all become part of the unprecedented environmental drive.
Another NGO environmental group Global Village has launched "Green Angels Project" which involves the environmental commitment of a total of 830,000 students of elementary schools.
"830,000 students mean the same number of families will join the environmental protection. It is a rare sight in other countries," said Liao Xiaoyi, head of the organization.
In explaining the public enthusiasm in the Olympic bid, Wang Wei, general secretary of BOGBC, said that the local residents are fully aware that they are sure to benefit from the bid and the hosting of the high-profile event.
"It is a common sense for any Beijing resident that the Olympic Games will bring a better life," Wang said.
Though the Olympics drive has being greatly propelled the city's all-around development, some Beijing-based foreigners doubt that all the efforts would disappear if Beijing loses the bid again.
"I wonder if the measures are just for the time of the Olympics bid, or it would be the real effort to make sure they don't go back to the old way," said Pam Wadeson from Australia, who works as an expert in the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Her concern seems to be unnecessary as the municipal government has stressed on many occasions that their colossal investment in the infrastructure are far more than just for the Olympic bid.
"The bid for the Olympics plays a role of some catalyst or booster, which makes or accelerates our proposals into a reality," said Wang.
Yu Xiaoxuan, deputy director of the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau, made a similar pledge. "Whatever the bid results, we will got ahead without any hesitation for the environmental protection projects," Yu said.
Beijing, generally regarded as a front-runner in the bidding race, has won positive comments from international community.
During his one-day visit to Beijing, Bob Carr, Premier of Australia's New South Wales state that hosted the 2000 Olympic Games, said the Chinese capital was in good shape. "Beijing looks like an Olympic host city to me," he commented at the end of his visit.
Representatives of the international sports federations assigned to inspect the Olympic candidate cities for their planned or on-going preparations for possible hosting of the Olympic Games, have also been impressed by Beijing's bid.
"The preparations are very well under control, and I must tell you, the plan is full of imagination," said Istvan Gyulai, the general secretary of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF). "I think this is a very, very strong candidate city," he added.
When asked if the kind comments by federation officials is something like "throwing the words of flowers", Iubomir Kotleba, the sporting director of the International Basketball Federation, said that he himself has no necessity of do such a flattery job.
"I think whatever the IOC will decide, it will be a very natural choice, due to your population, your technological programs and the weight of China in the world," said Kotleba.
"I don't think if there are any other problems, these should be mentioned first and foremost, because the positives here are much
bigger than the negatives," he added.
The IOC's Evaluation Commission will send a delegation to Beijing for on-the-spot inspection and the IOC will meet in July in Moscow to make the final decision on the host city.
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