Carnival in Beijing Celebrates Successful Olympic Bid

Carnival in Beijing Celebrates Successful Olympic Bid

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Tens of thousands of Chinese gathered in a carnival at Beijing's Millennium Monument Friday night to celebrate the Chinese capital's winning of the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

President Jiang Zemin and other senior leaders including Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao and Wei Jianxing, as well as Beijing's Party chief Jia Qinglin joined the carnival.

The square in front of the monument was turned into a sea of joy and smiles at the announcement of Beijing as the winner among the five candidate cities, with tears of excitement flowing on numerous faces, flowers being thrown into the air and firecrackers roaring.

President Jiang expressed his warm congratulations to the Beijing bid committee and thanked the precious support extended to Beijing's bid efforts by the whole nation, members of the International Olympic Committee and friends of all countries.

He called for concerted efforts by the whole nation and citizens of the capital to make a success of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Beijing Party chief Jia Qinglin pledged that the city will try its uttermost efforts to make the 2008 Olympic Games the best ever in history.

Jiang and other senior central leaders later joined the gala at the Tian'anmen Square.