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Olympics Hot Sheet - August 23, 2005

2008: Olympics Taste By People's Daily Online dated 8/2/05

Besides a splendid sports event, the Olympic Games is no doubt a tremendously huge "restaurant". Beijing will cater some 7.5 million person-time during the 2008 Olympics, including Olympic delegations, media and audience from around the world. Even for China with a long history of rich cuisine culture, this extravaganza reflects both opportunities and challenges.

Opinions vary among people about what we eat and how we eat during the Beijing Olympics as China has developed extremely diversified food around the country over its thousands of years of civilization with 8 major local flavors plus numerous specials. Experts suggest an Olympic menu with typical Chinese food.

A counselor with the China Cuisine Association said many traditional famous Chinese dishes, for example, fish-flavored sliced pork and Kung-Pao chicken (saute diced chicken with chili and peanuts), had long been popular among foreign diners. He then suggested more local snacks be included in the "Olympic Menu".

Beijing worked out a special menu for the 11th Asian Games three years before the event was staged in the city and solicited for advice from participating countries. Technical training programs were conducted for some special foods that were purchased from abroad.

Uniformed distribution, a warranty of quality and safety can only be arranged after the specific menu is ready defining ingredients and speculations. Experts also stressed that Beijing's Olymics Menu be based on Chinese cuisine to introduce the traditional Chinese cuisine culture to more people in the world.

144 countries now are enjoying sushi introduced by Japan during the Tokyo Olympics. South Korea did the same for its pickles successfully. Sydney began preparation for Olympics food project 5 years before the event. And Greece spent 500 million USD of the 2 billion USD of security budget on food safety.

During the Olympics, most athletes have their meals in the Olympic village. But some will still choose to eat out occasionally. "We will not encourage them to do that (eat out). But we will not restrict that, either," said Xiang Ping, vice director with the division responsible for the service, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

To ensure athletes enjoy good and safe food when they eat out, "recommended restaurants" will be available outside the "Olympic Zone" and marked in the athletes' brochure. Restaurants have to be double checked before recommended. According to Xiang, every restaurant in Beijing, including those not on the recommendation list, will be examined to make sure everyone in Beijing will have safe food during the Olympics.

Testing matches will be held following the completion of construction of Olympic venues by the end of 2007. These matches, with some world-class matches and massive participation, will be a good test for food safety. Xiang unveiled over the period from the end of 2007 to the first half of 2008 all the measures and systems concerning food safety would be tested and improved, ranging from the safe supply and tracing of food raw materials, real-time monitoring and risk control over food safety for Olympic venues and key areas and food anti-terrorism.

As learned more than 70 percent of food on the Beijing market is from other areas outside Beijing or even foreign countries. The diversified supply channel poses great challenge to the city’s efforts on standardizing food supply.

Beijing Health Bureau and Agricultural Bureau, along with five other bureaus, promised in their report to Beijing Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee that a food safety strategy would be formulated. By 2008, the report says, only 3 modern big slaughterhouses up to the international standards will remain in service and standardized production will be realized in all the bases for farm products for food.

Besides that, a controlling system for scientific management will also be in place. The city plans to build a database for credibility of food and suppliers within 3 years and impose even more stringent food safety standards.

The objectives have been defined by the Olympic food safety system that by 2008 the practice of standardization will have been implemented on the procurement, packaging, storage and distribution of key food. Besides that, Ramp;D will be conducted on antibacterial-free breeding, slaughtering, meat processing and detecting techniques.

A report by the law enforcement team of the Municipal People's Congress says nearly 95 percent of food proved to be safe in a sampling examination and there was no death case last year.

An expert team for food safety for Beijing Olympics 2008 was set up and held its first conference recently in Beijing. This marks that the food safety initiative for Beijing Olympics 2008 has been officially launched.

The team is composed of 15 members with 8 foreign experts who have been directly engaged in food safety mission for Barcelona, Sydney and Athens Olympics and Salt Lake Winter Olympics. Some of them are officials for food safety with the World Health Organization, US FDA officials and professor from US Auburn University.

The 8 foreign experts will work closely with their 7 Chinese colleagues as "a member of the Beijing Olympics Family".

Beijing to Improve Service for 2008 Olympic Games by Xinhuanet dated July 31, 2005

The Chinese capital Beijing aims to increase 500 community chain laundries and 1,000 convenient supermarkets and stores in the next three years in a bid to upgrade its retail sales and catering service quality.

This is part of the municipal government's efforts to make preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games to be hosted by the city, Beijing-based Economic Daily reported on Sunday.

In line with the plan, 55 large and medium-sized shopping centers, supermarkets and franchisers in the city will be renovated to make it easy for disabled persons to enter and depart, the report said.

Meanwhile, service quality and standard in retail sales, catering and service sectors will be improved to better protect the rights of consumers.

Besides, 90 percent of the employees in the above-mentioned industries are required to take part in English-learning classes to help facilitate communications with foreigners in the future.

The city will also focus efforts on constructing and improving 10 famous streets, including the Wangfujing street, a downtown shopping center, the Shichahai street, well-known for pubs, and the Liulichang street, a famous cultural shopping center featuring a wealth of antiques, paintings, calligraphy scrolls by prestigious artists and eminent scholars.

Action Plan to Guarantee Food Safety by China Daily dated 7/30/05

An action plan to ensure the safety of food at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be implemented in 2007, a food safety official said on Friday in Beijing.

The Beijing municipal government will allocate funds to ensure the implementation of the plan, Tang Yunhua, a spokesman for the office of food safety, told reporters at a news conference.

According to Tang, the plan will include the establishment of food safety standards, a food safety inspection system, monitoring of the food in stadiums and other venues, a food source-tracing system and an emergency response scheme.

Tests will also be conducted to determine how well Beijing performs in ensuring its food safety.

An experts' committee for food safety during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was established on July 4, Liu Jian, vice-director of the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce, said at the conference.

The 15-member committee includes eight experts from outside China, some of whom took part in ensuring food safety during the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Sydney and Athens, he said.

Tang said Beijing has set up a food safety control network that is based on three levels of municipality, suburbs and county, community and township.

About 70 per cent of the city's communities and villages have food safety supervisors.

Tang said food safety in Beijing has been improving in recent years.

About 100,000 food samples are selected and tested each year by inspectors. "In 1998, 79.8 per cent of the samples were qualified. This percentage rose to 94.9 last year," she said.

In the first half of this year, about 95 per cent of tested samples met standards, she added.

Liu said the major food safety problem currently in Beijing is the excessive use of artificial colors and sulphur dioxide residue due to the over use of food additives.

In the first half of the year, 514 kinds of food were removed from shelves because of quality problems, Liu said.

At Friday's conference, Liu also said his administration resolved 499 trademark violation cases, which totaled about 32.3 million yuan (US$3.98 million).

Also, the administration has issued a notice banning the sales of pirated products from such brands as Gucci and Boss throughout Beijing.

Beijing to Beef up Olympic Security by CCTV, dated 8/17/05

Three years ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing is making security one of its top priorities. As a part of a massive campaign, the city's public security authorities have invited their counterparts from neighboring countries to give their opinions and suggestions on how to manage a safe Olympics.

Public security authorities from ten ASEAN countries, as well as those from South Korea and Japan, which co-hosted the 2002 World Cup, are in Beijing to exchange ideas and give advice on security issues. Combating international terrorism is expected to be their major focus.

Beijing public security Chief Ma Zhenchuan said: "The Beijing Public Security Administration is seeking extensive international cooperation on Olympic security. We hope that a wider participation by our international colleagues will help upgrade our security network for the Games."

He also said all contingency plans are to be rehearsed at least a year before the opening of the Games.

The security budget of last year's Athens Olympics hit a record one-point-two billion Euros. Budgets for future Games are expected to surge due to mounting security concerns following a series of terrorist activities across the world this year. However, municipal government officials say that Beijing's budget will not exceed that of Athens.

Haier Named as White Goods Sponsor of 2008 Olympics by Xinhua, dated 8/13/05

China's household appliance giant Haier Group signed a deal in Qingdao on Friday with the Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), becoming the official white goods sponsor of the games.

Haier Group, headquartered in Qingdao, the coastal city that will host sailing events during the 2008 Games, will provide funds, products and related services to the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, BOCOG, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese sports delegations to the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics and 2008 Olympics.

The Marketing Plan of the 2008 Olympic Games includes partnership, sponsorship, suppliership and licensing programs. Partnership, sponsorship and suppliership grant enterprises four-year exclusive marketing and promotion rights, while the licensing program authorize companies to produce and sell products with the official Olympic logo only after paying royalities to BOCOG.

BOCOG has signed nine partners so far, including Germany's automobile giant Volkswagen, Sinopec, CNPC, China Mobile and Bank of China, and four sponsors. It is scheduled to launch the suppliership program by the end of this year.

Tsingtao Named Beer Sponsor of Olympics by Xinhua, dated 8/12/05

Just one day after Yanjing Beer was named the domestic beer sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Tsingtao Beer, another leading Chinese brewery, joined the elite club.

This means the 2008 Olympics have three sponsors in the beer category as Busch-Anheuser Budweiser signed last year as the international beer sponsor to support the Games.

It is against the established principle in Olympic marketing that only one enterprise can be selected as the sponsor and enjoys exclusive marketing rights within the designated product category.

"This is an exception," said Yuan Bin, director of the Marketing Department of BOCOG.

"The IOC and BOCOG jointly decided to give all three enterprises the sponsor status in light of the special situation,” she added.

Yuan didn't elaborate on the "special situation".

According to Yuan, the three breweries enjoy the same rights and obligations.

Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd, headquartered in Qingdao, the coastal city that will host sailing events during the 2008 Games, will provide funds beer products and related services to the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, BOCOG, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese sports delegations to the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics and 2008 Olympics.

"Tsingtao Beer, a hundred-year old brand name, has made great contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world in the past century," said Wang Wei, BOCOG's Executive Vice-President and Secretary-General.

"With prestigious enterprises such as Tsingtao Beer to actively sponsor and support the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, we feel more confident of running a successful games."

Jin Zhiguo, Chief Executive Officer of the Tsingtao Brewery Co.Ltd, said at the signing ceremony that sponsoring the 2008 Olympics will help Tsingtao Beer promote its brand in the process of globalization .

"Tsingtao Beer has always had the vision of becoming a leader in the global beer industry, and sponsoring the Beijing Olympics is an integral move for Tsingtao Beer to achieve its globalization dreams," said Jin.

The Marketing Plan of the 2008 Olympic Games includes partnership, sponsorship, suppliership and licensing programs. Partnership, sponsorship and suppliership grant enterprises four-year exclusive marketing and promotion rights, while the licensing program authorize companies to produce and sell products with the official Olympic logo only after paying royalties to BOCOG.

BOCOG has signed nine partners so far, including Germany's automobile giant Volkswagen, Sinopec, CNPC, China Mobile and Bank of China. It started to seek sponsors this March and is scheduled to launch its supplier-seeking campaign by the end of this year.

Game Plan (Coca-Cola) by China Daily, dated 8/08/05

Forget about drinking Pepsi in the grandstands when you take in the Olympic Games, at least up to 2020. To quote the old advertising slogan, "Coke is it."

Security guards will be asking sports fan if they are carrying "knives, weapons or cans of Pepsi." Those who refuse to leave the banned refreshment at the gates will be shut out.

Coca-Cola has won another round in the fight for the global soft drink market by extending its Olympic TOP (The Olympic Partner Program) sponsorship by 12 years.

The Winter and Summer Games, to be held in Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012, will all be a publicity goldmine for the Atlanta-based beverage giant.

"There are very few things in the world that are as universally recognized and loved as the Olympic Games. So for a brand like Coca-Cola and other beverages around the world, to be able to make that connection with people in every country is just a huge opportunity for us," says Peter R. Franklin, worldwide director of sports operations for Coca-Cola.

The world's largest beverage company last week signed an agreement with the International Olympic Committee in Beijing and extended its eight-year sponsorship agreement. The original contract signed in 1996 was scheduled to expire after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The company is not disclosing the value of the deal.

The commitment includes cash and services from Coca-Cola in support of athletes and teams from nearly 200 countries and regions. In return, the red giant maintains exclusive marketing rights in the non-alcoholic beverages category and use of the Olympic symbols and mascots in advertising and promotional activities.

The deal extends the partnership of Coca-Cola and the Olympic Games a relationship that began in 1928 to 92 years without interruption.

Coca-Cola looks at "a lot of different values when associating with the Olympics," says Franklin, who has been working on Olympics-related projects for Coca-Cola since the Barcelona Games in 1992.

These values are a combination of both long-term brand building and short and medium sales increases, Franklin says.

"The reason we have been associated with the Olympic Games for so long is because we know in the long-term it will help build the value of our brands," Franklin says.

"The feeling people around the world have towards the brand is what will translate, over the long-term, into increased sales for all of our brands around all the markets where we do business."

Long-lasting sponsorship of a worldwide sporting event creates better brand awareness than short-term sponsorship, according to a report by Performance Research, a company that offers marketing analysis and evaluation for corporate sponsorship of sports and special events.

The report, done in 2000, says Coca-Cola's decades-long association with the Olympic Games has built strong sponsor awareness and consumer appreciation for the company. Coca-Cola tops the list of Olympic sponsors that jumps into many consumers' minds.

"We also use the Olympics with our retail customers on a worldwide basis. Through those retail customers we generate the short and mid-term sales associated with the Olympics," Franklin says.

Earlier media reports said Coca-Cola's profits surged 21 per cent over the same period of the previous year during the third quarter of 1996 when it sponsored the Atlanta Games. Global rival PepsiCo saw profits drop more than 50 per cent during that period.

When China unveiled the "Dancing Beijing" 2008 Olympic Games logo on August 3, 2003, special souvenir Coca-Cola cans printed with the emblem were put on supermarket shelves the same night in Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao, in East China's Shandong Province. Coca-Cola's sales jumped more than four times in those cities in the following days.

All these sales achievements come from generous investment.

The threshold for becoming TOP sponsor has been rising over the years. The package for the Sydney Games in 2000 was around US$40 million for a four-year sponsorship. Now the rights for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are set at about US$65 million.

Franklin declines to say how much Coca-Cola plans to invest in the Beijing Games. But he says Coca-Cola usually spends "two or three times what it has spent on rights fees" on promotion activities, such as television advertising, to "communicate with people about the sponsorship."

"At this point I don't know what the programs in Beijing will look like. But I assume that our activations in Beijing will be one of the more substantial Olympics programs yet," Franklin says.

China is currently Coca-Cola's fifth largest market, after the United States, Mexico, Germany and Japan. The company controls about 52 per cent of China's carbonated beverages market.

Franklin says some local partners with the organizing committees have invested so much money in the rights fees that they have not put enough into "activation," which refers to what they do with the sponsorship once they have it.

"To derive value from the Olympic association, you have to make people become aware that you are sponsoring the Games," the Olympic marketing veteran says.

That is a key factor determining whether companies can really benefit from the Olympic sponsorship, analysts say.

"Every company must study its own capabilities before investing in the Olympic Games," says Huang Shengmin, director of college of advertising studies under the Communication University of China.

"If you don't have enough resources for follow-up marketing programs, you will just end up playing ducks and drakes with your money."

While Coke preserves its exclusivity within the Olympic venues, it cannot prevent non-official sponsors from attaching themselves to the Olympics in a strategy known as ambush marketing.

"We cannot promote ourselves in the Olympic venues, but there are a lot of things outside the venues that we can make good use of," says Yang Meihong, director of government and media affairs for PepsiCo China Investment Co Ltd.

"The two-week Olympic Games are just one of many opportunities. There is always something Coca-Cola cannot do well. Coca-Cola cannot eat the whole market," Yang says.

But Yang declines to say what marketing programs PepsiCo plans to launch during the Beijing Games.

Official sponsors are often worried that these ambush sponsors could outpace them in terms of both sponsor recall and the belief that these non-Olympic companies were doing more than many official sponsors to support the Olympic movement.

Yang says that even though PepsiCo does not sponsor global soccer games such as the World Cup, it has signed commercial contracts with soccer superstars such as David Beckham and Raul Gonzalez.

"Many audiences think we were official sponsors of those games," she says.

But Franklin is obviously not afraid of ambush marketing.

"Our strength is our long-term connection with the Olympics and our ability to connect with the Olympic symbols and brands," he says.

"We will be in the venues refreshing both the athletes and the Olympic family consumers. The real downside to ambush marketing is that those companies are not contributing to the development of the athletes and are not helping stage the games."

Finding "the best point of penetration" into Olympic Games-related marketing is very important, says Zhu Weihua, a soft drink market analyst at China Merchants Securities.

"The audience for ambush marketing is definitely smaller than that of official sponsors," Zhu says.

"But to companies that are smaller than Coca-Cola, it is better than nothing to have some involvement in a worldwide event such as the Olympic Games."

UPS is First Sponsor of Beijing Olympics by China Daily, dated 7/28/05

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) signed its first sponsorship agreement yesterday, with UPS, the American-based package delivery company, the first to come on board.

Having started on March 31, the sponsorship program is the second stage of BOCOG's marketing plan, following the partnership program which nine organizations are signed up to.

According to the agreement, UPS was selected as the official logistics and express delivery sponsor of BOCOG. UPS will provide logistics consultation to the committee and assist in developing and executing the logistics-operating plan for the 2008 Games. It will also provide express delivery services to all venues nominated by BOCOG during the 2008 Games in the Chinese capital.

The agreement signed between UPS and BOCOG is effective for the Olympic Games, the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese teams competing in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, and in the 2008 Olympics.

As revealed by Yuan Bin, director of BOCOG Marketing Department, the 2008 Olympic sponsors will be chosen through strict rules and under the principle of being "open, transparent and fair." "Strong servicing capabilities, rich experience in sponsoring big events and a healthy development strategic objective are the important factors we look at when choosing our sponsors," Yuan said.

Plans call for the sponsorship program to be completed by the end of the year, Yuan said, after which the third stage of the marketing plan focusing on suppliers will begin.

Beijing Olympics Ushers in 9th Partner by China Daily, dated 7/27/05

World healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson has become the ninth official partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The world's most comprehensive, broad-based health care company Johnson & Johnson will join the Games with the category covering consumer and personal care products, medical and diagnostic products and non-prescription medicines.

The company joins Bank of China, China Netcom, Sinopec, PetroChina, China Mobile, Volkswagen (China), Adidas and Air China as an official partner.

Officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said they were so far satisfied with the marketing plan of the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG).

"I'm very, very impressed (with BOCOG's marketing program)," said Gerhard Heiberg, IOC Marketing Commission chairman, at the signing ceremony yesterday.

Under the agreement, Johnson & Johnson will provide funding and services for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, BOCOG, the Chinese Olympic Committee, and for Chinese teams in the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games as well as the 2008 Games.

"The Beijing Olympic partners' selection is drawing to an end," said Director of BOCOG Marketing Department Yuan Bin, adding that "since March, the 2008 Olympic sponsor program, a lower level marketing program of BOCOG, has been under way."

Beijing Subway to be Upgraded by Chinadaily.com.cn, dated 7/26/05

All stations along Beijing's metro lines 1 and 2 will be equipped with screen doors before the end of 2007 for passengers' safety.

A series of measures will also be implemented to make the whole underground system better prepared in case of terrorist attacks.

Passengers will no longer have to risk being pushed into the tunnel during rush hours. As part of the Beijing metro's reform project, platform screen doors will be added to the stations on route No. one and two.

Air-conditioners will be installed in all 198 metro trains running on these two lines before the end of 2007, according to a Beijing Morning Post report on Monday.

The report said the screen doors will be roughly 2.5 meters high, and will be completely made of galvanized glass. In addition, the control mode will not be separated into automatic and manual modes, so that the doors can be opened when there is no electricity.

The screen and train doors will open and close together after the trains reach the station. The gap between the two doors will be less than 20 mm, hence preventing passengers from falling into the gap or getting trapped there.

All the newly constructed lines, including lines 4, 5 and 10 as well as the Olympics and airport routes, will also be built with platform screen doors.

Besides, to combat terrorism, Beijing metro has also started a series of new construction-- including the upgrade of the ventilation system, the entrances and exits, and the automatic fire extinguishing system-that will be finished this year. Anti-bombing devices and two respirators will also be installed at every underground station.

Based on the characteristics of the whole system, the Public Security Bureau and the Metro System Bureau are working together to plan different responsive measures under special circumstances such as chemical terrorist attacks, bombings and fires. A mock emergency exercise is to take place every season.

Beijing Makes Good Time with 2008 Preparations by Agencies, dated 7/25/05

The huge digital clock on Beijing's Tiananmen Square shows there are still some 1,100 days until the start of the 2008 Olympics. The Chinese capital, however, is already well on its way towards being ready.

Eight of the 11 new venues planned for the Beijing Games are under construction, the rest will be before the end of this year and ground has been broken on key support buildings, from the sprawling Olympic Village to a high-tech communications center.

"Preparations for the Beijing Olympics are going according to schedule and progressing relatively smoothly," Liu Qi, president of the 2008 Beijing Olympic organizing committee, said last week.

"All the venues will be finished in 2007, and surrounding roads and bridges will also be completed on time," the online edition of Hong Kong's Phoenix television quoted Liu as saying.

Following this month's subway and bus bombings that killed more than 50 people in London, host of the 2012 Olympics, Chinese officials have been talking about stepping up security for the 2008 Games but have revealed little in the way of specific plans.

"Especially after the London bombings, we have again raised the safety and security requirements for the Beijing Olympics," Liu said, without elaborating.

Last week, Beijing police were ordered to carry out their duties "based on the standards set for the coming Olympic Games" and to begin implementing new security checks for large public events so that flaws could be ironed out before the August 8-24 2008 Games, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"There are only around 1,000 days to go before the Olympic Games in 2008," the China Daily quoted Beijing police chief Ma Zhenchuan as saying.

"We have to use every opportunity to raise our risk management abilities towards terrorist attacks and familiarize ourselves with high security inspections for the Olympic Games."

Beijing has hiked up its original $1.625-billion operating budget for the Games to closer to $2 billion due in part to security concerns after the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States.

But the city has also been trying to tighten its belt, with measures such as further reducing already scaled-back plans for the "bird's nest" National Stadium, the site of the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics competitions.

The shift of the equestrian events to Hong Kong should help the economy drive, allowing planners to avoid the costs and headaches of building a venue and quarantine facilities.

While the steel bones of the National Stadium are already visible above ground, work on the National Indoor Stadium, the gymnastics and handball venue designed to evoke a folding Chinese fan, the Olympic wrestling facility and the Laoshan Velodrome for cycling have started only in the past few months.

As of early June, China's total investment in five main Olympic venues had hit 30.7 billion yuan ($3.79 billion), with more than 12 billion yuan slated to go to the sites this year alone, the semi-official English version of the People's Daily said.

Organisers' estimates of the total bill for the 2008 Olympics have risen to $40 billion from $37 billion, with most of the money targeted for new roads and subway lines and efforts to improve the city's power grid and environment.

Almost 90 billion yuan would be poured into 60 key construction projects this year, the People's Daily said.

The loftiest Games-related projects is the planned August launch of a small satellite that will take up an orbit over Beijing and snap a picture a week of the city to keep track of construction on and around the Olympic Green.

"Once it is in orbit, even the smallest illegal building in the area will not be able to hide," Beijing science official Li Shizhu was quoted as saying by the Beijing Morning Post.

In a sign of the prestige Beijing is giving the Games, the Olympic Green and the Olympic Village have been located on the ancient north-south axis that bisects the Forbidden City and other imperial landmarks and used to represent the Chinese emperor's central position in the nation.

"Beijing's Olympic Village will set a record by housing the largest number of athletes for the longest duration of time in Olympic history," Xinhua has boasted.

The city is looking so far ahead it is already screening big names to direct its opening and closing ceremonies.

The list of bidders for the directing chair reads like a who's who of the Chinese film world, including global commercial successes Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.

The native heroes could face stiff competition from a formidable Hollywood contender, none other than Steven Spielberg.

The director of the ceremonies, and the tentative plans for the events themselves, should be announced in September.