11th July 2006
Spotlight on China
The Beijing Olympics are going to put a huge spotlight on China. They are trying to show off their economic development at the same time as showing the world what they are doing to protect the environment and improve human right’s issues.
Sydney is widely regarded as the only “green” games, which Chinese officials are keenly studying, according to the China Daily.
26th June 2006
Chinese cuisine for athletes
Chinese organizers are planning a special Chinese menu for athletes. One wonders what people will eat if Chinese food is not their thing.
8th June 2006
Toilets to save water in Beijing
Reuters reports that Beijing is one of the driest cities in the world and that if something isn’t done to the problem they could face water shortages.
One way the city is trying to save water is by installing more efficient toilets.
“This toilet saves water,” said Zheng Qing Zhan, manager of Kuge bathroomware. “Most modern toilets use six litres of water per flush, while this uses a maximum of 3.8 litres and as little as 2.6 litres.”
30th May 2006
China to ban smoking for Olympics
China is preparing to ban smoking at the Beijing Olympics. In a country where smoking is prolific this is no easy task.
“Considering the country`s smoking population of 350 million, Zhang warned that China faces many obstacles in meeting its goal.”
25th May 2006
Beijing to build 110 new hotels
Beijing is building an additional 110 hotels in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.
They currently have 658 hotels.
22nd May 2006
Beijing rushes to clear its air
China is trying to do everything for the Olympic Games in 2008. Recently they have been having problelms in Beijing with pollution.
The city does suffer the usual big Asian city problems of pollution, but the bigger problem is the sandstorms it suffers from the distant Gobi desert.
It seems like they are moving towards some fairly extreme methods for helping to clear the air:
The Beijing Weather Modification Office reported that it fired seven rocket shells containing a total of 163 cigarette-size pellets of silver iodide into the sky over Beijing on May 5. The result brought four-tenths of an inch of rain, helping to “alleviate drought, add soil moisture and remove dust from the air for better air quality,” said the state Xinhua news service.
15th May 2006
China planning green games
China is planning to ’shroud’ the city in greenery and flowers for the Beijing Games.
Scientists and technicians with the Beijing Gardening and Forestation Bureau said they have developed ways to enable flowers to stay in bloom longer.
Read more here.
9th May 2006
Olympic Construction in Shanghai uncovers ancient tombs
The Mainichi newspaper reports:
“Archeologists have found coins, ceramics and jade in the tombs at the shooting range on the Chinese capital’s western outskirts, the Post and other papers said.
A spokeswoman for the Beijing Olympic organizers, Zhu Jing, said she had no information on how the discovery would affect construction.”
Clampdown on piracy
The Chinese government is clamping down on the sale of fake Olympic goods, with offenders being imprisoned for up to 10 years.
17th April 2006
Olympic construction update
The Times online gives an update as to how the construction of the stadiums is progressing in Beijing.
Beijing will renovate nearly 400 miles of sewage pipes and build 228 miles of roads — of which all but 40 miles are already complete. Indeed, so fast has the construction progressed that International Olympic Committee officials have been heard to voice anxieties that the facilities will be finished too early and could even begin to deteriorate before the Games open on August 8, 2008.