Olympic Countdown: Beijing ready to put on a show
Published 14 July, 2008, 15:28
Beijing is finalising its preparations for the Summer Olympics 2008 with just under a month to go till the games begin. The hosts are even ready to sacrifice national traditions to help bring about the success of the XXIX Olympics and make visitors feel comfortable at all times.
For example, it will not be possible to order dishes made of dog meat in restaurants. Though it’s a delicacy in China, and is widely believed to lower blood pressure, all 112 Beijing restaurants specialising in the dish will have to make appropriate changes to the menu.
Being one of the heaviest smoking nations in the world, China will also have to force restaurant owners to prepare non-smoking areas for guests. This process won’t come cheap.
To upgrade public toilets to international standards, Chinese authorities had to spend $57 million in Beijing alone. But that measure has not solved all the difficulties.
As one top local functionary put it: “Now to a find public toilet you have to use street signs, it is not the smell that directs you.”
Most facilities are still missing toilet paper. Tourists are strongly recommended to carry some with them just to be on the safe side. At the same time public toilets near Forbidden City in central Beijing are considered to be state of the art.
Personnel throughout the capital are being taught to greet foreign guests in an appropriate way in order not to offend anybody’s national sensibilities.
The city’s fathers have also encouraged general English language study. Employees in all sectors are obliged to know at least several phrases in English, like “Welcome to Beijing!” Lessons on everyday communication with foreigners has seen some Chinese girls don red-hair wigs and sunglasses to play the role of visitors!
Chinese authorities are introducing a whole set of rules and regulations to improve the local environment. Public transport price-cutting and limitations on the use of private cars are among the measures (car use will be restricted according to even and odd days of the calendar and digits on the license plate). For its part, the Communist Party of China says it will curb the use of its car park during the Games.
In addition, about 300,000 old lorries have been banned from the capital’s streets from July 1 till the very end of the Olympics.
And spitting on the streets will be prohibited with $7 fines dished out to offenders.
In terms of security, China has prepared a 100,000-strong army of specially trained and equipped soldiers ready to deal with any kind of threat including terrorist attacks.
All the 37 major arenas of the games, like the 91,000 capacity Beijing National Stadium, will be protected with surface to air missile complexes.
The Chinese leadership has given assurances that, at a cost of $40 billion, the games will be the safest possible.
According to a forecast by statistical experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Russia is going to be ranked third in the overall table. The study predicts them winning 79 medals.
The report believes that the first two places will be shared between the U.S. and China, winning 88 and 87 medals respectively.
The action gets underway on August 8 at 08:00:08 2008.
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