China 2008: The Beijing Olympic Games

China 2008: The Beijing games

Summer olympics will be held in Beijing, China, from August 8 through August 24 2008.

China´s Olympiad is a great sport event. However, besides the great muscle and intelligence needed to succeed in China´s olympic games, there are other achievements which will precede this gigantic event.

Large architectural pieces will be the Beijing National Stadium, Beijing National Indoor Stadium, Beijing National Aquatics Centre, Olympic Green Convention Centre, Olympic Green, and Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. US $2.1 billion in corporate bids and tenders are expected to fund almost 85 percent of the construction budget for the six main venues. Investments are expected from corporations seeking ownership rights after the 2008 Summer Olympics. Some venues will be owned and governed by the State General Administration of Sports, which will use them after the Olympics as facilities for all future national sports teams and events.

The centerpiece of the 2008 Summer Olympics is the Beijing National Stadium, construction of which began on December 24, 2003.

Internet is booming too. From 123 million users in june 2006, the count went up to 132 by december 2006, and the rate of increase is expected to be higher in the near future. Broad band users in China is growing too. The latest count was 52 million users and growing. It is said that official count of Internet users is underestimated and that China´s Internet users surpassed USA, going up to 200 millions internet users.

China´s government is encouraging internet use for education, online commerce, advertising and games promotion. As per China´s Internet center, 67.9 of time devoted to Internet surfing by chinese users is spent devouring news. Chinese people, like people all over the world, are realizing the Internet is not only helpful, but a necessity for daily life.

Yahoo is competing with its U.S. rivals Google, Search BigDaddy and local portals such as Sina and Netease.com for market share in China. Barron's said in May, citing a Morgan Stanley analyst, Mary Meeker. China may become the biggest Internet market in the world within five years. Apparently China is #1 already

Yahoo is the No. 1 Chinese-keyword search engine, with 40 percent market share in terms of revenue, according to Analysys Consulting.

In a statement on its mainland Web site, the company said it has boosted the storage capacity for its free mail service from 100MB to 1GB, matching the storage of rival Google's upcoming Gmail offering.

While Gmail's trials are confined to a select group, Yahoo's upgrade will be extended to all existing and new users of its mail service in China. However, subscribers must first log on to Yahoo's instant messenger service and add other users to their contact lists to qualify for the 1GB of storage.

Web logs in China took 101 million hits in 2006, Xinhua news agency said, citing the China Internet Survey Report 2007.

"Web logs have gradually developed into a new trend in Internet information communication, many public figures as well as ordinary people use web blogs ... to express their thoughts," the report quoted Huang Chengqing of the China Internet Association as saying.

1984 Los Angeles Olympic games gave China its first gold medal. In fact, China was 4^th and won 15 gold medals, 8 silvers and 9 bronzes. Since then, China has been consolidating as a world sports power. Beijing summer games are the showcase for China´s growth and development in all areas of human endeavors including sports, business and technology.

After a long selection process the Olympic commission concluded that Beijing games would leave a unique legacy to China and to sport and concluded that China is ready to organize excellent games. Then Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Comitee announced Beijing came out on top of its competitors as the organizer of the Summer Olympic Games for 2008.

Western companies have great hopes for the Olympics in Bijing. Great changes are taking place and the city has to improve its infrastructure , build modern communication facilities and modern sporting venues, modernize its tourist acomodations and invest in alternative energy sources. Economists assume that the Olimpic Games speed up the development of the city and create additional growth.

1.3 billion chinese are proud to show their country to the world in the 29^th summer olympic games to be held in Beijing. Media facilities are very important and the media committee is working to provide the most advanced facilities for newsmen, photographers, technicians and radio and TV crews. It will be a great media event too.

Jose Damaso Ramon

http://www.josedwebsite.com