China Beijing Olympic Games

Heading to the office

I am a literary director for television. Maybe it’s because I studied the Erhu (two-stringed Chinese fiddle) since childhood, and on top of that, there’s the influence from my work, but my favorite hobby is doodling on music staff paper. Whether I am happy, or feeling sad, I like to string these feelings together using musical notes. It is this hobby that has connected me in a special way with the Olympics — taking part in the song search for the Olympic theme song. Although I won’t know until the evening of April 30 whether my song has been selected, it has been my feeling all along that the outcome isn’t what’s most important; the important thing is that I have done something for the Olympics through my own hard work and dedication. Even if my song is not selected, participating in the process was extremely fulfilling. I will never forget my experience with the Olympics.

To tell the truth, when Beijing first bid for the Olympic Games, I felt joy and I felt inspiration; never did I think that an ordinary guy like me would have anything major to do with the Olympics. But as the big event drew nearer and the atmosphere around me was filled with Olympic spirit, an idea began to stir in my mind: I wanted to write a song for the Olympics to express my wishes and my dreams.

Perhaps my job had something to do with it. Before the search for the Olympic theme song began, I was really curious about the theme song for the Beijing 2008 Olympics — What kind of song would it be? How would it sound? Who will sing it? How will the song incorporate Chinese character? — I had so many questions.

The birthplace of an Olympic song

Before I knew it, March 7, 2008, had arrived. It was three days before the deadline for submitting songs to the Olympic song search. At around 10 p.m., I was browsing the songs that had been collected by the official website of the Beijing Olympic Games. None of them particularly stood out, however. Disappointed, I stopped surfing the web and was organizing my computer files when I came across an audio file called “Tianshi” (”Angel”). I opened it and heard a familiar tune; it was a song I had written back in 2003 for nurses during the SARS outbreak. At the time, however, I set the song aside because it did not reflect what I originally had in mind. But five years later, the song sounded fresh to my ears, even though it was a familiar tune.

As I listened to the song, my heart raced and I got very excited: that kind of tune, that kind of rhythm, that kind of quality — the Olympics! It was meant to be. Whether or not it could become the theme song didn’t matter, but I though it was a perfect fit. As I thought about this, I jumped out of my chair.

I glanced at the calendar, then, and realized that there were only 66 hours left to submit the song. I thought, how am I going to finish it in time? So many wonderful musicians spent so much more time putting their songs together, but I only had two or three days to fit new lyrics to the music. I had yet to find a singer; the score needed editing; the song had to be recorded and mixed. I blamed myself for not getting into gear sooner

“I just won’t think about it. It’s set. For the Olympics, I’m going to give it my best shot!”

Seeking new inspirations

That same night, I got to work and finished the lyrics for a portion of the song, and I changed the song’s name to “Fei Xiang” (”Flying”). Even without having slept a wink, I was completely wired the next day. I called the producer and asked him to put down what he was working on to help me produce this song. I then contacted former Lingdian lead singer Zhou Xiao’ou, whom I thought would be the ideal person to perform the song. As he had just left his band for a solo career, I knew that he would be extremely careful about choosing his first solo song. I was prepared for rejection

It must have just been meant to be, though. I later found out that before “Fei Xiang,” Xiao’ou had screened hundreds of songs trying to find the right tune for his first solo single, but nothing had appealed to him. Then, on March 8, at 3 a.m., he heard “Flying” and said, OK! It was meant to bet. An Olympic destiny! From then on, all that was left to do was to “rush.” We nervously rushed, exhaustedly rushed, excitedly rushed. It was an enjoyable rush. And finally, on March 10 at 5 p.m., we delivered our song to the BOCOG song search office.

Right now, my state of mind is just as my song describes. I feel the radiance of the torch, as it lights up ever corner of the earth and warms every heart that is passionate about the Olympics and peace. Because of the Olympics, mankind has equality; because of the Olympics, we can be closer.

My collection of well-wishes from well-known individuals

My name is Chen Jianfeng. I am 34. Eight years ago, I was just a clerk at Huangpu People’s Hospital in Zhongshan ,Guangdong. But now, after eight years of effort, I have successfully collected more than 100 signed notes and photos from world leaders, including Kofi Annan, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jacques Rogge, Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair, to name just a few. The Olympics have connected me with people whom I see only on TV and in newspapers.

As for my Olympic story, it can be traced back to National Day in 1999. I was looking through newspapers and came across the news that Beijing was going to bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. This got me excited but also worried – what were the odds of China succeeding in their bid? I thought Samaranch, then president of the IOC, would be the only person who could answer my question. So, I wrote a simple letter to him on National Day in 1999. His reply was completely unexpected. In his letter, he said, “No country can get anything done without peace.” This left a deep impression on me.

So I got the idea to write to heads of state in the world. But writing a letter, which seems simple, was a hard job for me. In order to get their replies, I spent a whole year preparing. Letters going to different places needed to be written in different languages. This was difficult because my foreign language ability is poor. I had to find new words in dictionaries while writing the letters. I’d ask my friends to correct and edit each draft. Finally, I asked English teachers and colleagues, as well as those who knew Russian, for a final read. Each letter went through five revisions before being sent.

A letter from IOC President Jacques Rogge

But the most difficult part was not the language. The most difficult part was respecting the customs and taboos of every country. I thought that violating a taboo might create trouble and also prevent me from receiving a reply. Also, everyone has their own likes and dislikes. So, as part of my careful preparations, I read the biography of each head of state and looked online for relevant information about each country. I discovered that French President Chirac did not like soft and romantic style writing, so I went out of my way to include a quote by Dufu, a famous Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, “The influential lead an extravagant life while the poor starved to death.”

On January 1,2001, I anxiously mailed 40 personal letters, with Beijing Olympic postal cards in them, that shared the theme: Call for world peace and support for Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. In the letters I made it very clear that I hoped leader who received the card would reply with their good wishes for the Beijing Olympic Games and a signed photo.

Against all expectations, the process was a success. By early November, each letter got a reply. Despite the numerous affairs that the leaders had to deal with each day, they still wrote me back, or asked their secretaries to reply. And most of them sent me their autographs or photos.

What impressed me most was the reply from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.His secretary said in the reply” Mr. Chen, do you know he is the busiest person in the world?” And yet, I received a signed photo from Annan every year until he completed his term as Secretary-General. And what touched me most is that each photo was different.

The process was not without mistakes. A reply to my request for the autograph of the queen of one European country told me that it was impolite to ask for the queen’s autograph. Another letter said the same for a different leader. I wasn’t aware of this; I didn’t receive any more letters or photos from them.

An enthusiastic response from former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch

When I was younger, I used to like disco and the internet. But now I’ve said goodbye to those hobbies, and I write letters. Several years ago, a Taiwanese businessman offered me 150,000 yuan to buy my collection. But I declined. I started donating parts of my collection to the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games in the hope that the replies and photos can pass along Olympic spirit and contribute to the Games.

Last Friday, I received a signed reply and photo from the Portuguese president. Overjoyed by this, I’ve decided to collect more Olympic wishes and inscriptions, which I am ready to donate to the 2008 Olympic games at any time.

These people all support our Beijing Olympic Games.

These drumsticks used by the Greek priestess during the Torch Lighting Ceremony are the latest additions to my collection.

My name is Zhao Xiaokai. I’m 46. I used to work in the organization department of Kaihua County, Zhejiang, in southeastern China. In 1993 I left my job and relocated to Beihai (in Guangxi province) to start a business. Ten years later I began collecting Olympic and sports memorabilia. By now I have collected more than 400 items. Looking back over the past five years, I am extremely proud of three things I’ve done: First, I’ve acquired three “Olympic treasures”; second, I organized a tree-planting activity this year in Olympia, Greece, where Chinese volunteers will plant 2,008 olive trees by the end of the year; and third, I’ve invited the Greek High Priestess from the Torch Lighting Ceremony for a visit to China, a project that I’m currently coordinating.

In the spring of 2003, when I was taking an elective course in cultural studies at Peking University, a lecture by collector Ma Weidu on traditional Chinese culture opened the door for me to collecting things and even taught me about China’s Olympic history.

Now, many people see me as the first Olympic collector in China. But in fact, I only did a little something for sports memorabilia collecting in China.

In terms of my fortunate connection with three “Olympic treasures” and the Beijing Olympic Games, I have Mr. Ma to thank.

I remember that shortly after the lecture, I came across an Internet posting by a collector named Zhao Hui, who had a collection of more than 200 sports memorabilia items that he hoped to sell to another avid collector because of financial difficulties. At the time, aside from keen interest in a part of his collection, I also felt a sense of social responsibility. Later, I met Mr. Zhao and we reached an agreement.

When it came time for me to pick up the items, Mr Zhao seemed unwilling to part with his beloved friends and kept telling me to take good care of them. In the five years that have since passed, I have collected more than 400 sports memorabilia items, half of which are rather rare. I love my three “Olympic treasures” best. They include a manuscript by athlete Liu Changchun, the first Chinese to ever take part in the Olympic Games (in 1932); the medicine chest of the Chinese delegation to the 1936 Olympic Games; and a pennant of the Chinese basketball team in the 1948 Olympic Games. Before Liberation, China only took part in these three Games, and as few people took part in them, few memorabilia items remain. To obtain memorabilia related to the Chinese delegations to these three editions of the Games is a dream for many Olympic collectors.

Of the three treasures the most precious one is the medicine chest, which I acquired first. Early in 2006, a reporter told me that a professor at Zhejiang University owned a medicine chest used by the Chinese delegation to the 1936 Olympic Games. The original owner of the chest, Shu Hong, passed away in the 1970s but the chest remained with his son, Shu Changrong. I soon contacted Mr. Shu and flew to Zhejiang to meet him. Mr. Shu was in his advanced years at the time, and I learned that Zhejiang University also hoped to acquire the medicine chest. But in the end, I got the chest. It was still in good condition and there were even 24 bottles of medicine in it.

Back in Beijing, the first time I showed the medicine chest to the public, someone offered 500,000 yuan for it. An IOC official also expressed interest in it and gave me an offer. But I declined both offers because the chest had immeasurable significance. It holds almost 100 years of China’s Olympic dreams.

It was purely accidental that I acquired the pennant of the Chinese delegation to the 1948 Olympic Games. Two years ago, I happened upon a pennant in a pile of trash at a disposal station. The pennant read ”Chinese delegation to the World Sports Games,” the former name of the Olympic Games. It was confirmed later that a local organization in Fujian province had presented the pennant to the Chinese basketball team on its way to Singapore, where the team played to raise money to cover their travel expenses to the 1948 Olympic Games. On the aged pennant “wei zai” (for the impoverished) had worn off. But “fight for the glory, plead for the common” were still barely visible. It is a living testimony to China’s tortuous Olympic journey.

As for the manuscript by athlete Liu Changchun, it was my perseverance that helped me acquire it. Two years ago, I had garnered some attention from the media and individuals because of my collections. Among the individuals was Mr. Gu Bingfu, curator of the China Sports Museum. One day, at an Olympic exhibition, Mr. Gu invited me to visit him at his home some time. He told me that he was touched by my energy and that he had something special to give me. And that’s how the manuscript became a part of my collection.

While my collection of old memorabilia is complete, memorabilia related to the Beijing Olympic Games are also very important. After all, it the first time our country will stage the Olympic Games.

Before the torch lighting ceremony, I had already set my sights on acquiring the first torch, the tool for lighting the flame and the costume worn by the High Priestess. When I arrived in Olympia, however, I discovered that everything related to the Olympic Games would be highly protected as artifacts. I abandoned my original goals, but I couldn’t let my self come back barehanded. So, after the torch lighting ceremony, I rushed to the side of one of the priestesses and explained my intentions to her. She was moved by my explanation and arranged to get me a set of drumsticks used in the ceremony.

Now, apart from collecting things, I have a major project in the works: I’m doing all that I can to bring Greek High Priestess Maria Nafpliotou to China for a visit. If all goes well, she will not only meet the people of Beijing in June, but she will also attend the opening ceremony on August 8. I think that would have very special significance for the Being Olympic Games.

Celebrations abound as everybody anticipates the arrival of the Olympic Games, which are just 100 days away.

From now through August 6, we will feature a different story every day that tells us about unique Olympic experiences. If you’d like to read an Olympic story, click on the Fuwa to the right to view selected stories.

Do you have an Olympic story to tell? Submit your story using the button below. You can submit stories until August 6. The authors of the 100 selected stories will receive a special certificate and commemorative Olympic souvenir. In addition, the selected stories will be compiled into an anthology that will become a part of the Olympic Museum collection as a cultural legacy of the Beijing Olympic Games.

This photo shows a mother explaining Olympic history to her young son in front of the Olympic milestone set up at the crossroads of Qingdao’s Shandong Avenue and Anshan Avenue.

According to reports, the very recently completed milestone displays Olympic history on individual squares of stone, also showcasing each Olympic Games’ mascots and posters.

(BEIJING, May 8) – Patent submissions in the Chinese capital increased to 31,680 in 2007, breaking the 30,000-mark for the first time, the chief of the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office, Liu Zhengang, said on Thursday.

The performance was up 19.3 percent over 2006 and included 18,763 patent submissions for inventions, which accounted for 59.2 percent of the total and ranked Beijing first across the nation. There were also 51,383 trademark submissions, of which 14,893 were approved. Of these, 295 were for famous trademarks citywide; 99 were for Beijing brand names; and 61 were for national brand names.

Liu was joined at the press conference by officials from municipal agencies in charge of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, including the Municipal Copyright Bureau, the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, the Municipal High People’s Court and the Beijing Custom house.

Other areas indicating progress were the publishing, where authors registered copyrights for 110,593 works, and software, where 3,334 copyrights were registered, making Beijing number one in these areas.

Beijing also registered copyrights for the design of the medals, ticketing symbols, torch design, and torch relay slogan for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and pictograms of the Paralympic Games, Liu added.

The city’s industrial and commercial authorities have taken special measures to protect the exclusive rights of the Olympic symbols, investigated and treated 95 infringement cases and confiscated a total of 1.03 million yuan in infringement earnings. Law-enforcement units have targeted 30 key streets and 38 spots to crack down on fake products.

Beijing and the Olympic co-host cities have signed agreements to jointly carry out law-enforcement in this regard. Beijing and BOCOG have made joint efforts to reward people who report offences.

The city will continue to communicate with and educate the public as well as cooperate with the media to boost IPR protection, Liu said.

(BEIJING, May 8) – Atos Origin, worldwide Olympic partner for the Beijing Olympics, and the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) Technology Department announced on the 100-day countdown to the Olympics that the first technology rehearsal for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad has been completed.

The test showed that technological staff, systems and procedures are in place for the Olympic Games, which will be held August 8-24, 2008.

The three-day rehearsal tested more than 100 projects and involved IT systems and communications, information security and media operations. More than 600 people from BOCOG, Atos Origin, Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co. Ltd. and the official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, took part in the drill.

The rehearsal simulated the three busiest days of the Olympics and tested the staff’s understanding of operation procedures for 30 Olympic sports and disciplines. It also assessed communication within Games-time staff and with major clients and related organizations.

The second and final rehearsal in June will address any remaining problems and ensure that everything is ready for the Olympic Games.

Under the largest information technology contract in the history of international sports, Atos Origin has been put in charge of information technology consultation, system integrity, operation management, information security and Olympic software development for six editions of the Olympic Games from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games to the 2012 London Games.

(BEIJING, April 13) — Quite possibly the most talked-about torchbearer at the moment is a young, slender Chinese woman who used her own body to protect the sacred flame during its journey in Paris.

Jin Jing, a 27-year-old Paralympic athlete, was lunged at while she carried the Olympic torch along its route in France. Without hesitation, she guarded the flame with great valor, making her a heroine in many people’s eyes.

After her hectic journey, Jin faced a chaotic scene upon her arrival back in Shanghai on April 13. Reporters and fans alike all wanted a look at and a word with the “smiling angel in a wheelchair.” When asked about her actions in the French capital, Jin modestly answered, “I just did what any torchbearer would do.”

When Jin was nine, doctors found a malignant tumor in her right ankle, which led to the amputation of part of her leg. She later returned to school after a year of chemotherapy. Jin successfully battled her cancer and became a member of the Shanghai Wheelchair Fencing Team in 2001.

Behind Jin stands a loving and supportive mother, Liu Huayao, who was present at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport to receive her daughter. Amidst the excited throngs of admirers who also waited anxiously to welcome the shining star, the duo spoke to each other using the most efficient means of communication: eye contact.

A torchbearer runs with the torch during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, on May 8, 2008.

Though the Olympic torch has gone through the most adverse weather conditions on Mount Qomolangma, its flame is burning bright thanks to China’s rocket science.”Even on a benign weather day, a gale might be blown on Mt. Qomolangma. Bright sunshine one moment can quickly turn into a pour of hailstones the next,” said Zhang Ming, head of the Beijing Organizing Committee’s torch relay center.

“The lack of oxygen and low temperature is the main hindrance to keep the Olympic flame from burning on the mountain, so the torch must be able to burn under such circumstances,” she added.

In January 2006, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, an institute that specializes in designing burning systems for rockets, was entrusted with the task of designing the combustion system for Beijing’s Olympic torch.

Liu Xingzhou, the chief engineer for the designing project, said the same principle was adopted to keep the torch flame flaring on Mt. Qomolangma as much as to keep rocket motors flaring in thin air.

“We installed a pressure-retaining valve in the torch, which enables the flame to withstand winds of up to 65 kilometers an hour, nearly 6 centimeters of rain an hour, and temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius,” said Liu.

For a change, the flame is fueled entirely by propane, which marks a departure from its predecessors.

While the 2000 Sydney Olympics’ torch burned a propane-butane mix, Athens’s torch in 2004 was run on propylene and butane, which produced a bit more soot but increased the flame’s brightness.

“No material, except carbon dioxide and water remain after the burning, eliminating any risk of pollution,” said Liu.

The fuel system used to light up the Olympic torch is gradually moving towards the system used to fire up rockets, added Liu.

Comparing modern Olympic torch technology with rocket design, Liu said, “Both areas are very complicated. And they require technology of combustion, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, aerodynamics, materials science and manufacturing.”

“We feel proud that the Olympic torch for the 2008 Olympics can have a ‘heart’ which is developed by Chinese scientists,” he added.