The capital of the People's Republic of China has spent seven years preparing for the 2008 Games, hoping to make them the best yet.
The Emblem
Entitled 'Dancing Beijing', the official logo is a Chinese seal featuring a character 'Jing', which means 'capital'. The open arms of the figure symbolise China welcoming the world to join the Olympics in a celebration of peace and friendship. The red represents life and a new beginning. The words 'Beijing 2008' are styled to evoke the shapes of Chinese characters.
The Slogan
About 210,000 entries worldwide were submitted in the competition to choose a slogan for the Games. 'One World, One Dream' reflects the essence and universal values of
the Olympic spirit - unity, friendship, progress, harmony, participation and dreams. Inspired by Olympic ideals, it expresses the common wish for peace and a bright future.
The Motto
'New Beijing, Great Olympics' encompasses the core concepts of the Beijing Games - green Olympics, high-tech Olympics and people's Olympics.
What's where in Beijing
Located 8km north of the centre of the city and modelled on Sydney's Olympic Park and Athens' OAKA complex, the 1215-hectare Olympic Green will house 10 major competition venues, the athletes' village, the International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre and the media village At the heart of the Olympic Green precinct is the National Stadium, where 91,000 spectators will watch Athletics and Football and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Also there is the National Aquatics Centre (Swimming, Diving and Synchronised Swimming). Other venues in the precinct will host Fencing, Gymnastics, Handball, Modern Pentathlon, Water Polo, Archery, Tennis and Hockey. Located in other districts of Beijing, 21 venues will host Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Cycling, Judo, Rowing, Shooting, Softball, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Taekwondo and Weightlifting and Wrestling. Seven venues are located outside Beijing in six other cities: Equestrian events will be held in Hong Kong, Sailing in Qingdao, and football stadiums in Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin and Qinhuangdao will also play host to competing Olympians. or the Games, 12 venues in Beijing were constructed from scratch, 11 existing venues were improved, and eight temporary venues were erected. Australian companies have played a big part in the design and construction of the venues. Sydney architects PTW designed the unique swimming venue known as the Water Cube and also won a design and engineering services contract for the Athletes' Village. Bligh Voller Nield designed the rowing and canoeing venue, Group GSA designed the shooting centre and the Cox Group developed the sailing venues at Qingdao. The estimated total cost of the Games' venues is $1.8 billion.Facts and figures
A mind-boggling numbers game is part and parcel of such a huge undertaking
An estimated 10,500 competitors from 205 nations will take part in 28 sports. Because of an increase in the number of women's teams in Hockey, Handball and Football, the 2008 Games will see an increase of about 80 women. There will be 302 medal events this year, up from 301 in Athens and 300 in Sydney. There are 165 events for men, 127 for women and 10 mixed or open medal events. The first gold medal to be awarded will be in the women's 10m Air Rifle, just before 11am on the opening morning of competition, followed by the Women's 48kg in Weightlifting. The last gold medal will be awarded in Men's Handball, about 6pm on the final day. The busiest day of the Games will be on Sunday, August 17, when 34 gold medals will be decided. There will be 10 new events on the program, including Open Water Swimming and the new cycling discipline of BMX. Nine events have been removed since the last Olympics. More than one million people applied for the 100,000 volunteer positions - about 70,000 for the Olympic Games and 30,000 for the Paralympic Games. That's more than twice the number for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Organisers are expecting 22,000 accredited media to cover the Games. The Olympic village in Beijing, consisting of 20 nine-storey buildings as well as a medical clinic, restaurants, library, gym and sporting facilities, will house 16,000 athletes and officials. There will be services held for five major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. Organisers expect some 260,000 foreigners to visit China for the Games, and
about 2.6 million Chinese people to buy tickets. Out of all the nations participating at the Games, 16 have a population of less than the capacity of the Olympic stadium (91,000). Over the 2008 summer, 600,000 foreign tourists are expected to visit Beijing. Visitors are permitted to bring one pet into China with them. Official timekeeper Omega will have 450 technicians, 1000 volunteers and more than 420 tonnes of timing and scoring equipment installed. 
