China Kicks Off 1 Year Olympic Countdown

Sprawling Tiananmen Square was the center of celebrations Wednesday as the countdown to the Beijing Games reached the one-year mark, an event China's communist government hopes will showcase the country's rising clout on the world stage.

But political and environmental challenges remain and have been underscored by recent reports from human rights groups and the head of the International Olympic Committee, who on Wednesday said air pollution could delay some of the games' events.

Eight is a lucky number in China, so the magic moment was to come at 8:08 p.m. — and 8 seconds — marking one year until next year's opening ceremony on Aug. 8, 2008.

Everything seems on schedule for Beijing to host the most expensive Olympics in history. Beijing's new anthem — the just-released pop song "We're Ready" — was to be part of a grandiose two-hour ceremony played out on a temporary stage under banks of searchlights.

"From what we have seen so far, the preparations for Beijing 2008 are truly impressive in every regard," said International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, who is in Beijing this week meeting students, planting trees and greeting Olympic sponsors.

"I don't think we have ever seen preparations on this scale."

But Rogge, normally cautious with his words, warned hours before Wednesday's big party that some events next year could be postponed if the air is too dirty.

"Yes, this is an option," Rogge told CNN in a brief interview. "It would not be necessary for all sports, sports with short durations would not be a problem. But definitely the endurance sports like the cycling race where you have to compete for six hours, these are examples of competitions that might be postponed or delayed to another day."

Wang Junyan, director of Beijing Olympics cycling events, said race schedules had already been decided and that it would be difficult to make any changes. "Rogge's comment reminds us that we have to work harder to fix environmental problems," she said.

Despite billions spent to move refineries and steel mills out of town, Beijing has been blanketed for weeks by choking industrial smog, limiting visibility to a few hundred yards.

To guarantee clean air during the 17-day Olympics, about 1 million of the city's 3.3 million vehicles are expected to be kept off the roads. Officials are also hoping to control the weather. Meteorologists began tests last month, firing rockets to disperse rain clouds — a move to guarantee sunshine. They've also fired rockets containing sticks of silver iodide to induce rain to clean the air.

"They've told us the factories will be closed for three months in 2008 and that they will have a directive to encourage residents to stay off the roads with their cars," said Steven Roush, chief of sport performance for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Like other national Olympics bodies, the USOC is monitoring the quality of Beijing's air, laden with ozone, dust and exhaust from some aging vehicles.

Image is important with 550,000 foreign visitors and about 22,000 accredited media set to attend. In addition, up to 10,000 non-accredited journalists are expected.

Old habits like spitting in public, jumping ahead in line and littering are under siege in various campaigns aimed at improving the behavior of China's citizens. Everyone — from taxi drivers to Olympic volunteers — is being pressured to learn some English.

Chinese officials are also warning citizens to be good sports.

"It is natural for the Chinese people to hope and wish for good performances since China is the host country," said Wang Wei, an executive vice president of the Beijing organizing committee. "I also want to tell the Chinese spectators that while we can be a winner, we should also be a polite loser."

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »

[rushlimpdrug]

Not one person smiling in the picture.
workee, workee, workee . . .
all workee no play makes you chineeze.

[kayannl]

With all their environmental issues, I'd be afraid of picking up a cancer or weird disease going to the Olympics in China. I think this will be a good TV Olympics. I really feel sorry for the athletes.