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Home History and Culture Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics
Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics
Learn Chinese - History and Culture

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The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing, China from August 8, 2008 through August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony to take place at 08:08pm and 08 seconds on August 8th. The number 8 is associated with prosperity in Chinese culture. Some events, like beach volleyball, sailing, and swimming's new marathon 10km events, will be held in the coastal city of Qingdao.

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX altOlympiad, will be held in Beijing, China from August 8, 2008 through August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony to take place at 08:08pm and 08 seconds on August 8th. The number 8 is associated with prosperity in Chinese culture. Some events, like beach volleyball, sailing, and swimming's new marathon 10km events, will be held in the coastal city of Qingdao.
On July 8 2005, the International Olympic Committee announced that Hong Kong will hold the equestrian events at the site of the Hong Kong Sports Institute in Fo Tan, Sha Tin. The facilities of the Sports Institute may be moved to Wu Kai Sha. This will be the second time the same edition of Olympic Games has been hosted by two National Olympic Committees. (A similar arrangement was in place between Melbourne, Australia, and Stockholm, Sweden, for the 1956 Summer Olympics.)

Emblem, Mascots, and Slogan
altThe 2008 Summer Olympics emblem entitled "Dancing Beijing" was unveiled in August 2003 in a ceremony attended by 2,008 people at Qin Nian Dian (qí nián diàn 祈年殿)—the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing's Temple of Heaven (tiān tán  天坛).
The emblem combines elements of traditional Chinese society—a red seal and a calligraphic word for jing (京) ("national capital") with athletic features. The open arms of the calligraphic word symbolizes the invitation of China to the world to share in its culture. According to the International Olympic Committee, the emblem is the first of the modern Olympics to use red—an important colour for the Chinese people throughout its history—as the dominant colour. However, the emblems for the 1980 Moscow Olympics and 1964 Tokyo Olympics also both feature red very prominently.

IOC president Jacques Rogge delivered an address at the unveiling ceremony saying, "Your new emblem immediately conveys the awesome beauty and power of China which are embodied in your heritage and your people." Rogge continued, "In this emblem, I saw the promise and potential of a New Beijing and a Great Olympics. This is a milestone in the history of your Olympic quest. As this new emblem becomes known around the world—and as it takes its place at the center of your Games—we are confident that it will achieve the stature of one of the best and most meaningful symbols in Olympic history."

The Fuwa (fúwá 福娃) were unveiled as the mascots of the games by the National Society of Chinese Classic Literature Studies on November 11, 2005, at an event marking the 1000th day before the opening of the games.

Fuwa consists of five members: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. The five mascots incorporate fish, giant panda, fire, Tibetan antelope, and swallow designs respectively, and each also represents one of the five Olympic Rings. When the five names are put together, they form a pun on the phrase 北京欢迎你 (Běi jīng huān yíng nǐ) which means "Beijing welcomes you".

On June 26, 2005, The Beijing Olympic Committee announced that the slogan for the 2008 Olympics will be "One World, One Dream." (tóng yí gè shì jiè tóng yí gè mèng xiǎng 同一个世界 同一个梦想)
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Cities for Beijing torch replay
Under the theme of “Journey of Harmony,” the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay started its worldwide journey on April 1, 2008. The sacred flame has so far passed through Almaty in Kazakhstan, Istanbul in Turkey, St. Petersburg in Russia and London in Britain. People along the Torch Relay route have extended the flame a warm welcome and the relay is proceeding altsuccessfully as planned.

All the worl keep their eyes on Beijing Olympic torch replay today. Can you try speaking out the Chinese names of your visiting cities? Here ChineseHour lists all the cities in English, Chinese and Pinin for your reference.

ChineseHour.com is your best place to learn Chinese online, our private teachers can help to practise speaking Chinese anytime, anywhere and on anything!

April 1: Beijing 北京 beijing

April 2: Almaty 阿拉木图 a la mu tu

April 3: Istanbul 伊斯坦布尔 yi si tan bu er

altApril 5: St. Petersburg 圣彼得堡 sheng bi de bao

April 6: London 伦敦 lun dun

April 7: Paris 巴黎 ba li

April 9: San Francisco 旧金山 jiu jin shan

April 11: Buenos Aires 布宜诺斯艾利斯 bu yi nuo si ai li si

April 13: Dar es Salaam 达累斯萨拉姆 da lei si sa la mu

April 14: Muscat 马斯喀特 ma si ke te

April16: Islamabad 伊斯兰堡 yi si lan bao

April 17: New Delhi 新德里 xin de li

April 19: Bangkok 曼谷 man gu

April 21: Kuala Lumpur 吉隆坡 ji long po

April 22: Jakarta 雅加达 ya jia da

April 24: Canberra 堪培拉 kan pei la

April 26: Nagano 长野 chang ye

April 27: Seoul 首尔 shou er

April 28: Pyongyang 平壤 ping rang

April 29: Ho Chi Minh City 胡志明市 hu zhi ming shi

May 2: Hong Kong 香港 xiang gang

May 3: Macao 澳门 ao men
 

 

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