3,500 Chinese Babies Named “Olympics”

There has been a lot of crazy stuff going on in China in anticipation for the 2008 Olympics. None quite so strange as this story.

Nearly 3,500 children, since the year 2000, have been named after the 2008 Olympics.

3,500 were named “Aoyun”, meaning Olympics, in 2000 when the bid first came up to have the Olympics in China.

Additionally, more than 4,000 people have been named after the “Five Friendlies.” The Five Friendlies are 5 different animated characters that play in Chinese Olympics commercials.

The names are Bei Bei (880 people), Jing Jing (1,240), Huan Huan (1,063), Ying Ying (624) and Ni Ni (642). When put together, the phrase translates to “Beijing welcomes you!”

Five Friendlies Commercial:

(AP)

Car pulling and Egg walking Beijing Olympics 2008

A man from Changchun, Jilin Province, pulled a 3-ton-car with his belly in an attempt to set a Guinness world record.

Zhang Xingquan, 40, pulled the car with a rope around his waist for more than 10 meters on January 4 on a TV program broadcast by China Central Television in Beijing. The feat is being submitted to Guinness World Records, which is based in London.

He said he would pull a car with his ears for 100 meters while walking on eggs without breaking them during the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Zhang Xingquan pulls a 24-ton-train with his ear in this picture taken on June 1, 2005.

Lenovo-Designed Olympic Torch for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Unveiled by Beijing Organizing Committee

BEIJING, April 26, 2007 – Today the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) in the presence of the International Olympic Committee, unveiled the Lenovo-designed Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch and announced Lenovo’s role as a Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Torch Relay. Lenovo's design, the "Cloud of Promise," was chosen over 300 competitor themes and will be carried by torchbearers around the world in the Olympic Torch Relay preceding the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Since its inception in 1936, the Olympic torch has come to represent the history and culture of its host country and city. Lenovo's unique approach for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch incorporates a sleek and modern design with historical Chinese symbolism. The primary theme of the torch’s artwork is clouds, which are intimately associated with Chinese culture, and are often represented in works of Chinese architecture, drawing and painting, furniture and story-telling.

"As a global company with roots in China and a TOP (worldwide) Sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, it is an honor to have our torch design chosen for the Olympic Torch Relay," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo. "Lenovo's spirit, similar to that of the Olympic Games themselves, is multicultural, collaborative and competitive. As a TOP Sponsor of the Olympic Games and Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Torch Relay, Lenovo has a deep understanding of the significance of the torch to the Olympic movement. The Lenovo design team brought great passion and strong professional capability and experience to create the "Cloud of Promise" themed torch, which marries modern technology and Olympic spirit with the Chinese traditional culture. We are proud for people to carry this torch around the world."

Beijing Olympic Broadcasters to Use New Technology

New technologies will be used in the broadcasting of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with broadcasters able to produce high definition signals for the Games, Manolo Romero, general manager of the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co, Ltd (BOB), said on Friday.
“In every Games, new technology is used, because today technology is going much faster than 20

Beijing Nightlife and Beijing Entertainmen

Nightlife was unknown to many people in Beijing 20 years ago, and the word wasn't even used. But nowadays it is very common, especially for young people, to go out in the evenings and spend their time at cinemas, theatres, nightclubs, song and dance halls, Karaoke clubs, restaurants or bars.

Compared to people in south of China, Beijing people are more conservative. Most of them, married people in particular, like to stay at home watching TV or chatting with friends, which is why the streets are quite deserted after nine o'clock at night, when most of the stores are closed. Don't despair, you can always find places to spend your evenings if you are not tired after the day's sightseeing. Almost every four-or five-star hotel has facilities for entertainment. Besides hotels, nightlife venues are mostly in the city center. You can see the Peking Opera, acrobatics, dramas, local ballad singing, song and dance performances, or attend a music concert, or drop in at a roadside disco. It's best to stick to places that have been recommended by other tourists or Chinese friends.

Now, the city has witnessed a mushrooming of foreign theme pubs, new exotic bars and locally run clubs. Foreign pubs, bars, cafes and disco clubs attract foreign residents and tourists as well as young Chinese. The admission fee is usually about 50-80 yuan and beer is 15-20 yuan.

Beijing Spa Tours Guide in Beijing 2008

Beijing Spa Tours

Looking for a Beijing spa tour or Beijing Hot-spring tour to relax yourself from the strain of life? On this page you will find two Beijing spa tours coupled with the climbing of the Great Wall. You know, Beijing is rich in hotsprings. Most of hotsprings well up from 1000 meters underground, and the temperature of the water stays around 40℃. The hotsprings contain such microelement as Strontium, lithium, metasilicic acid, etc. The water of the hotsprings is clear and limpidity. The unstable microelement in the water can form a kind of pellicle on the skin. It has an outstanding effect on skin disease, pigment deposition, splash, arthritis, gastritis, and neurasthenic. We recommend some famous spa resorts for you mixed with interesting tours. If you find the Beijing spa tours and Beijing hot-spring tours on this page not what you expect, you may contact our Beijing China trip advisors to organize for you the customized Beijing spa tours and Beijing hot-spring tours.
Pick up at your hotel at 8:00am. Transfer to Badaling Great Wall. The Badaling section of Great Wall is about 3, 740 meters long and averagely 8 meters high. The highest section is 15 meters high. The wall is wide enough for five horses to ride abreast. Badaling was the earliest part open to the visitors among all the sections of the Great Wall in Beijing. After lunch, drive to Jiuhua Spa Resort for 1-2 hours' spa bathing. The Jiuhua spa is rich in microelement.The water of the hotspring is clear and limpid. Its quality reaches the national standard of table-water. The unstable microelement in the water will form something of pellicle on the skin. It has a good effect on curing skin disease, pigment deposition, The Jiuhua hotspring comes from 1230 meters underground, and the temperature of the hot-spring keeps around 40. After relaxation, drive back to your hotel downtown.
Tour Cost：
1 person 110 USD / person
2 persons 80 USD / person
3 persons 75 USD / person
4 persons 70 USD / person
5 persons 65 USD / person
6 persons 60 USD / person
7 persons 55 USD / person
8 persons 50 USD / person
9 persons 45 USD / person
10 persons and above 40 USD/person

Beijing's Weather

The climate in Beijing is of the continental type, with cold and dry winters, due to the Siberian air massses that move southward across the Mongolian Plateau. The summers are hot owing to warm and humid monsoon winds from the southeast bringing Beijing most of its annual precipitation. January is the coldest month and July is the warmest. Winter usually begins towards the end of October. The summer months, June to August, are wet and hot with about 40% of the annual precipitation.

• Weather Today

  
  
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• Climate

-		unit	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Temperature		'C 'F	-4.7 23.5	-1.9 28.6	4.8 40.6	13.7 56.6	20.1 68.1	24.8 76.6	26.1 78.9	24.8 76.6	19.9 67.8	12.8 55	3.8 38.8	2.8 37
Precipicution		mm. in.	76 3	76 3	76 3	102 4	152 6	203 8	305 12	254 10	178 7	152 6	102 4	76 3
Today's Weather Report: See Yahoo! Weather

• When to Go

  Summer (June to August) is considered peak season, when hotels typically raise their rates and the Great Wall nearly collapses under the weight of marching tourists. The autumn months between September and November have the best weather and fewer tourists. Spring is less pleasant - not many tourists but lots of wind and dust. In winter, you'll have Beijing to yourself and many hotels offer substantial discounts - just remember it's an ice box outside. Everything is chock-a-block during the Chinese New Year (usually in January or February).

Clothing

In autumn, jeans and a sweater are usually enough. In the warmer months, T-shirts and light pants or shorts are the best bet. In the colder months, it is wise to dress in layers: long underwear and jeans, shirt, sweater and down jacket. If you want to go local, you can buy a thick cotton army coat (jun da yi) for less than 100 yuan (12 bucks). Rain gear is necessary, especially during the summer months