China

Nelson Evora of Portugal wins men's triple jump

2008-08-22T08:08:00.002-07:00

Nelson Evora of Portugal competes during the men's triple jump final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Nelson Evora won the gold with 17.67 metres.

Nelson Evora of Portugal celebrates after the men's triple jump final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Nelson Evora won the gold with 17.67 metres.

Nelson Evora of Portugal celebrates after the men's triple jump final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Nelson Evora won the gold with 17.67 metres.
Portugal's Nelson Evora flew 17.67 meters to win the Olympic men's triple jump gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing on Thursday.

Britain's Phillips took the silver with 17.62 meters and Bahamas' Leevan Sands got the bronze with 17.59.

Canadian Lamaze wins jumping individual gold

2008-08-22T08:08:00.001-07:00

Canadian rider Eric Lamaze jumps his horse Hickstead over an obstacle during the individual jumping final of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games equestrian events in Hong Kong, China, Aug. 21, 2008.

Canadian rider Eric Lamaze waves to spectators during the victory ceremony of individual jumping final of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games equestrian events in Hong Kong, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Eric Lamaze won the gold medal of the event with total penalty of 0 and penalty of 0 in jump-off.

U.S. rider Mclain Ward riding on horse Sapphire kicks off the obstacle during jump-off of the individual jumping final of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games equestrian events in Hong Kong, China, Aug21, 2008. Mclain Ward missed a good chance to win bronze medal after his horse kicked off the last obstacle during jump-off for the bronze medal.
Eric Lamaze of Canada, riding HICKSTEAD, won the Individual Jumping gold, holding off a strong challenge from Rolf-Goran Bengtsson of Sweden and his horse NINJA in the last Equestrian event of the Beijing Olympic Games at the Shatin Equestrian Venue on Thursday night.

In the final Round B, Eric Lamaze and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson were tied for first place on zero penalties. They were forced into a jump-off to decide the winner of the Individual Jumping.

Eric Lamaze finished on zero penalties while Rolf-Goran Bengtsson ended on 4 penalties in the jump-off showdown.

Beezie Madden of the United States, riding AUTHENTIC, came third and claimed the bronze medal.

In an interview with reporters after winning the gold, Eric Lamaze said "It will take a while for it to sink in. It's a dream come true. I love Hong Kong. I am going to cheer with friends, and thank everybody."

On winning a silver medal, Swedish rider Bengtsson said "I am very happy with second place.

Bronze medal holder, Beezie Madden said "I'm extremely happy. Our goal was to do well and to defend our gold medal from Athens, which we did as a team."

"I said I would love to have an individual medal, and I got it. Bronze is good," Madden added.

There are a total of six Olympic equestrian gold medals. During the 11-day competitions here, Germans have won three gold medals --Team Eventing, Individual Eventing and Team Dressage.

Defending gold medallist the United States won the Olympic Equestrian Jumping Team gold medal.

Netherlands's Anky van Grunsven won the Olympic Dressage Individual gold.

Eric Lamaze of Canada won the Individual Jumping gold.

Alex Schwazer claims first athletics gold medal for Italy

2008-08-22T08:07:00.006-07:00

Italy's Alex Schwazer crosses the finish line during men's 50km walk final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. Alex Schwazer won the title and set a new Olympic record.
Italian Alex Schwazer won his country's first athletics gold medal at the Beijing Olympics by claiming the men's 50km walk title in Beijing on Friday.

Schwazer timed three hours, 37 minutes and 09 seconds to finish the walking marathon in a new Olympic record. The former record of 3:38:29 was held by Ivanenko Vyacheslav of Soviet Union at Seoul 20 years ago.

Australian Jared Tallent moved a step forward from his bronze medal at men's 50km walk to take the silver medal with 3:39:27, he placed third at men's 50km walk last Saturday.

Denis Nizhegorodov of Russia finished third at 3:40:14.

The 24-year-old Schwazer, bronze medalist at 2007 World Championship at Osaka, Japan, took an early lead from the start and never lost contention in the leading group, he launched the final sprint in the last 5km and rallied to cross the line without any resistance.

Athletes competes during men's 50km walk at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008.

Germany's Andre Hohne falls down during men's 50km walk at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008.

Russia's Denis Nizhegorodov competes during men's 50km walk outside the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008.

China's Li Jianbo competes with Russia's Denis Nizhegorodov during men's 50km walk at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008.
Source:Xinhua

U.S. duo Dalhausser/Rogers win beach volleyball gold

2008-08-22T08:07:00.005-07:00

Todd Rogers of the United States spikes the ball over Fabio Magalhaes of Brazil during the beach volleyball gold medal match at the Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. Philip Dalhausser/Todd Rogers of the United States defeated Marcio Araujo/Fabio Magalhaes of Brazil and grabbed the gold medal of the event.
Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States defeated Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz Magalhaes of Brazil in the men's beach volleyball final at the Beijing Olympics on Friday.

The Americans won 2-1 with the three sets going 23-21, 17-21 and 15-4 in their favor. And the Brazilian duo claimed the silver medals.

The Americans trailed 1-6 as the first set began but were able to catch up for a 10-all tie. The two teams then traded points to 19-19 before a spike by Rogers sent the U.S. team to set point and the Americans led to end the first set 23-21.

In the second set, the two teams traded points to 15-15 before the Brazilian pair outscored and got the set point 20-16 and finishing the set 21-17.

Philip Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States celebrate after the beach volleyball gold medal match at the Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008.

The efficiency of the 2.06-meter Dalhausser at the net left the Brazilians almost no resistance in the third set and increased the scores of the U.S. duo steadily set as the Americans claimed the decider 15-4.

"It's the best feeling , I can't believe it," said Dalhausser after the match.

"We were prepared for a three-set match," he said on the setback of the second set.

Dalhausser and Rogers, the 2007 world champions, have been widely considered to be gold favorites.

Dalhausser was FIVB World Tour best blocker in 2006 and 2007 and best hitter in 2007 while his partner Rogers was best FIVB World Tour defensive player in 2006 and 2007. They were also placed first on the Olympic qualification ranking.

In the bronze medal match earlier Friday, Brazil's Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos defeated Gerogian pair Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro in straight sets to win the bronze medals.
Silver medalists Fabio Magalhaes/Marcio Araujo of Brazil, gold medalists Philip Dalhausser/Todd Rogers of the United States and bronze medalists Ricardo Santos/Emanuel Rego of Brazil pose on the podium during awarding ceremony of men's beach volleyball at the Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008.

Olympic souvenir stores see sales boom as team China collects gold

2008-08-22T08:07:00.003-07:00

A man looks at commemorative coins of "fuwa", mascots of Beijing Olympic Games in a shop in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, Aug. 12, 2008. The Olympic souvenirs sell briskly in Taiyuan as the event goes on.
As the Chinese Olympic team's gold rush slows, the Games souvenir stores are seeing a boom of their own.

Stores around Beijing reported total sales of close to 2.3 billion yuan during the first seven months this year, and have generated over 212 million yuan of taxes, according to the Beijing Youth Daily quoting data from the city's local taxation bureau.

"Sales have grown from the 40,000 yuan a day when our store first opened late in July, to 1 million yuan right before the Games, and to 2 million over the past few days," said a woman manager surnamed Pang at the souvenir store in the Olympic Village.

A mother and her child buy Olympic souvenirs in a shop in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, Aug. 12, 2008. The Olympic souvenirs sell briskly in Taiyuan as the event goes on.

The Fuwa mascots are the biggest catch, with 4,000 sold to athletes, officials and journalists every day, accounting for more than 20 percent of the total sales, said Pang.

Tee-shirts, badges and stationery bearing Olympic symbols are also popular, said Pang, adding that each customer was spending at least 4,000 yuan these days in a single purchase.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Flagship Shop, the city's largest souvenir store at its main shopping area Wangfujing Street, has received 70,000 to 80,000 customers a day since the Olympics opened on Aug. 8, and is already planning to expand its hours by two hours each day to cope with the crowds.

Daily sales volume hit 5 million yuan, a 20 to 30-percent rise from before the Olympics, store staff told Xinhua.

The 1,000-square-meter store offers items ranging from commemorative coins, sunglasses, models of the venues like the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, to commemorative vases priced at 49,800 yuan.

"You wear something, you get a little something. They'll say 'Where did you get that?' You say, 'Well, I went to China. Had a great time'," said Albert Clarke from the United States as he picking eight tee-shirts for himself.

Sales of Olympic souvenirs would end at all 6,300 souvenir stores around China by March next year, according to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad .

Source:Xinhua

China's Zhang, Wang to fight for women's singles gold in Olympic table tennis

2008-08-22T08:07:00.001-07:00

China's table tennis veteran Wang Nan beat her higher-ranked teammate Guo Yue 4-2 in the Olympic women's singles competition in Beijing on Friday, setting up an all-Chinese final with defending gold medalist Zhang Yining.

Wang Nan of China reacts while competing with Guo Yue of China during the women's singles semifinal at Beijing Olympic Games table tennis event in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. Wang Nan won the match 4-2.
Wang, known as the "Big Sister" in the national team, fought off world champion Guo 3-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7, 11-3 and 11-6 in the semifinal, though the 30-year-old had never beaten Guo in the last two years except in the 2007 Japan Open.

Wang said earlier this year that an Olympic appearance at home and even a gold medal would be the perfect way to wrap up her career. She is the sport's most decorated player, with more than 20 world titles.

After winning her fourth Olympic gold five days ago in the team event, the Grand Slam veteran showed no signs of slowing down in her drive for another medal in the singles. Her fans cheered her on and her husband watched her play from the stands.

Wang told the reporters:"I was in control of the whole match and Guo was not calm enough when the match was tied at 2-2."

"I experienced ups and downs in my career, but I rose to every challenge and held out till today. I'm very satisfied about reaching the final," she said.

Guo said that "I was prepared for possible difficulties and played well in the first four games. But I lost for the lack of experience."

Zhang Yining of China celebrates after defeating Li Jia Wei of Singapore during the women's singles semifinal at Beijing Olympic Games table tennis event in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. Zhang Yining won the match 4-1.
Earlier in the day, world number one Zhang Yining also stormed into the final, beating former schoolmate Li Jia Wei of Singapore 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 and 11-5.

"I think Li fought really hard today. She has participated in three Olympic Games, so she is actually more experienced than me in international competitions," Zhang said.

"But I knew I would win once I got over the first game," she said. "The final won't be easy because teammates know each other very well."

Li believed she played very well, adding:"It's an achievement for me to finish in the top four while the other three are all Chinese players."

Both Zhang and Li were born in Beijing in 1981. They attended the same school in the Chinese capital between 1986-96.

Li went to Singapore in 1996 under the foreign recruitment scheme of the Singapore Table Tennis Association, and gained Singaporean citizenship in 1999.

Li will meet Guo in the bronze medal contest later on Friday.

Source:Xinhua

Vajda of Hungary wins men's canoe single (C1) 1,000m gold

2008-08-22T08:06:00.002-07:00

Attila Sandor Vajda of Hungary crosses the finish line in the Canoe single 1000m men final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Canoe/Kayak Flatwater event in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. Attlia Sandor Vajda clinched the gold medal in this event with a time of 3:50.467.
-- Attila Sandor Vajda of Hungary came from behind to win the gold medal in the Olympic canoe flatwater men's single 1,000 meters in the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on Friday.

Vajda won comfortably in 3 minutes, 50.467 seconds, ahead of defending Olympic champion David Cal of Spain who took silver in 3:52.751. Thomas Hall of Canada, who won two pre-Games World Cups, took bronze in 3:53.653.

The 25-year-old Hungarian, bronze medalist in Athens and reigning world champion, were in sixth place by the 500 meters. But a late charge made him lead by the 750 meters and he hold on to the lead by the finish line.

Vadim Menkov of Uzbekistan led by the 500 meters, but finished in fourth place.

Andreas Dittmer of Germany, silver medalist in Athens, came in a disappointing eighth. The German won the C1 500m gold in Athens and also took the C2 1,000m title in Atlanta and the C1 1,000m title in Sydney.

Attila Sandor Vajda of Hungary competes in the Canoe single 1000m men final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Canoe/Kayak Flatwater event in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. Attlia Sandor Vajda clinched the gold medal in this event with a time of 3:50.467.
Source:Xinhua

OMG, USA drop baton during women's 4x100m

2008-08-22T08:06:00.001-07:00

Torri Edwards reacts as her teammate Lauryn Williams lost the baton during the women's 4x100m realay first round at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.

Torri Edwards reacts as her teammate Lauryn Williams lost the baton during the women's 4x100m realay first round at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.

Lauryn Williams of the United States competes again with the lost baton during the women's 4x100m realay first round at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.
Source: Xinhua

U.S. sweeps men's 400m Olympic medals

2008-08-22T08:05:00.005-07:00

LaShawn Merritt, gold winner
The United States started on Thursday evening to show its muscles seven days into the track and field competition at the Beijing Olympic Games, sweeping the medals in the men's 400m race.

World championship silver medalist LaShawn Merritt, with his personal best of 43.75-second Olympic run, toppled the reigning Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner, who had occupied the top place in the lap running for a few years.

Wariner, who particularly chose a pair of shiny silver track shoes in hope for his second Olympic title, used up his energy in final strides and finished in 44.74 seconds, the second place.

David Neville clocked 44.80 seconds and secured Team U.S.A. the bronze.

This has been the seventh time that American athletes won the men's 400m gold consecutively at the Olympics.

Source: Xinhua

Defending champs China sent packing by Brazil in Olympic women's volleyball tournament

2008-08-22T08:05:00.003-07:00

Zhou Suhong of China spikes the ball during women's volleyball semifinal match between China and Brazil at Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Brazil beat China 3-0.

A ruthless Brazilian team humiliated defending champions China with a 3-0 demolition in the semifinals of the Beijing Olympic women's volleyball tournament on Thursday.

The world number one team will meet the United States in the final on Saturday.

The Chinese were in form quickly, with spiker Li Juan and Zhou Suhong scoring early points to move the Chinese team 3-0 up in the opening set. Then Brazilian team answered with an excellent back-court attack from Sheilla Castro.

Trailing 5-1 behind, the South Americans found the range, and after a block from Paula Pequeno, Brazil cut the cushion to within one point, 5-4.

To a noisy home crowd, the Chinese team looked tight, making many unforced errors and Brazil took chances to level it at 12-all.

Then much younger setter Wei Qiuyue came in for an underperforming captain Feng Kun. It worked effectively as Chinese spiker Wang Yimei, Li and middle blocker Zhao Ruirui racked up some fine winners to build up the lead once again.

The second technical timeout came with China in front 16-14, but it was the Brazilian who shrugged off tension to play their game, which helped them beat off two set points and then have two straight points to claim the set at 27-25.

The two teams battled hard in the second set, but the South Americans started to take control. Trailing 6-3 behind, China coach Chen Zhonghe had the 19-year-old Wei replace Feng again but the Chinese were still playing below standard and especially had trouble in blocking and making too many mistakes.

Brazil brought up the second technical timeout ahead at 16-13 while China could never really pose a threat upon the opponents.

After Li and Zhao spiked long twice in a row, Brazil set up a comfortable 24-20 lead and converted on the third set point to take the set at 25-22 thanks to China's Zhou serving to the net.

Coming into the third set, the Chinese lost pace and were in serious trouble with their defence falling to pieces. Brazil took the set at 25-14.

Feng Kun and Zhao Ruirui of China block the ball during women's volleyball semifinal match between China and Brazil at Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Brazil beat China 3-0.

Source: Xinhua

Son Tae-jin wins ROK 2nd taekwondo gold

2008-08-22T08:05:00.001-07:00

Son Taejin of South Korea competes in Men -68kg Gold Medal contest against Mark Lopez of the U.S. at USTB Gymnasium in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Son Taejin defeated Mark Lopez by final score 3-2 and won the gold medal of the event.

Son Tae-jin won the men's 68kg category in the Olympic taekwondo tournament on Thursday, 10 minutes after his compatriot Lim Su-jeong claimed the women's 57kg class title.

Son, 20, had a narrow win of 3-2 over Mark Lopez of the United States. The desicive point was scored in the last second of the third round.

"I felt so good during the match. I thought I could win," he said.

Son took the lead in the first round, scoring two points with roundhouse kicks. Lopez got one point with an axe kick on Son's shoulder in the second round, and started to change his tactics.

Lopez, who is taller than Son, tried to keep a proper distance to make effective attacks, while Son tried to get close to the opponent, which made him get a one point deduction.

In the last round, the two launched a series of attacks to each other and got one point each during the scuffle. Then Son kicked first.

The overjoyed burst into tears when hugging with his grey-haired coach, who also cried.

"I thought I would be very happy after the gold medal, but now I know for sure," he said.

The newly-crowned said he had a very hard time after losing in the first round at last year's world championships, and hesitated and thought about whether to continue the training.

"My coach encouraged me to keep going," he said.

Mark Lopez complained the referees politely after the game and said he got to be happy with the silver.

"It is a subjective sport and humans make errors so it's something I have to deal with and hold my head high," he said.

"With South Korea you have to go over and beyond to beat them," he said.

For Mark, competing together with his brothers and sister at the Olympics is the most important.

"Above everything I am here at the Olympic Games with my family," he said, proudly.

"It's not over yet, my brother is still going to compete for us and win the gold," said the 26-year-old.

The bronze was shared by Sung Yu-chi of Chinese Taipei and Turkish player Servet Tazegul.

It's the second bronze Chinese Taipei got in taekwondo which started on Wednesday.

"Today's achievements will be a perfect graduation ceremony to me and also to my father who is my coach," said Sung, who will retire from the sport after the Olympics.

On the first day of the events, Chu Mu-yen got the bronze in the men's 58kg class.

Source: Xinhua

U.S. downs Brazil 1-0 in extra time to retain Olympic women's soccer title

2008-08-22T08:04:00.002-07:00

Marta of Brazil vies for the ball during Women's Gold - Match 26 between the U.S. and Brazil of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games football event at Workers' Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. The U.S. beat Brazil 1-0 and won the gold medal of the event.

The U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo grabs the ball during Women's Gold - Match 26 between the U.S. and Brazil of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games football event at Workers' Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. The U.S. beat Brazil 1-0 and won the gold medal of the event.

Marta of Brazil vies for the ball during Women's Gold - Match 26 between the U.S. and Brazil of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games football event at Workers' Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. The U.S. beat Brazil 1-0 and won the gold medal of the event.
The defending champion United States edged Brazil 1-0 in the Olympic women's soccer final in Beijing Thursday night, a stunning repeat of the Athens Games final in which the Americans rallied to beat the Brazilians 2-1.

Pressed by the Brazilians during the most of the match, the United States harvested the unique goal on 97 minutes, seven minutes into the extra time. Midfielder Carli Lloyd charged into the penalty area and fired a powerful shot to break the deadlock.

The Brazilians, who crushed the United States 4-0 in the World Cup semifinal last year in China, created countless scoring chances but failed to cash in a single one.

American goalkeeper Hope Solo was the most eye-catching figure in the duel as her several crucial saves saved the whole team.

As the reigning FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, Brazilian star striker Marta tore the U.S. defense line many times but her acute shots were all miraculously denied by Solo.

Rattled Brazilians girls had to rally after the U.S. lead, however, their three most creative players - Cristiane, Marta and Daniela -- squandered several chances. The closest one came in the last minute of the game when Marta managed to deliver a beautiful right pass across the goal but Cristiane failed to catch.

"We always play well during the tournament, but in the finals, we can't score. I am also asking myself what is happening to us in the finals," Marta said after the match.

"We lost focus when we conceded the goal. We needed to have patience and know how to play when we are losing. Everybody knows that we wanted to win the Gold and again we came out of the match without it," the 22-year-old star player added.

Marta had been in the Athens final along with nine other members of the current team. The unquestionable world ace striker, Marta failed to capture any major international titles.

"We have faith that we'll win,in terms of the way we play the game, but football is very complicated...and we dominated it but we didn't make it," Brazilian coach Jorge Barcellos said.

The Americans have played in the Olympic gold medal match every time since the women's football debuted at the 1996 Atlanta Games, only losing the title in Sydney 2000 to Norway.

"We saw the team's getting better at every minute. We looked at each other's eyes and everybody had each other's back. Don't worry about making mistakes, just go out there and play in confidence and be brave,you feel it, every minute we were getting stronger especially in the overtime," Christie Rampone, capitain of the U.S. team said at a after-game press conference.

Source:Xinhua

Interview: Egyptian sinologist says Beijing Olympics ushers China in new era

2008-08-22T08:04:00.001-07:00

The success of the ongoing Beijing Olympic Games, which is of great significance for both China and the world at large, will lead the ancient Asian country into a new era, an Egyptian sinologist said in a recent telephone interview with Xinhua.

Abdel Aziz, head of the Chinese Language Department of Egypt's famed Azhar University, stressed that the Beijing Olympics coincided with the 30th anniversary of China's adoption of its reform and opening-up policy.

The Egyptian scholar said the Games in Beijing provides a good platform for China to showcase its wonderful achievements since the reform and opening-up in 1978, particularly in recent years.

"The grand opening ceremony was a colorful shopwindow to show the great Chinese civilization and history and the latest achievements China has made in various fields," said Aziz.

"I think it will be very difficult to outdo the Games due to its greatness and legacy," said the scholar, who was one of the few Egyptians that learned the Chinese language in 1970s and has an in-depth study and understanding of the Chinese culture, history and developments.

In 1978, when Aziz was still a junior university student, he went to Beijing for the first time to learn Chinese. In the 1980s, he returned to China for further studies and got his master and doctoral degrees in Chinese Language and Culture.

Aziz said China, the third country in East Asia to host the Olympic Games following Japan in 1964 and South Korea in 1988, will obtain widespread applause from the international community for its great efforts and rising influence.

The Egyptian scholar said China formally started its preparation for the Olympics in 2001 when Beijing was announced to be the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games.

"It has been proved that the unremitting efforts of China for the Olympics has won the recognition of the world," said Aziz, adding China has demonstrated its characteristics in the Games.

As for the legacy of the Olympics, Aziz said the success of the Games will help promote the "soft power" of China as the Olympic spirit demonstrated in the country reflects the comprehensive development of the Chinese society in the fields of economy, culture and sports.

The extensive media coverage of the international sports event will also help the world people understand China, said Aziz.

According to earlier reports, about 30,000 domestic and foreign reporters are involved in reporting the Games, an unprecedented number in the Olympic history.

China has demonstrated its capability by hosting the Games, which is a landmark of China's new age of development.

Source:Xinhua

Interview: Indonesia hails success of Beijing Olympics

2008-08-22T08:03:00.001-07:00

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that Indonesia hails China's success in hosting the ongoing Olympic Games, saying the Beijing Olympiad is better than previous ones.

"On behalf of the government, I has been asked by President to attend the closing ceremony, expressing appreciation of the Indonesian government on the great success," Kalla said in an interview with Xinhua before his visit to Beijing for the Games' closing ceremony on Aug. 24.

Kalla, who is also chairman of Indonesia's biggest party of Golkar,

said that many people here were amazed by the Games, especially the sports facilities. He also praised China for overcoming all difficulties to ensure the success of the Games.

The vice president said that as a friend of China, Indonesia has full respect for and share the joy of the success.

He noted that many world records were broken and no one complained about the facilities.

"Indonesian athletes said that they were very satisfied with the Games," he said.

Indonesia has sent 24 athletes to the Beijing Olympics, who have won one gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Its gold medal came from men's badminton double event.

The vice president urged the Indonesian athletes to give top performance.

Kala said the bilateral relations between the two countries, which have strong cultural and social relations, are important and mutually beneficial.

"The Indonesia-China ties in economy and politics are always good," he said.

Kalla is to leave for Beijing Friday evening.

Source:Xinhua

Touch your heart, touch your soul

2008-08-22T08:02:00.005-07:00

Forget Michael "Fish" Phelps. Forget Usain "Lightning" Bolt. Forget all the robotic title-winning feats. The Olympic moments that touch your heart and purify your soul belong to those who are fighting destiny, triumphing over adversity, or proving to the world that love can be as deep as ocean.

It doesn't matter how Matthias Steiner won the super-heavyweight lifting gold medal. The 6-foot, 321-pound hulk will be remembered, FOREVER, for standing on the podium with tears in his eyes and clutching in one hand a snapshot of his wife, Susann.

Gold medalist Matthias Steiner of Germany holds a photo of his wife as he poses with his gold medal during victory ceremony of men's weightlifting +105kg group A competition at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 19, 2008.
Susann was killed in a car accident a year ago.

"She is always with me, in the hours before the competition, she's there," said Steiner, who had promised to Susann a gold medal at her bedside in hospital.

"I'm not the superstitious type, don't believe in higher powers, but I hope she saw me. I wish," said the 25-year-old German lifter, who was born in Austria but moved to Germany because Susann lived there.

As Susann is looking down from heaven, a sick boy is waiting for her mom to bring home a better life.
Hong Un Jong of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Oksana Chusovitina of Germany and China's Cheng Fei celebrate at the awarding ceremony of women's vault apparatus final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 17, 2008. Hong Un Jongclaimed the title of the event with a score of 15.650.
Oksana Chusovitina, a former Uzbek gymnast, prolonged her career and moved to Germany to raise funds for her son Alisher, who was diagnosed with leukemia six years ago. The 33-year-old mom picked a silver behind DPR Korean vault champion Hong Un-jong on Monday, becoming the oldest woman in more than half a century to win an Olympic gymnastics medal.

"This medal is for my son, I could not have done this without him," said Chusovitina.

Chusovitina believes the battle against the deadly disease can be won. This belief must have got firmer when she knew Maarten van der Weijden not only beat leukemia, but also won a glittering
Olympic gold.
Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands receives a hug after men's marathon 10km of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Maarten van der Weijden grabbed the gold medal of the event.
Van der Weijden's win at the grueling swimming marathon on Thursday is one of the greatest triumphs over adversity. The Dutchman compared his 10 kilometers swim victory to his personal fight against the cancer seven years ago.

"When you are in hospital and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don't want to think about the next day or week - you just think about the next hour," he said.

"It teaches you to be patient when you are lying in a hospital bed and that was almost the same strategy I chose here to wait for my chance in the pack."

His conquest of extreme adversity is as inspiring as that of South Africa's Natlie du Toit, an amputee swimmer who completed the women's open water race one day early.
Natalie Du Toit of South Africa talks to her coach after women's marathon 10km competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Natalie Du Toit ranked the 16th of the event. Du Toit, whose left leg was amputated in 2001 after she was injured in a road accident, is an athlete for both Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympic Olympics.
Du Toit lost her left leg in a motor accident and uses a prosthetic leg to walk. Having competed here against able-bodied athletes, du Toit will now focus on the Beijing Paralympics.

A touching moment was also seen after a dramatic men's rifle final, when Czech Olympic champion shooter Katerina Emmons held her teary husband Matt Emmons in her arms, whispering words of consolation to the man who just blew an Olympic gold.

Leading by 3.3 points and needing only a mediocre shot of 6.7 to dispel the 2004 ghosts, Emmons fired a 4.4 on his final attempt to drop to fourth.

Four years ago, the American fired at the wrong target on his final shot with a gold there for the taking. He ended up meeting his beautiful future wife over a drink afterwards.

When the nightmare repeated itself in Beijing, Katerina gasped in horror. She quickly came down from the commentators' stands to console her heartbroken husband.

Matthew Emmons of the United States is comforted by his wife after the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Shooting event in Beijing, China, Aug. 17, 2008. Matthew Emmons won the 4th with a total of 1270.3.
"Things happen for a reason," said Emmons after he regained composure. "The last time the reason was Katie. This time, I don't know what the reason is yet. But I'm sure something good's gonna come from it."

When reporters questioned Emmons' mental strength, Katerina jumped to her husband's defence. "He's definitely the best standing shooter out there. If he can still end up fourth with a 4.4 on the last shot, that's a hell of a shooter," she blurted.

Emmons, the unluckiest shooter in the Olympics, is one of the luckiest men for sure.

Source:Xinhua

Hk side ends Olympic run in table tennis

2008-08-22T08:02:00.003-07:00

The Hong Kong table tennis team has its Olympic run halted after Ko Lai Chak was outgunned by top-seeded Chinese Wang Hao in the men's quarterfinal on Friday.

Wang was hardly made to sweat in his five-set clash with Ko, wining 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9.

"I won mainly because I prepared well for any difficulties. I was too conservative in the first two games. Then I started to become more decisive in my shots," said Wang, who has been world number one for 10 straight months.

"I have done a good job in receiving, but Wang's overall skills are much better than mine," said Ko.

Ko cruised into the men's singles top eight after disposing of German sensation Dimitrij Ovtcharov 4-1 to secure a berth in the top eight.

The 32nd-ranked veteran had edged out defending champion Ryu Seung Min 4-2 Thursday to make the biggest surprise of the tournament.

"We are too keen to win and that's why we did not bring out our best in this Olympics," Ko added.

Fourth-seeded Hong Kong finished fourth in the men's team event after being edged by Japan in the group stage and South Korea in a bronze play-off.

"We would have had chance to compete for the bronze medal if our paddlers had played as well as they did in the singles," said Hong Kong coach Chan Kong Wah, who still smarted over the team's failure to reach top three.

Chan gave credit to Ko for his performance in downing Ryu and Ovtcharov. Another Hong Kong player Li Ching was brushed aside by Tan Ruiwu of Croatia in the 1/8 round.

Source: Xinhua

Winning relay medal will be tough for Nigerians: athletics official

2008-08-22T08:02:00.001-07:00

As the relay events began at the Beijing Olympic Games, the former president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria has predicted that it will be tough for Team Nigeria to win a medal, local media reported on Friday.

Nigeria used to be very strong in the sprint events, but recently has seen its ratings by the International Association of Athletics Federation drop consistently.

Former AFN President Adeyemi-Wilson said that unless the team gets its acts together, it cannot win any relay medal at the ongoing Olympics.

"Our only hope is in the relays and if we do not get our acts together, it is going to be very tough," he said. "I watched the Ethiopian girl winning the 10,000 meters race and my conclusion was that we should start focusing on what we know best."

"I have always opposed spending millions of naira on sponsorship of marathons. We should immediately set up training camps for sprints, jumps and throws in preparation for the 2012 Olympics," he said.

"We can also use part of the money from the National Lottery to train our athletes. The Niger Delta Development Commission should also wake up and sponsor sports in the nine oil-producing states. It will go a long way in reducing militancy by the youths," he added.

Adeyemi-Wilson also urged the armed forces and the paramilitary to develop sportsmen and women for the country, stating that the command schools can produce highly disciplined sportsmen and women for the nation.

He said:"Please, appeal to the governments -- federal, state and local -- to start programs, beginning from now, so that we do not continue performing poorly at international arena."

"I read that the Kenyan male athletes have so far won 16 gold medals at the previous Olympics, while their female athletes have not won any. But camps have now been set up for young female athletes so that they too can be golden! It is a challenge to us," he said.

Source:Xinhua

200 vehicles bring Olympic volunteers back home every night

2008-08-22T08:01:00.004-07:00

According to reports, during the Olympic Games, a team of cars consisting of private vehicles operating in the evening at the surrounding venues have volunteered to drive Olympic volunteers back home.

Around 10:30 p.m. on August 19, six private vehicles driving to the east gate of the Olympic Sports Center were prepared to return Olympic medical team volunteers back to their homes.

The "voluntary transfer of Games volunteers" was launched by the Beijing Auto Fans Association; and jointly held by many auto fans organizations. They said that some of the volunteers work late, and most of the volunteers are university students. Taking a taxi is too expensive for them. Auto fans volunteered to drive their own vehicles and take the volunteers home from work so as to lighten their burden. Since the end of July, more than 200 auto fans have been taking Olympic venue volunteers home every night.

Currently, private vehicles have already taken more than 300 volunteers back home. This activity is tentatively set continue until August 26; but should the venues require it, the service may continue until the end of the Paralympics.

By People's Daily Online

Olympic success provides springboard for softball's development

2008-08-22T08:01:00.003-07:00

The International Softball Federation has launched a new event to further promote the global development of softball following the climax of the Olympic competitions here on Friday.

The namely 2009 Youth World Cup will be a girls' 16-and-under fast pitch competition and will be held in the second week of August next year, with a number of major European capital cities currently been listed as the candidate hosts.

"This is another fantastic development for our sport and underlines its growing popularity. Softball is incredibly popular among young people," said ISF president Don Porter.

"We are increasing the number of softball federations all the time but we're not going to be resting on our laurels and hopefully this event will help us further widen the sport's appeal," he added.

Softball, which made a debut show at Atlanta Olympics in 1996, was voted out of the 2012 London Games.

ISF then launched the "Backsoftball Compaign", aiming to get the sport reinstated in next year's vote onto the Olympic program for 2016.

Porter, who has been promoting the compaign during his visit in Beijing, hails the Beijing Olympic softball tournament as "hugely successful" and also has been able to have a discussion with International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge about its success.

"The sellout crowds has exceeded 180,000 in todal. The competitiveness also has improved a lot. Besides, more than 100 countries' medias has covered the event. These are all good signals to prove our sport is a global one. We have showed these success to the IOC president and some other members," said Porter.

On Thursday night, Japan stunned favorites the United States 3-1 in the grand final, ending the Americans' run of three successive Olympic gold medals. Though Porter was American, he regarded Japan's victory as a proof to the sport's global strength.

"Few would have predicted that Japan would be picking up the gold medal but it came true here. I'd like to commiserate with the losers but I'm sure this will provide further encouragement to other nations who are enjoying and playing our increasingly competitive sport," said Porter.

Source:Xinhua

Jamaica's Campbell-Brown wins women's 200m gold

2008-08-22T08:01:00.001-07:00

Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica jubilates after winning the women's 200m final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008.

Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica competes during the women's 200m final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Veronica Campbell-Brown won the gold.
Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown won the gold medal of the women's 200 meters at the Beijing Olympic Games on Thursday.

Campbell-Brown clocked 21.74 seconds for the win. American Allyson Felix took the silver in 21.93 seconds and another Jamaican Kerron Stewart won the bronze in 22.00.

Source: Xinhua

Results of men's 50km walk at Beijing Olympics

2008-08-22T07:59:00.005-07:00

Following are the top eight finishers of the men's 50km walk race which was concluded at the Beijing Olympics on Friday:

1. Alex Schwazer, Italy, three hours 37 minute 09 seconds

2. Jared Tallent, Australia, 3:39:27

3. Denis Nizhegorodov, Russia, 3:40:14

4. Jesus Angel Garcia, Spain, 3:44:08

5. Erik Tysse, Norway, 3:45:08

6. Horacio Nava, Mexico, 3:45:21

7. Yuki Yamazaki, Japan, 3:45:47

8. Rafal Fedaczynski, Poland, 3:46:51

Source:Xinhua

Factbox: Anne Caroline Chausson, France, medallist of women's cycling BMX at Beijing Games

2008-08-22T07:59:00.003-07:00

Anne Caroline Chausson, France, medallist of women's cycling BMX at Beijing Games

Date of Birth: October 08, 1977

Gender: Female

Height: 1.72 meters

Weight: 64 kg

Place of Birth: Dijon, France

Sport: Cycling BMX

Event: Women cycling BMX

Career:

2007, seventh place of the BMX world championship in Victoria, Canada

2008, silver medallist of the BMX world championship in Taiyuan, China.

Source:Xinhua

Strombergs: The gold is only one step

2008-08-22T07:59:00.001-07:00

"It didn't matter if it was the Olympics, the world championships or the European championships, the feeling is the same," said Maris Strombergs from Latvia on Friday.

Strombergs, reigning world champion, clinched the first-ever Olympic men's bicycle moto cross gold here Friday.

He took the lead of the eight-strong final from the very beginning and finished the run at 36.190, leaving the Games' favorites Mike Day and Donny Robinson of the United States far behind at 36.606 and 36.972 respectively.

"This Olympic gold is only one step in my career. I have a lot more to accomplish," he said.

When talking about the Beijing Olympic Games, he said: "I feel almost like home. It's great."

Source:Xinhua

China's Zhang storms into Olympic table tennis final

2008-08-22T07:58:00.005-07:00

China's defending gold medalist Zhang Yining stormed into the final of the Olympic women's singles table tennis competition on Friday, beating Singapore's Li Jia Wei.

Zhang won 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 and 11-5. The victory secured a singles gold for China as the world number one will play the winner of the other semifinal match, an all-Chinese affair between world champion Guo Yue and Grand Slam veteran Wang Nan.

"I think Li fought really hard today. She has participated in three Olympic Games, so she is actually more experienced than me in international competitions," said Zhang.

"But I knew I would win once I got over the first game," she said. "The final won't be easy because teammates know each other very well."

Li said that "I played very well today and it's an achievement for me to finish in the top four while the other three are all Chinese players."

Both Zhang and Li were born in Beijing in 1981. They attended the same school in the Chinese capital between 1986-96.

But Li went to Singapore in 1996 under Singapore Table Tennis Association's foreign recruitment scheme, and gained Singaporean citizenship in 1999.

Source:Xinhua

Taekwondo preview: Chinese Chen Zhong kicking for taekwondo history

2008-08-22T07:58:00.003-07:00

Chen Zhong of China may make history on the last day of the Olympic taekwondo as she is gunning for her third consecutive Olympic gold medals.

If she can defend her title in the women's over 67kg category, she will also become the first taekwondo athlete to successfully win three Olympic golds in a row in the same weight category.

The 25-year-old Chen will be challenged by strong opponents before she forces her way to the glory as she will meet Adriana Carmona Gutierrez of Venezuela in the first round, who was the bronze medalist in the Athens Olympics.

"Chen has no specific opponent as every player at the Olympics is very strong," the vice president of the Chinese Taekwondo Association Zhao Lei once told Xinhua.

Her main rivals will be Sarah Stevenson of Britain, both of which will meet in the quarter-finals, world champion Maria Del Rosario Espinoza of Mexico and Kyriaki Koubari of Greece who won the gold medal in the World Qualification competition last September.

In the men's 80kg category, Chen's compatriot Liu Xiaobo, bronze medalist in the Asian Games in 2006, may also change the history for Chinese male taekwondo players if he could win a medal.

Mickael Borot of Frace, European champion in 2006, Olympic silver medalist Alexandros Nikolaidis of Greece and world champion Daba Modibo Keita of Mali are among the gold medal favorites.

Source:Xinhua

Bolt: I'm Lightning Bolt

2008-08-22T07:58:00.001-07:00

Usain Bolt of Jamaica jubilates after the men's 200m final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 20, 2008. Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the title with 19.30 seconds and set a new world record.
"I told myself that if I am going to get the world record, it is going to be here because the track is really fast," said Usain Bolt of Jamaica on Thursday.

Bolt eased to win the Olympic men's 200m sprint and rewrote the world record in 19.30 seconds, even into a headwind of 0.9m/s here on Wednesday night.

The 21-year-old Jamaican has become the most shinning star of the "Bird's Nest", who won the men's 100m dash four days ago, with the new world record of 9.69 seconds.

"I did a lot of work on the 200m and everything came together tonight. I blew my mind, and then I blew the world's mind," he said.

Bolt trampled flat legendary sprinter Michael Johnson's record of 19.32 seconds, shortening it by two hundredths of a second, which sarcastically made Johnson an green-eyed hall-of-fame celebrity who said, "I don't think he will break it here."

"I'm Lightning Bolt! I am not Flash Gordon or anybody. My name is Bolt, Lightning Bolt."

Source:Xinhua

Survey: 1.4 mln people watch Olympics on TV every day in France

2008-08-22T07:57:00.002-07:00

People in France showed unprecedented enthusiasm for the ongoing Beijing Olympics and an average 1.4 million people watch the Games on TV every day, according to a local survey released Thursday.

Audience rating reached 25.3 percent on average for the TV channels France 2 and France 3 from Aug. 9, the first day of the Olympic competitions, to Wednesday, French State TV quoted a media survey as saying.

Men's sabre team final on Sunday, in which France defeated the United States to retain its Olympic gold, attracted 4.3 million French audience, pushing the single day audience rating up to 34 percent.

Meanwhile, visits to the Olympic contents on the French State TV channels' websites also topped 3.5 million and a daily average of 200,000 people watch live broadcasting of the events via the internet.

Source:Xinhua

Interview: Mexican experts say China's image boosted in Olympic Games

2008-08-22T07:57:00.001-07:00

The successful organization of the Beijing Olympiad and the marvelous achievement of the Chinese athletes have combined to boost China's image, Mexican experts said Thursday.

"The most important is that China has fulfilled its promises in showing the world community its capacity to organize such a game," professor of the Autonomous National University of Mexico Natividad Gonzalez Chong told Xinhua.

The fact that China tops the medal table "reflects the efforts of all Chinese people and their government in at least the last 15 years," said Gonzalez, a specialist in social studies.

The Games showed "a high level of social cohesion" in the Chinese society and bore "proof to many years of good governance in the country which it is not something new, but something that has started decades ago," Gonzalez said.

According to Gonzalez, China showed its changes to the world as "it opens to the world ... It is no longer the remote country full of mysteries, it has displayed its cultural and technological advances and its respect for humanity."

The slogan, "One World, One Dream," the Chinese government chose for the Games reflects the determination of its authorities to protect the environment and to promote universal values of unity, friendship and peace, Gonzalez said.

"'One World, One Dream' reflected China's aspiration to accept and share social diversities across the world. This is a very important part of the current Games," Gonzalez said.

The Beijing Olympics definitely changed the world's perception about China, Romer Cornejo, professor of the Center of Studies for Asia and Africa at the College of Mexico, told Xinhua.

"China has proved that the security of the participating countries has always been guaranteed," Cornejo said, adding that athletes from countries in conflicts are also able to compete in harmony on the same arena.

The Olympics will reverse "some racists ideas against it. The highest number of gold medals won by China proved that this country is a champion" of the 29th Olympiad, Cornejo said.

Source:Xinhua

Croatian Olympic medalists receive warm welcome in home towns

2008-08-22T07:56:00.005-07:00

Croatia's two Olympic medalists received warm welcome on Thursday in their respective home towns soon after their return from Beijing.

Nearly 3,000 people gathered in the central square of the northern Croatian town of Cakovec to welcome the best Croatian gymnast, Filip Ude, who won a silver medal in the men's pommel horse in the Summer Olympic Games, the Croatian state news agency HINA reported.

Addressing the people who gathered to welcome him back to his home town, Ude thanked his mother, sisters and coaches in an emotionally-charged speech.

A program with popular music bands and folklore ensembles was performed in his honor. The town of Cakovec and Medjimurje County have decided to award Ude with a flat.

The 22-year-old Ude is the first Croatian gymnastic Olympic medalist since Croatia gained its independence in 1991 from the former Yugoslavia.

Croatian shooter Snjezana Pejcic, who won a bronze medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle event at the Beijing Olympics on Aug. 9, was warmly welcomed in Rijeka on Thursday evening.

Many residents of this northern Croatian coastal city gathered in the city's center for special events organized in the honor of Pejcic. The 26-year-old native of Rijeka is the first Croatian female athlete to have taken a medal at Summer Olympics.

Ude and Pejcic, who returned to Croatia on Wednesday evening, were given an enthusiastic welcome at Zagreb airport by their families, friends, athletes and sport fans, as well as by representatives of the Croatian Olympic Committee, the government and parliament.

On Thursday, Croatia's Martina Zubcic won a bronze medal in the taekwondo women's -57kg category at the Olympic Games in Beijing, beating Sung Yu-Chi of Chinese Taipei. It was the third medal for Croatia after Pejcic's bronze in the air rifle event and Ude's silver in the pommel horse.

The latest medal brings to 15 the number of medals Croatia has won at the Summer Olympic Games since it gained independence.

Croatia won three medals at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the first games in which Croatia participated as an independent country. Four years later in Atlanta, it captured two medals, and another two in Sidney in 2000. In Athens in 2004, Croatian athletes won five medals.

A total of 106 Croatian athletes compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing. This has been the largest Croatian Olympic delegation since its independence.

Besides three medals in hand, Croatia also expects medals from men's kayak, women's high jump and men's handball.

Source:Xinhua

News analysis: Jamaica digs out sprinting nuggets from training, yams

2008-08-22T07:56:00.003-07:00

What a huge loss for the Olympic Games if there had not been Jamaicans running on the track in Beijing. The Caribbean country's five gold medals to date at the Games have all come from sprinters.

Usain Bolt, 21, has won double gold medals with two stunning world records in the men's 100m and 200m sprints. The 26-year-old Veronica Campbell-Brown won the women's 200m. Shelly-Ann Fraser and other two Jamaican women swept medals in over 100m. Melaine Walker, 25, added another by breaking the Olympic record in the women's 400-meter hurdles.

Having won three silver, one bronze, but never gold in men's 100m in previous Games, Jamaican sprinters blew the world's mind as they aggressively encroached on the old domain of the United States. Jamaica has made a statement to the world that they are awesome.

"We have a tradition, we have natural talents, We are the sprinter factory of the world," said Olivia Grange, Jamaica's minister of information, culture, sports and youth, adding the victory was "crazy and unbelievable".

Big screens were put up in squares or streets all over Jamaica for people to watch Bolt and other sprinters' races. On every victory, Jamaicans poured into streets of Kingston and Trelawny, which is Bolt's birthplace, to celebrate like a national holiday.

"We Jamaicans are just born to be sprinters," said Herbert Elliott, the Jamaican team's chief doctor. "Sprint running is part of our heart and soul."

LOTS OF YAMS, GREENS, FRESH AIR AND NUGGETS

"You know why? We eat healthy and good food, lots of yams. lots of greens, lots of fishes, good Jamaican food and clean fresh air," Jamaican minister Olivia Grange told Xinhua on Thursday. "I have had Jamaican food in Beijing. Maybe you should also start to eat Jamaican food."

There couldn't be a better way to advertise Jamaican restaurants in China for a minister's suggestion at such a time when the whole world is curious about Jamaica's secret in sprinting.

The female minister had acted an operator at the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, conveying telephone call of the country's prime minister to their sprinting champions.

Bolt has admitted that his home-made yams and many other Jamaican food have help him a lot in achieving the results. But he also has another favorite, chicken nuggets.

"Actually I got up at noon and my masseuse brought me the nuggets. I went straight to the track and then masseuse brought me more nuggets. I just ate two because my coach said I should not eat so many nuggets," he said.

No more, no less, two nuggets for two gold medals.

EARLY-AGE TRAINING SYSTEM

Nothing can stop you if you really have talent and train hard. Everyone in the world now believe that Jamaicans really have the talent. But few know that they train hard with discipline.

"We train our sprinters from their early childhood, in basic school and then primary school, secondary school, after that is professional training where they have personal coaches," Minister Grange said.

Bolt has been just an example who came out of such a school system. When he was only 15 years old in his primary school, Bolt won a national championships specially designed for junior talents like him in Jamaica.

"We continue to train them when these talents were picked up. They are also involved in centers of excellence," said the minister.

Jamaica has established two such kind of centers. One in Jamaica's University of Technology, where Asafa Powell was based. And the other is in the University of West Indies, shared by other sponsoring Caribbean countries and regions.

"We have the fastest man and fastest junior and we have many women among some of the fastest in the world," said Grange. "There will just be more Bolts to come."

GOVERNMENT-PAID GOOD COACHES

As another reason to create the amazing myth, Jamaica also provided their sprinters with national team coaches. "In some cases they were privately coached," said the minister. "But in extraordinary events like Olympic Games, they will have coaches paid by government.

"The ministry has an institute of sports where there are national coaches. And Usain's coach is the national coach at the institute of sports, which is an agency of government."

In Jamaica, there are probably thousands of young people who have a God-given sprinting talent and dream to be the fastest in the world. Bolt, a simple Jamaican lad coming from a humble family together with Asafa Powell and Melaine Walker have been inspirations to them.

"My coach has done a lot for me, taking me from like the injured to a double Olympic champion and world record holder," said Bolt when talking about his coach Glen Mills. "It is great that we have so many good coaches in Jamaica."

"My coach is great, I executed the way my coach wanted me to. He should be proud," Melaine Walker praised her coach Stephen Francis after winning the 400m hurdles. "I believe in him."

Also coaching Asafa Powell who did not do well in his race, Francis used to be considered controversial before Walker's success. But now he has been part of Jamaica's pride.

"We don't have too much money, but we have the talent, ambition and commitment," said the minister.

"We get better every day. Our young people or youth are getting better as well. So the beauty and secret has something to do with the fact that we are born with talents, we have a school system that from early age promotes physical education."

INSPIRATION TO CARIBBEAN

"Athletes from other Caribbean islands see Jamaican athletes as an inspiration and what we can do in Jamaica is to help our Caribbean brothers and sisters to be great athletes. We will improve our facilities. We will train more coaches. We will expand our sports college, the largest in the Caribbean," the female minister could not help to make a promise for her country as she always congratulated the sprinters in the mixed zone under the stadium.

"We gonna promote more community sports facilities in all 708 communities across Jamaica," she continued. "In every single community, we are going to have intense community sports development programs."

There maybe more Usain Bolts to come. And people are just waiting for Jamaica to unleash them to the world.

Source:Xinhua

Robles after win: Wish Liu was here

2008-08-22T07:56:00.001-07:00

Dayron Robles must have missed Liu Xiang in the 110m hurdles line-up, for no one pushed even closer to his record of 12.87 seconds, let alone try to break it.

This is precisely where the ace Chinese hurdler could have made all the difference to the Cuban Robles and the others on the track yesterday.

David Oliver of the US, Cuba's Dayron Robles and David Payne of the US compete during the men's 110m hurdles final at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 21, 2008. Robles won the gold medal.

Cuba's Dayron Robles celebrates as he crosses the finish line ahead of David Payne of the US to win the men's 110m hurdles final at the National Stadium as part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 21, 2008. Cuba's Dayron Robles won ahead of US athletes David Payne and David Oliver.

Athens 2004 winner Liu withdrew from the heats with an injured Achilles tendon, and two-time Olympic silver winner Terrence Trammell was eliminated in the first round.

The brightly lit Bird's Nest turned gloomy for US sprinters yesterday evening as its men's and women's 4X100m relay teams both dropped the baton in the first round of the heats.

The women's team dropped the baton but continued running to finish last in the heats about 20 minutes after disaster struck the men's team, which was anchored by world champion Tyson Gay.

But it was an evening to rejoice for the Chinese, for their men's quartet put up a super show to qualify for the final for the first time.

History was made at the beach volleyball court, too, as the invincible US pair of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won its 108th straight match to clinch the gold. In second and third spots were two Chinese pairs.

The US pair has won every major tournament since the 2003 World Championships. The two lifted their second Olympic crown, beating China's Tian Jia and Wang Jie.

"They're too strong," said Tian later. "We did all we could but they're just too good." It's a feeling many competitors share.

Xue Chen and Zhang Xi won the bronze.

At the Water Cube, China won its seventh gold in as many events, and it is just one win away from making it eight-in-eight. Yesterday, Chen Ruolin won the women's 10m platform.

In the 20km walk, even a heavy downpour could not stop Olga Kaniskina of Russia from shattering the Olympic record to grab the gold in 1:26:31.

Dutch swimmer Maarten van Weijden won the men's 10km open water swimming, which made its debut at the Games along with BMX biking.

Back at the Bird's Nest, Veronica Campbell-Brown scorched the track to win the women's 200m to retain her crown and complete a Jamaican sweep of the four sprint golds. The 26-year-old exploded out of the blocks and ran a career best 21.74 seconds.

The US defended its gold medal in women's soccer last night, beating Brazil 1-0 in extra time.

In women's softball, the Japanese team stunned three-time world champions the US 3-1 to clinch the gold.

Source:China Daily/Agencies

Germany edges Netherlands to meet Spain in Olympic men's hockey final

2008-08-22T07:55:00.002-07:00

World No. 2 Germany roared into the Olympic men's hockey final with a "sudden death" win over the Netherlands in Beijing on Thursday, to meet unexpected contender Spain who beat defending titlists Australia 3-2.

The third-ranked Netherlands did not take a lead until the 66th minute when Timme Hoyng converted a penalty corner, but Germany equalised as Philip Zeller scored a field goal from close with only two minutes to go.

The match ended with 1-1 tie at full time. As no golden goal was made in the 15-minute extra time, a penalty shootout was forced.

The teams each converted three of the five strokes in the tie-breaker and then the match went into the sudden-death round.

Christopher Zeller's powerful shot gave Germany a 4-3 lead. However, the Dutch penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema's goal was held off by German goalie Max Weinhold.

"It's a great game as the two teams are top of the world and we know each other very well. It's the moment to keep it 1-0, but I'm disappointed that we failed," said Roelant.

Dutch goalie Guus Vogels said, "If I can save two goals, it is normally enough. But not today. Today they had one more than I could save. It is sad but I think we still played the best we could."

"It's a narrow game like everybody expected it," said Markus Weise, Germany's coach, "I'm pleased with my team as they played well today and they did not play their heads down after the 1-0 down."

In the other semifinal game, The fourth-ranked Spain came back from 2-0 down to defeat world champions Australia and fire the first shot for gold in 12 years, while the Aussies had no chance to defend their title.

Santiago Freixa scored the winning goal for Spain in the 68th minute.

"It is my last time to coach in the Olympics. I will retire after the Games, so it is very important for me," said Australian coach Barry Dancer.

"We had a good start and put a lot of pressure in the field. Generally speaking, we played very well. But it is very disappointing that we cannot fight for a gold medal now," he noted, adding that they would find their deficiency from the match for further improvement.

"When I went into the match, I had a good feeling. I would like to congratulate my staff and the biggest compliments should go to the players," said Spain's coach Maurits Hendriks.

Germany and Spain will fight for gold and Australia play the Netherlands for bronze on Saturday.

In the 7th-10th classification round this morning, Belgium finished ninth, beating Canada 3-0 and New Zealand downed Pakistan4-2 and took the seventh position.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese women mountain bikers eye golden breakthrough at Beijing Games

2008-08-22T07:55:00.001-07:00

As Chinese Olympic cycling gold hopeful Guo Shuang only claimed a bronze on the track at Beijing Games, Chinese mountain bikers took up the responsibility to make a cycling golden breakthrough on home soil.

Two women bikers will take the mission with Ren Cheng Yuan the favorite to make the podium as she won China's first ever World Cup Series title in Switzerland last year and finished runner-up at the under-23 event of the world championships in England.

"Competing in the Olympics, my goal is very clear. That is to win at least a medal for my country. Of course, I hope that will be a golden one, " Ren told Xinhua last week.

She was joined by teammate Liu Ying, who pocketed another World Cup title in Slovenia and won the "Good Luck Beijing" international invitational competition on the Olympic track.

The Chinese girls will face ferocious challenge from Russian veteran Irina Kalentieva, German Sabine Spitz and Canadian Marie- Helene Premont on the Laoshan course.

For the men's edition, defending Olympic champion Julien Absalon of France will be the favorite to claim the gold. A winner of four consecutive world championships from 2004 to 2007 and with 13 career World Cup titles, Absalon boasts excellent descending skills to supplement his big motor ability to surmount climbs.

Veteran Roul Paulissen of Belarus, Athens silver medalist Jose Antonio Hermida will pose some challenge to the French man, while Atlanta gold medallist Bat Brentjens of the Netherland and the under-23 world champion Yuriy Trofimov of Russia should not be overlooked.

Chinese mountain biker Ji Jianhua will make his Olympic debut on home soil. However, Chinese men bikers still lagged far behind their European counterparts, the Asian champion even did not finish last year's "Good Luck Beijing" competition. For Ji, winning a medal or even entering into the last eight will be a difficult task.

Thirty women and 50 men will race on Aug. 22 and 23 respectively, competing in a series of laps on a 4.5-kilometre loop.

Source:Xinhua

FEI president: Equestrian events in HK "wonderful"

2008-08-22T07:54:00.003-07:00

HRH Princess HAYA, president of the International Equestrian Federation , said here Friday the Beijing Olympic Games Equestrian competitions are "wonderful", adding the atmosphere in the stadium is "electric".

In a press conference after the closing ceremony, the FEI president said "The Games are wonderful, providing an opportunity for the Equestrian family to have this in Hong Kong and showing the people in Beijing and China what this sport is about."

Princess HAYA said "The facilities are wonderful. People in Hong Kong and China are very friendly."

"Despite the hights and lows over the last weeks, I think this has been a wonderful Games that everybody will remember," said the FEI president.

The 11-day Olympic Equestrian competitions concluded at the Shatin Equestrian Venue Thursday night. 　

Source:Xinhua

Roundup: Germans dominate Olympic equestrian competitions

2008-08-22T07:54:00.001-07:00

The Germans have finished top of medal table with three gold medals, one silver and one bronze in the 11-day Beijing Olympic Games Equestrian competitions which closed Thursday night at the Shatin Equestrian Venue.

-- Team Eventing Gold: Germany

Germany won the first Olympic Eventing Team gold medal on 166.10 penalty points with Australia came second on 171.20 points while Britain secured third place on 185.70 points.

Sweden placed fourth on 230.50 points while New Zealand ranked fifth on 240.90 points. Three-day eventing combines the dressage, cross-country and jumps.

-- Individual Eventing Gold: Germany

German rider Hinrich Romeike won the Olympic individual eventing gold medal in the three-day eventing Tuesday night.

Romeike finished on 54.20 penalty points ahead of U.S. rider Gina Miles on 56.10 points. Kristina Cook of Great Britain secured third place on 57.40 points.

-- Team Dressage Gold: Germany

Germany added a third gold medal to their stunning sweep of the Olympic Games equestrian events here Thursday, winning the team dressage competition.

The victory consolidated German dominance of the sport. The team scored 72.916 percent. The Netherlands won the silver medal with 71.750 percent while Denmark took the bronze with 68.875 percent.

"We are so happy, the whole team were very excited to show a good competition," Werth told reporters after scoring 76.417 percent in her test.

"A lot of people didn't believe in the German team after we lost the team gold in last year's European championships.

"The whole team were really helping each other and we have tried to get the best for everybody that was the key to our success," she said.

-- Team Jumping Gold: the United States

Defending gold medallist the United States won the Olympic Equestrian Jumping Team gold medal, holding off a strong challenge from Canada in the team final competition.

Norway came third on 27 penalty points and claimed the bronze medal.

-- Individual Dressage Gold: the Netherlands

Netherlands's Anky van Grunsven won the Olympic Dressage Individual gold metal. She became the sixth woman in Olympic history to win three successive gold medals in an individual event when she won the Dressage Individual event in the Equestrian competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Grunsven, riding her horse Salinero, finished on 78.680 points ahead of the Germany's Isabell Werth with Satchmo on 76.650. Heike Kemmer of Germany aboard Bonaparte secured third place on 74.455 points.

-- Individual Jumping Gold: Canada

Eric Lamaze of Canada, riding HICKSTEAD, won the Individual Jumping gold metal, holding off a strong challenge from Rolf-Goran Bengtsson of Sweden and his horse NINJA in the last Equestrian event of the Beijing Olympic Games Thursday night.

In the final Round B, Eric Lamaze and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson were tied for first place on zero penalties. They were forced into a jump-off to decide the winner of the Individual Jumping.

Eric Lamaze finished on zero penalties while Rolf-Goran Bengtsson ended on 4 penalties in the jump-off showdown.

Beezie Madden of the United States, riding AUTHENTIC, came third and claimed the bronze medal.

For the first time, China has fielded six riders for the 11-day competitions in the Olympic Equestrian events that kicked off in Hong Kong on August 9.

But unfortunately, they were all edged out after a poor showing.Among them, Hua Tian, an 18-year-old boy from Guangdong, has received the most media attention. Hua, who saddled with hopes of the host nation at Beijing Olympic Games, fell from his horse while trying to clear hurdles during the cross-country phase of the Olympic eventing.

Liu Lina, the first Chinese rider to compete in Dressage at the Olympic Games. In the Grand Prix test, she scored 60.625 percent and disqualified to move to the second Individual Qualifier.

Patrick Lam, rider from team Hong Kong, China, has delivered a strong show earlier. He had a clear round on the opening night of qualifiers to be tied with some of the world's best. However, he was stopped in the third-round show jumping individual competition.

Source:Xinhua

New earthquake hits Yunnan’s Yingjiang County

2008-08-22T07:52:00.004-07:00

An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai-Jinpo Autonomous Prefecture, in southwest China's Yunnan Province, at 8:24 p.m. on Thursday.

The epicenter was about 10 km underground, 45 km away from the county town, and 500 km away from the provincial capital Kunming, according to a National Earthquake Network press release.

The affected area has a population density of 45 persons per square km and is at an average altitude of 2,000 meters.

Injured people get treatment after an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai-Jinpo Autonomous Prefecture, in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, at 8:24 p.m. on Thursday.

It was the second earthquake to occur in Yingjiang in the last two days. A 5.0-magnitude quake jolted the county on Wednesday morning.

A policeman helps a man injured during an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale in Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai-Jinpo Autonomous Prefecture, in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, on Thursday.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Source: Xinhua

Death toll rises to three in aftershock in southwest China

2008-08-22T07:52:00.003-07:00

Authorities in southwest China on Friday confirmed two more people were killed in Thursday's 5.9-magnitude tremor, bringing the death toll to three.

Officials with the government of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, did not disclose the identities of those killed.

Gu Zhongshou, a deputy with the publicity department of prefectural committee of the Communist Party of China , said about 100 people were injured when the quake struck at 8:24 p.m. in Yingjiang county.

Most of the injured, including 20 seriously hurt, were treated at the People's Hospital of Yingjiang Count, said Gu.

Power and telecommunications networks were cut in the main districts of the county, but some of the stricken areas had electricity back by 10:20 p.m. on Thursday.

The epicenter was monitored at 24.9 degrees north and 97.8 degrees east. And injuries with 20 of them were severe.

A document posted at the website of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that as of 8 a.m. on Friday, 120,000 people had been forced to evacuate their homes since the Thursday tremor.

An earlier tremor, measuring 5 on the Richter scale, struck the county at 5:35 a.m. on Wednesday, with the epicenter monitored at Sudian Township, 46 km from Yingjiang county seat.

More than 110 aftershocks of up to 3.6 on the Richter scale had been recorded as of 6 p.m. on Thursday.

The livelihoods of more than 14,000 people were affected and 3,400 others were evacuated after Wednesday's tremor. No one had been reported injured.

The tremor destroyed six homes and damaged 4,056 others in the county. Most of the damaged structures were in a dangerous state.

It also damaged 17 school buildings, 28 dormitories and some communication facilities.

The Civil Affairs Ministry sent a special working group to assess the situation and offer assistance in the quake zone.

It also allocated 5,000 tents from the disaster relief reserve of the central government.

In total, 2,500 people, including police and government officials, participated in the rescue effort. The local government had allocated 100,000 yuan for disaster relief.

The affected area has a population density of 45 people per square km and lies at an average altitude of 2,000 meters.

Source: Xinhua

Taiwan prosecutors to summon Chen Shui-bian, family members

2008-08-22T07:52:00.001-07:00

Prosecutors said here on Thursday they would summon ex-Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian and four of his family members for interrogation in regards to an overseas money-laundering case.

The others are Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen, son Chen Chih-chung, daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching and brother-in-law Wu Ching-mao.

Prosecutors will also question Yeh Sheng-mao, former head of Taiwan's "investigation bureau," for allegedly concealing information on Chen's case, and George Liu, Taiwan's former "representative" to Switzerland, for allegedly delaying a notice of assistance for an investigation by the Swiss side.

Prosecutors found Chen's family had remitted large sums of money worth nearly 1 billion N.T. dollars to bank accounts in Switzerland, Singapore, Cayman Islands and other countries.

Currently, Chen has been barred from leaving the island, while his son and daughter-in-law left for the United States a few days before the money-laundering issue was exposed by Taiwan media last week.

In related developments, Wu Shu-chen's sister-in-law was suspected of a suicide attempt by taking excessive sleeping pills after she was summonsed by prosecutors for the probe. But Wu Ching-mao denied it and said his wife had taken too many of the pills due to pressure.

Source: Xinhua

China's Arctic expedition team sets up temporary research station on ice

2008-08-22T07:51:00.004-07:00

China's third scientific Arctic expedition on board the icebreaker Xuelong set up a temporary research station on ice Thursday, to begin their research on geological and meteorological conditions in the area.

Because of excessive melting of Arctic ice, Xuelong came upon small floating blocks of ice even at such a high latitude, making it difficult for the scientists to find a large and intact expanse of ice to set up a station.

After over 10 days of observation, they finally found suitable ice, 1.8 m thick with an area of 0.5 square km, at around latitude84 degrees north and longitude 145 degrees west.

Zhang Haisheng, chief scientist of the team, said that this expedition was witness to the quick melting of ice in the Arctic and it is also the first time that China has set up a research station at such a high latitude. This will surely contribute a lotto research into the impact of Arctic climate change on the world, he added.

Xuelong left Shanghai on July 11 with 122 scientists and logistic staff on board.

During its 75-day expedition, the scientific team will study the polar region's distinctive maritime resources and air quality, and conduct comprehensive research on geological and meteorological conditions.

Source: Xinhua

Wrestling roundup: Taymazov caps men's freestyle wrestling with Olympic gold repeat

2008-08-22T07:51:00.003-07:00

Uzbekistani Artur Taymazov brought down the curtain on wrestling at the Beijing Olympic Games with a repeat of his gold medal performance four years ago, winning the men's 120kg category title at Beijing Olympic Games on Thursday.

Taymazov defeated junior world champion Bakhtiyar Akhmedov of Russia 2-0, becoming the third wrestler to successfully defend the title at the Beijing Games. The other two are Russian Mavelt Batirov in 60kg category and Buvaysa Saytiev in 74kg class.

"I have prepared for this moment for a long time. Nothing except a gold can satisfy me," said Taymazov. "I maintained a good stage last year but I couldn't manage to make achievement in World Championships. This year, I did it with my good form."

"Each of my opponents was strong but the semifinal opponent was the most difficult. Of course the final was difficult too."

The 29-year-old who also won a silver in the Sydney Games, said that "I can't compare my three Olympic Games. Each one was difficult for me. I would like to give this gold to my country people, and to those who love me, trust me and respect me. I'm happy I did not disappoint them."

The bronze at 120kg went to David Musulbes of Slovakia, who won gold for Russia at Sydney 2000 Games, and Marid Mutalimov of Kazakhstan.

In the 84kg class, 32-year-old former world champion Revazi Mindorshvili of Georgia rallied with seven unanswered points in the second and third periods for a 2-1 win over Yusup Abdulsalomov, who gave Tajikistanits its first medal in Olympic wrestling and also its second medal in Beijing.

And Mindorashvili who stunned gold-medal favourite Russian Georgy Ketoev in the semifinal, awarded Georgia its second wrestling gold and also its third at the Beijing Games.

"Abdusalomov was a very strong opponent and I lost to him in the only time we met," said Mindorashvili. "But the victory proved that I did better this time."

The bronze medals were won by world champion Ketoev and former European champion Taras Danko of Ukraine.

In the 96kg category, Shirvani Muradov of Russia scored a single-leg takedown and ran out the clock on the clinch in the second period to become the third straight Russian to win freestyle title in Beijing, defeating Taimuraz Tigiyev of Kazakhstan.

In all, Russia won six wrestling golds at the Beijing games, three in Greco-Roman and three in freestyle, which is one more than that they got in the Athens Games.

The bronze medals at 96kg went to former world champion Georgr Gogshelidze of Georgia and Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan.

Source:Xinhua

Wrestling Roundup: Russia men still dominates, Japan women repeats glory

2008-08-22T07:51:00.001-07:00

Russia continued its dominance in wrestling, one of world's oldest sports, at the Beijing Olympics, while Japanese female wrestlers made the same achievements as they did in Athens.

In particular, Russia topped the medal tally with six golds, three silvers and two bronzes, followed by Japan and Georgia with two golds. China, Uzbekistan, the United States, Canada, France, Turkey, Cuba and Italy got one each.

RUSSIAN MEN'S DOMINANCE

Before the Olympics, people expected to see Russia continue their ruling in men's freestyle wrestling, after it won six of seven titles in World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. At the Athens Games, Russia ranked first with 5-2-3, all golds from men's wrestling.

In all, Russia won six of eighteen wrestling golds at the Beijing Games, three in Greco-Roman and three in freestyle. They failed to move further in men's freestyle, while the Greco-Roman won one more than they had four years ago.

Nazyr Mankiev opened the gate of victory as he won men's Greco-Roman 55kg title, which was also the first gold of wrestling events at the Beijing Olympics. Islam-Beka Albiev of 60kg and Aslanbek Khushtov of 96kg separately triumphed in their categories, which let Russia win golds totally different from they won in Athens. Russia won Greco-Roman golds in 84kg and 120kg divisions.

Athens winner in freestyle 55kg Mavlet Batirov moved up to 60kg category in 2006 and easily won golds at Beijing. Buvaysa Saytiev retained his Olympic gold in 74kg. Rising star Shirvani Muradov replaced Athens champion Khadjimourat Gatadsalov to take the 96kg.

But these three gold won't cover the danger. Russian freestyle wrestlers are facing more challenges from around as they lost to win in 55kg, 84kg and 120kg, which were supposed to be as in their pockets because Russians got titles in these categories in the 2007 worlds.

JAPAN'S "FANTASTIC QUADRUPLE"

Saori Yoshida took gold in women's 55kg while Kaori Icho won 63kg. Chiharu Icho was runner-up in 48kg while Kyoko Hamaguchi lost to Chinese wrestler in semifinal and only grabbed a bronze.

Just as what they got in Athens.

The Japan's "Fantastic Four" may have fought their last Olympics together.

Sisters Chiharu and Kaori say they are considering retiring from the mat which has brought them four Olympic medals, on top of eight world titles.

"I can't imagine myself training with wrestling shoes on again," 26-year-old Chiharu said.

"The result was silver but I have learnt from wrestling more than what is worth the gold medal." said Chiharu, also a three-time world champion.

"I have walked together with Chiharu. And, if she quits, I will no longer have a goal to chase. I think the Beijing Games was my last." said Kaori, two years younger than her sister.

CHINA'S HISTORICAL BREAKTHROUGH

Before the Beijing Games, THE Chinese male wrestlers' best results was Shen Zetian's three bronze medals from Barcelona 1992 Games to Sydney 2000 Games.

Records changed when Chang Yongxiang took silver in men's Greco-Roman 74kg, defeating world champion Yavor Yanakiev of Bulgaria in the first round, to surprise Shen Zetian, who now is the head-coach of Chian Greco-Roman wrestling team.

Chang said, "I was so upset not to win China a gold although this is a best result of the men wrestlers in the Olympics."

Wang Xu defeated Kyoko Hamaguchi in the semifinal of women's 72kg at Athens Games, when women's wrestling made its Olympic debut, and eventually won the gold at the age of 19. Four years later, 20-year-old Wang Jiao, who replaced Wang Xu just before the Beijing Games, defeated Hamaguchi again in semifinal and seized the title after beating Stanka Zlateva of BUlgaria in final. This gold was Chinese first and only gold in wrestling.

"It is my great honour to win this gold medal for China. This is such a surprising victory," said Wang Jiao.

Xu Li of 55kg also won China a silver after losing to strong Saori Yoshida.

"The gold and two silvers are quite out of our expectations," said Zhou Jinqiang, one senior official in Chinese Wrestling Federation. "We have strong female wrestlers, but still not good enough to compete the Japanese. Greco-Roman wrestlers improved fast while freestyle wrestlers need improvements."

SWEDISH WRESTLER'S BRONZE STRIPPED BY IOC

Ara Abrahamian of Sweden refused to take the men's Greco-Roman 84kg bronze as he thought his loss to Andrea Minguzzi of Italy in semifinal was under the control of referees of International Wrestling Federation .

Abrahamian, silver medallist in the Athens Games, was enraged after being judged losing points to Minguzzi. The Swedish even posed physical threats to the head referee after failed verbal appeals.

He continued showing his uncontrolled rage by refusing the bronze medal he won later and walking down from the podium a few seconds into the victory ceremony.

The International Olympic Committee Disciplinary Commission announced on Aug. 16 that Abrahamian had been disqualified from the event.

Abrahamian and the Sweden NOC asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to investigate the controversial semifinal and CAS will hold a hearing on Friday.

Source:Xinhua

Games just another 'stop' for Li

2008-08-22T07:50:00.010-07:00

While most Olympians enjoy a break after finishing their competitions at the Olympics, Chinese tennis ace Li Na is packing for a trip to the US Open, which starts on Monday.

The 26-year-old Li says she needs to forget about the past few weeks and look to the future, even though she made Chinese tennis history by reaching the semifinals at the Games.

The buzz over the Olympic tennis competition is still in the air - fans are talking about it, Li's Olympic matches are being replayed on TV and the Chinese media are falling over each other to get interviews with the team.

Many believe this was the pinnacle of Li's career, but Li says it was just another "stop" on her busy tennis tour schedule.

"I understand how much the Olympics means to many people. But for me, as a professional tennis player, it is a just a tournament," Li said in an interview with China Daily yesterday.

She could choose to be happy after eliminating top seeds and Grand Slam champions, including Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams, en route to the semifinals.

But Li, a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist, showed how she has matured over the years, understanding that there is always another tournament and the importance of not getting hung up in the past.

"Unlike other sports that have only one or two major tournaments a year, there are tennis events almost every week," she said. "So it is quite normal for us to have joy and disappointment together after a few years. That is the uniqueness of tennis."

Li has no misconceptions about the state of tennis in China right now. Although she and many of her teammates like Zheng Jie and Yan Zi, who paired to win the women's doubles bronze, have advanced the sport considerably in China, Li knows there is still a lot to do before China is taken seriously in international tennis.

"I know we have drawn a lot of attention. But we are just at the beginning of the road," she said. "Check out our men's side. We are still way behind the US and Russia."

Li is not too sentimental about her Olympic performance, but she has much stronger feelings about her roller-coaster ride that brought her to the Beijing Games.

After returning from a rib inflammation that sidelined her for six months, Li reached another peak of her career by winning the Gold Coast in January and reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open. But a painful and untimely injury to her left knee almost spoiled her four years of preparation for the Olympics.

"When I found out about the injury, I was like 'Oh my God, how could that happen when the Olympics is so close?'"

The Chinese camp tried its best to help Li get back on the court as soon as possible, but the injury turned out to be bad enough to require surgery in the spring.

As she lay in a bed at a rehabilitation center in Germany, Li felt devastated.

"I had come a long way to get there. I was very upset with the injury and I thought I was done."

Her husband and coach Jiang Shan was her only company during her painful three-month rehabilitation. He provided much-needed support.

"We relied on each other. He was always there to support me and I am very, very grateful to him."

But the bad luck was seemingly not over for Li. For her first match in Beijing she was drawn against Kuznetsova, the world No 3 and former US Open winner whom she had beaten only once.

"I thought it was over," Li said with a laugh. "I thought it would be another one-and-out tour."

But against the odds, Li overcame the Russian in straight sets, going on to beat higher-ranked players like Williams.

Despite her shining achievements, Li, known for her explosive temper and sore relationship with the Chinese Tennis Association, found herself embroiled in controversy once again. A verbal complaint against spectators during her semifinal loss to Vera Zvonareva brought her condemnation from fans and officials alike.

"I thank them for giving me such big support all the way. But I have to say that some of the Chinese spectators don't know tennis courtesy. Sometimes, they cheer in the wrong time, which makes it difficult for players."

Li said she just tried to be herself, and was not worried about being the "model athlete" some people expect.

"In China, if you fit that criteria, you are regarded as a good athlete. Otherwise, you are just a bad one.

"I don't think it should be like that. I want to be free."

That's why she calls American great Andre Agassi her idol, not a very popular choice among current tennis stars who generally prefer the likes of Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

" looks so free and unrestrained. He can do anything he wants, like having his ear pierced or a weird hair cut.

"That's exactly what I want to be. For me, tennis is just a job."

Source: China Daily

Veteran Tian shows how far sport has come

2008-08-22T07:50:00.009-07:00

Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor chose beach volleyball because it was their passion. But China's Tian Jia chose it because she felt she had to.

"With my height, I found myself having little opportunity to realize my dream of representing China in indoor volleyball at the Olympics, so I went for something fresh," said the 27-year-old Tian, who won China's first-ever beach volleyball silver medal yesterday with partner Wang Jie in the team's third Olympics.

"I really love volleyball and I needed a way to climb up the national team ladder," Tian recalled.

As the sport swept through North America, South America and Europe following its Olympic debut in Atlanta 1996, Chinese coaches had a hard time adapting their players' indoor skills to the outdoor setting of the beach.

Tian started as an indoor volleyball player when she was 14. But as height and strength started becoming the most important attributes of women's volleyball players, she found it hard to make an impression.

So when China decided to build a beach volleyball national team out of its large pool of young volleyball players in 1998, Tian was determined to break into the new sport.

She became one of China's first full-time beach volleyball players, braving intense sun and rain without the convenience of a proper training base. The Spartan conditions scared off a lot of young players at first.

"We had lots of difficulty selecting players. Most of the young players preferred indoor. Training facilities for beach volleyball were very rough," said Miao Zhihong, who has been the head coach of China's beach volleyball team since the sport's inception in China.

"Sometimes, we even had to dig the cactus thorns out of our feet. We called them landmines," said the 41-year-old coach, a former beach volleyball national champion.

Two years later, Tian became the youngest player in beach volleyball competitions at the Sydney Games. Along with Zhang Jingkun, she made the maiden Olympic journey for China's beach volleyball. Her team finished 19th.

"I was such a green hand in my Olympic debut. I wasn't even near my current partner Wang Jie in her debut in Beijing. Players are much more confident," said Tian, a Tianjin native and a former member of the Chinese army.

At the Athens Games, Tian teamed up with Wang Fei. The pair played consistently in each of their pre-Olympic tournaments, but they were upset in the round of 16 and did not reach the quarterfinals.

With the Beijing Games ahead, the disappointment in Athens did not affect China's desire to excel in beach volleyball. Players like Tian were sent around the globe on the FIVB World Tour where they competed against players like Walsh/May-Treanor and Brazil's Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha.

Tian/Wang, ranked No 2 in the world, have finished only twice outside the top 10 of a tournament in the last two FIVB World Tour seasons. Two other Chinese pairs Xue Chen/Zhang Xi and Wang Lu/Zuo Man are also in the top 20, ranking No 4 and No 14, respectively. Xue/Zhang defeated Brazilian pair Ribeiro/Rocha to take the bronze medal yesterday.

But beach volleyball still has a long way to go to increase its numbers in China in the future. Before the Games, national coaches had fewer than 100 full-time players eligible for the Olympic lineup. Miao says much more work to be done to market the sport.

But the two medals won in Beijing are likely to attract more Chinese players and spectators. The packed stands and passionate crowds at the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground also showed the potential market in China for the sport.

Tian looked satisfied after winning her silver medal yesterday. The country's longest-serving beach volleyball star can now look forward to the next Olympics.

"If I am fit, I will try to make it," Tian said.

Source: China Daily

Chinese Olympic Committee former official: Olympics to witness budget surplus

2008-08-22T07:50:00.007-07:00

The Beijing Olympic Games budget will not register a deficit, according to Wei Jizhong, the Chinese Olympic Committee former general-secretary, on Thursday.

The total cost of the Games was recently estimated to be 2.2 billion U.S. dollars, exceeding the original 1.6 billion U.S. dollars estimation when bidding for the Olympics, Wei said, adding the revenue would also increase at the same time. He did not reveal the exact figure.

The 72 year old, president of the non-profit Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association, was previously head of the budget team for the 2008 Olympic Games Bidding Committee.

He said the revenue budget was previously 1.625 billion U.S. dollars, a little bit higher than the original 1.61 billion U.S. dollars budget. "We had missed some of the factors at that time."

"The first should be the security concerns. I made the budget before the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack in the United States and thus did not give much consideration to the non-conventional security factors," he said.

"The second is that we underestimated the change of currency exchange rate and prices. The third is the high-tech investment. We did not expect the LCD screen TVs cost so much."

However, the income also increased much more than originally forecast, Wei said.

"We used to be very conservative. We thought revenue of more than 1billion U.S. dollars was a bold forecast, which has been proved wrong."

The revenue included two parts. One was the allocation from the International Olympic Committee's income and the other China's own income.

The allocation from the IOC was about 49 percent, which was a large amount of money and had been increasing currently, Wei said.

He believed, for China itself, the number surely was even larger.

One direct evidence was the postponement of the Olympic lottery's release, which used to be aimed at profit but was now turned to publicizing the Olympics, he said.

"Thus, I am confident to say the Olympic budget would not be in a deficit," Wei said.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese stocks end week lower on concern over rising oil prices

2008-08-22T07:50:00.005-07:00

Chinese equities fell for a second consecutive day on Friday, led lower by transport and oil companies as rising world crude oil prices renewed concerns that higher fuel costs would erode corporate earnings.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.09 percent, or 26.49 points, to close at 2,405.23. In Shenzhen, the market dropped 1.71 percent, or 141.35 points, to close at 8,101.68.

Aggregate turnover shrank to 52.65 billion yuan , from Thursday's 68.4 billion yuan.

Losses outnumbered gains by 606-194 in Shanghai and 544-122 in Shenzhen.

Source:Xinhua

China has done the world a massive favor: Stockholm Water Prize Laureate

2008-08-22T07:50:00.003-07:00

Stockholm Water Prize Laureate John Anthony Allan has said that in terms of virtual water consumption and its relations with population, ‘China has done the world a most massive favor'.

Professor Allan from King's College London was presented the Stockholm Water Prize for his invention of the concept of Virtual Water on Thursday at the City Hall by Swedish Princess Victoria.

In an interview with People's Daily Online, Professor Allan explained the concept in simple words.

"If you produce a ton of wheat, you need a thousand ton of water. So a ton of wheat reflects the input of a thousand ton or cubic meter of water. If you can move that ton of wheat from one place where there is surplus of water to a place where there is a shortage of water, you can solve the problem of lack of both water and food in the imported country. "

But this concept has both positive and negative effects. Positive effects are that the cheap food produced in Europe and America in the international market has benefited those who imported them. Compared with producing locally, the imported food cost only half of the real price. The negative effect is that in very poor African area where the drought or flood are devastating, when they produce some food which supposed to sell at a higher price will face a setback from the flooding in of cheaper food from the western countries. This can be part of the reason why African countries haven't developed that fast since the 1960s and 1970s.

Eating more vegetables than beef

In terms of virtual water, a kilogram of rich cost 3400 litre of water while the water price or water print of a kilogram beef will be 15500 litre of water.

Professor Allan likes to ask such a question:

"Are you a five cubic meter a day person or a 2.5 cubic meter a day person?"
If you are a vegetarian, you need 2.5 cubic meter a day of water. This water not only includes the water you drink and take shower, but also includes the food you eat in terms of water.

Although western culture is that people tend to eat more beef, professor Allan and his wife are vegetarians. He hopes this can become a fashionable living style.

Due to the habit of eating hamburger, Americans consume around 6800 litres of virtual water every day, which is three times of that of a Chinese person.

Some people worry that the Chinese people who traditionally eat rice and vegetables, now tend to eat more beef and pork and other meat. The speed is increasing by 10% every year. They fear that this trend will add more burden to the global water consumption considering its large population.

"But I told my students that in fact considering demographic and consumption pattern,
China has done the world the most massive favor, due to your population policy. It has taken 300 million people out of the world population, and that is the population of the Middle East, the population of Europe and the population of the United States. You do not need to be conscious about your role in global water. You have been extraordinarily constructive. Some rights groups have been criticizing China for family planning policy. Here I am saying ‘Thank you very much.'" Said professor Allan.

Two methods can cause population low, one is the demographic policy and the other of course is the social and economic development. China has accelerated the process dramatically by having a population policy.

"So the water print idea is quite useful for drawing attention to a favorable outcome as far as the world concerned of your demographic policy." Said the professor.

With the virtual water concept, although China is planning to divert water from South to North, it is in fact that the north exports more water to the south.

China's water usage is efficient

Commenting on the efficiency of China's water management, professor Alan said he was astonished.

"Although China faces huge challenges in water, Chinese factories are providing the whole world with so many products. Your economy is a miracle. You have brought poor people out of poverty so rapidly. I am astonished at the performance of your economy, especially in water efficiency terms."

Good governance

Virtual water concept also involves in the concept of good governance which is different from governing by government.

He said the Chinese way of governing is quite fascinating.

Before reform and opening up, China only had public sectors or everything is state-owned. But after that, China put back private sector in the Chinese way and put civil society back in the Chinese way too. It is spectacular.

"Provided you can keep control of the private sector. You need to control it because this is the capitalist, in northern European and America, people just feed with addiction, this is a lethal potential, you don't get principles out of private sector, you get principles out of government and civil society. " said professor Allan.

He said the government should cooperate with the private sector to ensure the latter do the right thing.

In its Citation, the Nominating Committee wrote:

Professor Tony Allan is awarded for the Stockholm Water Prize for his unique, pioneering and long lasting work in education and raising the awareness internationally of interdisciplinary relationships between agricultural production, water use, economies and political processes. The introduction of new important concepts like "virtual water", the use of the "problemshed" concept to emphasize that the most serious water sector problems are remedied outside the water sector, that energy is the big issue and above all that understanding the political landscape is the most important factor in the water science/policy nexus has created both innovative new research and actions from both individuals, large organisations and NGOs. The improved understanding of trade and water management issues on local, regional and global scales are of the highest relevance for the successful and sustainable use of water resources.

Virtual Water: Key to Food and Water Security

People do not only consume water when they drink it or take a shower. Water is embedded in the production of everything that we eat, use, and do. Virtual water has major impacts on global trade policy and research, especially in water-scarce regions, and has redefined discourse in water policy and management. By explaining how and why nations such as the US, Argentina and Brazil export' billions of litres of water each year, while others like Japan, Egypt and Italy import' billions, the virtual water concept has opened the door to more productive water use. National, regional and global water and food security, for example, can be enhanced when water intensive commodities are traded from places where they are economically viable to produce to places where they are not. While studying water scarcity in the Middle East, Professor Allan developed the theory of using virtual water import, via food, as an alternative water "source" to reduce pressure on the scarcely available domestic water resources there and in other water-short regions.

Professor Allan introduced the "virtual water" concept in 1993.

By Xuefei Chen People's Daily Online correspondent in Stockholm.

Beijing's Olympic Legacies

2008-08-22T07:50:00.001-07:00

"Beijing has presented a wonderful Olympic Games, which can be seen a successful advertisement for China and the Chinese people," lauded Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, when he met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on August 20, on the sidelines of his attendance at the Games. "Beijing has set a very high standard for London to reach in its hosting the 2012 Olympic Games, but we will do our utmost to fulfill people's expectations," he added.

The scene is still vivid in people's memories, when four years ago, the Athens Olympics exposed to the world its ancient Olympian traditions and charming Aegean culture. People then exclaimed that the time-honored Greek intelligence unfolded in this Olympics could pose a great challenge to the next host country-- China, another civilization with an ancient history. In effect, they could not help but wonder, with such a perfect Olympics as a reference, what else China can do to impress the world.

It has long been a custom for host countries to create the most Olympic legacies using the host city as leverage to push forward the development in economy, culture and the society at large. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics, for instance, acted as a strong driving force for Japan's economic leap following the Second World War; and helped Japan claim a significant position in the world's economic system. In 1984, the U.S, as the host country for the Los Angeles Olympics, initiated a new concept--the Olympic Economy, which has since been adopted by all the following host countries as a basic Olympic concept. The idea of "State Public Relations" was first ushered in at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, and South Korea has since evolved from a developing country into an emerging and later booming economy.

What can Beijing leave to the world?

The question loomed ahead even when the International Olympic Committee awarded the Olympic bid to Beijing in 2001. What on earth helped Beijing beat other powerful competitors and win the bid?

"In addition to Beijing's capacity as a successful host, people feel more intrigued with its great potential, as nobody can envision what Beijing will be like seven years later. The unpredictability will largely augment people's curiosity in the potential paybacks that Beijing could bring to the world," said a then IOC officer.

The clouds of doubt dissipated on August 8, when the symbolic scroll of a Chinese painting was unfurled before people's eyes at the opening ceremony, shedding light on a perfect match of China's ancient civilization and modern science and technology. Facing the fine spectacle, people on site and in front of TV screen were to be convinced that China has huge potentials to be tapped into both in theory and in reality.

Some Western media remarked that "compared with China's entry into the WTO, hosting the Olympics will open a green channel for China to have all-round dialogue with the West. China's current robust economy will be conducive to global economic development.'

With three days remaining before the closing of the Olympics, many people have experienced great emotional shock for the duration of the Games; and have altered their old perspectives of China. It is more than possible that the misunderstandings born from the indigestion of the Chinese culture will be shaken, if not erased totally, from many people's mind.

China is now endeavoring to build a modern "silk road" linking all cultures, religions and ethnicities with great effort and sincerity.

By People's Daily Online

PIF dialogue partner's plenary opens with focus on environment

2008-08-22T07:49:00.009-07:00

The 20th Post-Forum Dialogue Partners ' Plenary opened here Thursday with focus on environment and resource protection.

The delegates are expected to hold discussions on environment and resources issues, as well as other regional and international issues as part of the agenda of the Pacific Islands Forum .

Niuean Premier Toke Talagi declared the opening of the plenary, welcoming the delegates traveling a long way for the meeting to improve their relationships and to "help each other, help the Pacific, help the countries."

Talagi said the meeting would discuss a number of issues, taking particular note of those being discussed by the Forum leaders.

Leaders from the 15 PIF countries concluded their two-day summit Wednesday, after discussions on climate change, food and fuel security and Fiji situation.

Since 1989, the PIF has held Post Forum Dialogues with key Dialogue Partners at ministerial level. The 14-member PFDP includes: Canada, China, European Union, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Britain and the United States.

After the plenary, Chinese delegation, led by Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi, will hold bilateral meetings with Pacific island nations.

Source:Xinhua

Forum SG: Work between Pacific Islands and China essential

2008-08-22T07:49:00.007-07:00

China's southwest quake-hit Sichuan Province is to add psychological counseling to the school curriculum to relieve possible post-quake mental stress of pupils.

More than 300 teachers would take their new posts as psychological tutors in primary and secondary schools in 39 counties and cities after attending a training session slated for September, Thursday's Chengdu Business Daily quoted the provincial education department as saying.

The 39 counties and cities, including the Aba Prefecture where the epicenter Wenchuan is, are the places hit hardest by the magnitude-8.0earthquake in southwest China.

Primary schools must have nine lectures while middle school and high schools must have ten lectures in one term, said the Sichuan Education Department on Wednesday.

The lectures, which feature group discussion, role play, games, and life value analysis, were designed to help survivors cope with possible post-quake syndromes, said Liu Li, a section chief with the department.

Students could learn the basics of psychological self-adjustment, and their psychological status would be recorded during the class, she said, adding those detected with serious psychological problems would be transferred to medical institutions.

More teachers would be trained to meet the increasing demand of psychological tutors, said He Shaoyong, deputy director of the department.

The program is to begin in the area worst affected by the quake, and later rolled out in other parts of the province, he said..

The aim is to have at least one psychological tutor for every 1,500 students within five years, he said.

In Sichuan Province, no specified psychology class is designed in school curriculum. Students are encouraged to cope with their inner problems with the help of seniors including teachers and parents.

Source: Xinhua

2008-08-22T07:49:00.005-07:00

A glimpse of Chinese calligraphy

2008-08-22T07:49:00.003-07:00

The capital city is displaying works of calligraphy on the walls of subway stations for the entertainment of visitors to the Olympics.

Here are some facts about Chinese calligraphy.

ORIGINS OF CHARACTERS: The earliest identifiable characters appeared on bones, tortoise shells and bronze ware during the Shang Dynasty . They are called Jia Gu Wen.

Calligraphy evolved along with characters but did not emerge as a popular art form until the Wei and Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties .

MAJOR CATEGORIES: Seal script, or zhuan shu; official script, or li shu; regular script, or kai shu; running script, or xing shu, and cursive script, or cao shu.

FAMOUS CALLIGRAPHERS: Wang Xizi, Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhengqing and Liu Gongqun, who were well known for pioneering their own styles.

FOUR TREASURES OF THE STUDY: Brush, paper, ink stick and ink stone. To write characters in ancient times, these four things were essential.

-- BRUSHES: Can be hard, soft or mixed. Their handles are usually made of bamboo, wood, lacquer or porcelain; ivory or jade handles are rare and precious.

Hu Writing Brushes from Huzhou City, east Zhejiang Province, are regarded as the best quality. The shafts are usually made of red sandalwood, mottled bamboo, white porcelain or even ivory.

The brush features goat hair, brownish rabbit hair, stiff weasel hair or a mixture of goat and weasel hair.

-- INK STICKS: A unique pigment is used for Chinese traditional calligraphy. Clean water is needed to grind the ink stick. Press the stick hard and rub lightly, slowly and evenly against the ink slab until a thick, liquid ink forms.

HUI MO: Also known as Anhui ink stick, it is the most famous. Made of pines that grow on Huangshan Mountain in central Anhui Province, it is hard and exudes a pleasant scent.

-- PAPER: Quality papers include Xuan paper, produced in Xuanzhou, in Anhui Province, which is considered the best. The paper is soft and fine textured with a good tensile strength and mothproof quality.

-- INK STONES: Features common to all quality ink slabs are the stone's hardness and fineness. Only on a hard, smooth stone, can liquid ink be produced easily.

Duan ink slabs in Zhaoqing City of south Guangdong Province are the best-known. The slabs are made from natural stone found in remote mountains. A good quality ink stick with Duan ink stone will work together to produce extremely durable ink. Enditem

Source: xinhua

Focus switchesto Paralympics

2008-08-22T07:49:00.001-07:00

As the Olympics draws to a close, Beijing is gearing up to host its next big sporting event, the Paralympic Games, which starts on Sept 6, a tourism spokeswoman said yesterday.

All hotels ranked three-star and above will provide special barrier-free parking spaces, toilets and rooms, Xiong Yumei, deputy director of the Beijing tourism administration, told a press conference at the Beijing International Media Center.

The city's tourism bureau has spent 2 million yuan on upgrading its facilities for people with physical and visual disabilities, she said.

The city's 16 contracted hotels for the Paralympics will provide a total of 174 barrier-free rooms, she said.

Authorities have also spent 67 million yuan to provide barrier-free access and other services for wheelchair users at 60 tourist attractions in the city, including the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace, Xiong said.

Yang Xiaodong, manager of the Temple of Heaven, said 60 ramps have been built within the temple complex to make it easier for people in wheelchairs to get around. These will not, however, affect the venue's World Heritage status.

Some workers at the temple have also been taught sign language, he said.

"All of the Paralympic athletes and officials will be able to enjoy China's best kept and largest group of constructions for holding memorial ceremonies to heaven, with no obstacles," he said.

Meanwhile, despite the Paralympics being just around the corner, prices at some of Beijing's best hotels have been on the slide, according to one travel website.

Standard rooms at one five-star hotel for next Wednesday, for example, are being offered at just 600 yuan, compared with a rate of 3,000 yuan for tomorrow, Ctrip.com.

"But this price plunge was inevitable, as a lot of new hotels opened before the Olympics and the city's total number of rooms grew by 9,800," the website's Wu Jiaoli said yesterday.

"After Sunday's closing ceremony for the Games, a lot of athletes, officials, reporters and spectators will leave," she said.

"But this will create an attractive environment for post-Olympic tourism in Beijing," she said.

The average price today for a room at a five-star hotel is between 3,000 and 8,000 yuan, while prices at four-star hotels range from 1,000 to 3,000 yuan, both at least double what they were last August, she said.

Source: China Daily

School curriculum to add psychological counseling in quake-hit Sichuan Province

2008-08-22T07:48:00.011-07:00

China on Wednesday approved a draft law on the management of electronic waste, aiming to reduce the pollution it causes.

The proposed regulation on the recycling and treatment of used electronic products and home appliances received approval at an executive meeting of the State Council, China's cabinet.

The country will set up a mechanism to encourage recycling and centralized treatment of electronic waste. This will be supported by a special fund, according to the proposed law.

It also stipulated the respective responsibilities of manufacturers, retailers, repair and customer service providers and recycling companies in regards to the collection and treatment of electronic waste. These included used TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers, among others.

The draft was approved following years of debate over the issue in China, whose 1.3 billion people and rapid improvement of living standards made it one of the world's major manufacturers and consumers of electronic products.

With the rapid economic and social development and improvement of people's living standards, electronic waste has increased largely. It was therefore necessary to make a special law to regulate the treatment of such waste to encourage a better use of resources, while preventing and reducing environmental pollution, according to the meeting.

The meeting also approved a draft on the import and export of "genetic resources" of livestock and poultry. It aimed to promote the "sustainable development of China's animal husbandry" sector.

The regulation stipulated certain conditions where the import and export of the resources could be allowed, and the cooperation between Chinese and foreign researchers could be approved.

Source: Xinhua

China quake death toll rises one to hit 69,226

2008-08-22T07:48:00.009-07:00

The death toll from the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province and its neighboring region increased by one from Monday's figure to reach 69,226 as of Thursday noon, according to a statement released by the State Council Information Office.

The number of people listed as missing and injured remained unchanged and stood at 17,923 and 374,643 respectively.

As of Thursday noon, a total of 1,486,405 survivors had been relocated.

Among the 96,544 who had been hospitalized for injuries, 92,686have been discharged, the statement said.

Government spending on relief and reconstruction had exceeded 66.92 billion yuan , including 59.74 billion yuan from the central budget and 7.17 billion yuan from the local budget.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, domestic and foreign donations had reached 59.28 billion yuan in cash and goods by Thursday noon. Of this, 24.15 billion yuan had been forwarded to quake-hit areas.

About 1.58 million tents, 4.87 million quilts, 14.1 million garments, 3.16 million tonnes of fuel and 6.76 million tonnes of coal had been sent to the quake-hit areas, it said.

As of Wednesday, relief workers had built 658,400 temporary houses and another 2,600 were being installed.

Between Monday noon and Thursday noon, 611 aftershocks at or below magnitude 3.9 were monitored in the quake zone, while no aftershock at or above 4.0 magnitude were reported, according to the China Earthquake Administration. A total of 25,270 aftershocks had been detected since May 12.

The statement said 392,056 tonnes of grain and 9,435 tonnes of edible oil have been allocated to the quake zones from central reserves as of Wednesday. It also said that 127,937 of the 138,960businesses damaged had reopened.

And 32,398 km of the 37,028 km ruptured telecommunication optical cable had been restored.

As of Thursday noon, 175,858 survivors had found jobs outside of the area, while another 671,774 were employed in their home towns.

Source: Xinhua

Medical services to be fully restored in quake zone in Aug.

2008-08-22T07:48:00.007-07:00

Temporary quarters for all medical institutions in southwest China's quake zone will be finished by the end of this month, so as to fully restore medical service, the Ministry of Health said here on Thursday.

As of Aug. 10, about 70 percent of the temporary structures needed in Sichuan Province had been built in the province's 42 quake-hit areas.

Construction work is almost done in Shaanxi Province's hardest-hit city, Baoji, and Hanzhong District, and work is going well in Gansu Province, according to the ministry.

Work has gone slowly in a few places because of transport problems. The ministry said it was coordinating among different departments to ensure medical service.

Under the rebuilding plan, the medical care system will be restored by the end of 2008.

The reconstruction of damaged infrastructure and medical facilities is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2009, and all medical service functions are scheduled to be restored by the end of 2010.

The plan involves the rebuilding of 169 hospitals, 63 disease control centers, 52 maternal and child health centers, 1,263 town and township clinics, seven drug inspection agencies and 67 other institutions.

About 12 billion yuan is said to be needed to restore medical services.

The May 12 quake is known to have killed more than 69,000 people, and it also injured hundreds of thousands of people and damaged the health care system, with hospitals destroyed and staff killed.

Source: Xinhua

Chinese netizens adore American gymnast Shawn Johnson

2008-08-22T07:48:00.005-07:00

16-year-old American gymnast Shawn Johnson recently became very popular among Chinese netizens. She has been chosen by netizens as "the most popular foreign Olympic athlete." Recently, major Chinese BBS and forums have recorded many people talking about this young gymnast.

Many Chinese netizens have expressed their love for her in forums. One netizen wrote: "congratulations to her on her achievements in the Olympic Games. She won the gold medal and won the respect of the people! We want her smile in Beijing to spread to every corner of the world, and let the world feel the warmth and charm of the Beijing Olympic Games!

A netizen called chris_guo said, I watched the entire gymnastics individual all-round competition, and found this girl to be quite adorable. Her moves are elegant, and her smile comes from the depths of her heart. Chinese netizens love you very much :)

Another netizen wrote at the forum that as you watch her enter the stadium you see from her gestures and posture that she takes it seriously; and she is lovely. You see her way of applauding others is really unique. So, like a little angel, she is loved by everyone!

Shawn Johnson entered the gymnastics school run by Qiao Liang when was 6 years old. Qiao Liang says what makes Shawn different is that she really likes gymnastics very much.

In addition to gymnastics, Shawn is very interested in reading and writing. Her favorite writers are Hemingway and Faulkner. Shawn read a lot of books to encourage her to move forward. She also enjoys painting.

By People's Daily Online

President Hu meets Brown on Olympics, bilateral ties

2008-08-22T07:48:00.003-07:00

Chinese President Hu Jintao shakes hands with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during their meeting in Beijing, China, Aug. 22, 2008. Brown arrived in Beijing on Friday morning to watch the Games and attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Chinese President Hu Jintao met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown here on Friday to exchange views of the Beijing Olympic Games and explore room for further cooperation in Games-related issues and other fields.

Hu extended a warm welcome to Brown, who arrived in Beijing on Friday morning to watch the Games and attend the closing ceremony scheduled for Sunday night, and expressed thanks for the support the British government and people have rendered for the Beijing Games.

The Chinese president also congratulated Brown on the British athletes' outstanding performances at the Games.

The hosting of the Summer Olympics has offered a good opportunity to deepen the cooperation between Beijing and London, Hu said. "China is ready to share its own experience in this regard with Britain, and we wish the London Games in 2012 a success."

Brown congratulated Hu on the "spectacular success" of the Beijing Olympiad. "With the whole world watching, the Beijing Olympic Games have captured the imagination of the whole global community," he said, also speaking highly of Chinese athletes' outstanding performances.

Beijing has "set a new standard" that London will "seek to follow", said Brown. Britain is willing to refer to China's successful experience in hosting the Games as well as in sports where China enjoys advantage, in an effort to host a high-level sports rally in London in 2012.

Sino-British relations have maintained a good momentum of development and deserve to be cherished by both sides, Hu said. "It is hoped the two countries work together to intensify reciprocal cooperation and promote the sound and stable development of their all-round strategic partnership."

The president suggested that two countries maintain close communication and coordination on major international issues through multilateral and bilateral channels and push for the proper settlements of focal issues.

In addition, China and Britain should intensify their cooperation to moving ahead the reopening of Doha round of World Trade Organization talks, and promote the steady development of the world economy, said Hu.

The Chinese president also called for new areas and new means of cooperation to cope with climate change, bolster energy security, and better protect the Earth, a common home for all the world's people.

Brown said Britain hopes to enhance cooperation with China to boost science and technology, tackle climate change, utilize nuclear energy and renewable energies, help African countries accomplish the United Nations' millennium goals, push forward world trade talks, build an open and stable global trade system, and forge ahead the reform of international mechanism.

During the meeting Hu thanked Brown for his gesture of support for the Beijing Games by greeting the Beijing Olympic flame at his residence at No. 10 Downing Street when it was relayed to London in April.

Hu also voiced gratitude for Britain's valuable assistance and support to China after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Wenchuan County in the southwestern Sichuan Province on May 12.

Source: Xinhua

Chinese vice premier meets Dow Chemical's Chairman and CEO

2008-08-22T07:48:00.001-07:00

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiangmet here Friday with Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer of the Dow Chemical Company.

Zhang spoke highly of Dow Chemical's efforts on exchanges with China, expressing the hope that the company could further strengthen the technical cooperation with China in such fields as chemical industry, production safety and environmental protection.

Liveris said he is willing to exert a positive influence on the development of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation.

Liveris, who is here at the invitation of Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries , is the new chair of the U.S.-China Business Council.

Source: Xinhua

1 billion tons of magnetite found in Tibet

2008-08-22T07:47:00.009-07:00

According to the news released by the official website of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Jiangxi Province's Geological Survey found masses of magnetite in Tibet. The ore content is as high as 50% to 60%; and the potential iron ore resources could reach more than 1 billion tons, which is a rare occurence in the country.

Xu Xiangchun, an expert in this field, said that Chinese magnetite is generally small and the ore content low. At present, a large amount of iron ore in China is mainly imported. Under these conditions, the discovery of magnetite in Tibet is highly significant.

By People's Daily Online

Fifth Baikal Economic Forum to be held in Irkutsk in Sept.

2008-08-22T07:47:00.007-07:00

An expert on Beijing Olympic economy said here on Thursday that the capital city's economy will not be subject to fluctuation after the Olympic Games.

Chen Jian, executive president of Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association, said at a press conference at the Main Press Center that after the Beijing Olympic Games, Beijing's economy will shape up a development pattern featuring the sectors of high technology, finance, services and culture.

"Investment in urban infrastructure will remain intensive and the new investment is enough to continue to push economic growth and shun potential post-Games economic fluctuation," said Chen.

Taking subway transport as an example, Beijing had merely 54 kilometers of subway in 2001, but it extended to nearly 200 km in July 2008 and is expected to reach 561 km in 2015. Investment in this field will continue, he said.

"Some Olympic host cities suffered economic fluctuation in the post-Games period, merely because their investment into infrastructure construction was excessive compared with the city's size. Beijing will try to avoid that situation," he said.

He said that in general housing prices in Beijing were rational when the city prepared the Olympic Games. From the end of 2007 to the first half of 2008, the city's real estate market entered a period of readjustment, and the period may be prolonged after the Games. On the other hand, huge housing demand would support the city's housing prices.

Source: Xinhua

HK stocks fall sharply on retreating China shares

2008-08-22T07:47:00.005-07:00

Hong Kong stocks fell sharply on Thursday and shed its huge gains on Wednesday amid the absence of official news on the economic stimulus package by authorities in the Chinese mainland.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 169.01 points, or 0.81 percent, to open at the day's highest 20,762.25 and further widened its losses afterwards before plunging 539.2 points, or 2. 58 percent, to close at 20,392.06, just off the day's lowest 20, 350.48.

Turnover fell to 55.74 billion HK dollars from Wednesday's 62.33 billion HK dollars .

Among 43 components of the Hang Seng Index, declining shares outnumbered advancing issues 39 to 3, with China Overseas unchanged at 12.26 HK dollars.

Market heavyweight HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, lost 2.56 percent to 1178 HK dollars, dragging the index by 86.49 points alone.

China Mobile, the largest stock measured by market capitalization, weakened 3.7 percent to 91 HK dollars as its new subscribers fell 5.9 percent from June to 7.1 million in July, the second lowest growth this year.

Cheung Kong, one of Hong Kong largest house developers controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, dropped 2.79 percent to 101.1 HK dollars after its half-year profits went down 35 percent to 12.02 billion HK dollars and beat market expectation. Hutchison, another conglomerate controlled by Li Ka-shing, dipped 1.33 percent to 70.55 HK dollars after it announced a better-than-expectation profits of 10.69 billion HK dollars, down 62.8 percent due to lower exceptional gains to a year ago.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the market's sole operator, dropped 2.61 percent to 96.9 HK dollars.

Local property companies in Hong Kong all shed their gains on Wednesday. SHK Property, the largest house developer in Hong Kong, shed 3.92 percent to 100.6 HK dollars. New World Development fell 4.48 percent to 11.1 HK dollars. Sino Land lost 4.5 percent to 12.32 HK dollars. Henderson Land slumped 4.15 percent to 43.9 HK dollars. Hang Lung Property went down 3.21 percent to 22.6 HK dollars.

China Enterprise Index, or H-shares composed of companies registered in the Chinese mainland, retreated 262.66 points, or 2.35 percent, to 10,916.5 as stock markets in the Chinese mainland weakened more than 3 percent amid the absence of official news on the economic stimulus package by authorities in the Chinese mainland.

Energy companies were mixed as oil prices rose above 116 U.S. dollars a barrel in Asia due to falling gasoline supplies in the United States. PetroChina, or the country's largest oil producer, fell 2.53 percent to 9.64 HK dollars. Sinopec, Asia's largest oil refiner, went down 3.68 percent to 7.59 HK dollars. CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil producer, outperformed the entire market by adding 0.56 percent to 10.7 HK dollars.

China's property companies listed in Hong Kong were lower. Country Garden dipped 0.81 percent to 3.67 HK dollars. R&F Properties retreated 1.68 percent to 12.9 HK dollars. KWG Property lost 2.8 percent to 3.47 HK dollars. Greentown China dipped 0.18 percent to 5.59 HK dollars.

China's banks and insurance companies listed in Hong Kong were all weaker. ICBC, China's largest lender, lost 2.1 percent to 5.12HK dollars. Bank of China, the country's second largest bank, went down 2.13 percent to 3.21 HK dollars. China Construction Bank fell2.29 percent to 5.97 HK dollars. Bank of Communications shed 2.56 percent to 8.75 HK dollars. China Merchants Bank weakened 0.8 percent to 24.95 HK dollars.

China Life, the country's largest insurer, also lost 2.53 percent to 27 HK dollars. Ping An, the second largest insurance company, moved down 2.47 percent to 51.4 HK dollars.

Source: Xinhua

Gov't think tank economists rubbish talk of multi-billion yuan economic intervention

2008-08-22T07:47:00.003-07:00

Economists with Chinese government think tanks have rubbished JPMorgan Chase's claim that the Chinese government plans a multi-billion yuan intervention to boost the economy.

"Never heard of it", the economists were reported as saying by the Shanghai-based National Business Daily on Thursday.

Jia Kang, head of the research institute of the Ministry of Finance and Jin Dongsheng, deputy director of the research institute of State Administration of Taxation said they did not know anything about the plan.

Frank Gong, chief economist with JPMorgan Chase, said on Tuesday in a report that the Chinese leadership was considering a stimulus plan of 200 billion yuan to 400 billion yuan . The plan would embrace tax cuts and measures to boost capital and real estate markets, he claimed.

On Wednesday stocks jumped more than 7 percent, recording theirlargest one-day gain in four months. Some attributed the surge partly to the talks about economic stimulus package.

Economists cast doubts on Gong's judgment.

Zuo Xiaolei, chief economist with Galaxy Securities, defined the speculation as "nonsense" and said the talk was possibly based on the government increasing the 2008 credit quota by 5 percent for nationwide commercial banks, and 10 percent for local commercial banks earlier this month, which aimed at easing the financing difficulties of small- and medium-size enterprises.

Business insiders have already worked out the budget for this policy to be 200 billion yuan, according to Zuo Xiaolei.

Chen Daofu, an official with the Development Research Center of the State Council said the government needed legal basis and procedures to spend such a huge amount of money, but he did not deny the possibilities.

"The Chinese economy is not at stake, so I don't think it's necessary to adopt a fiscal stimulus package. Leading commercial banks still posted solid earnings in the first half of the year", said Huo Deming, an economics professor at Peking University.

However, no official comment from the government is available.

On Thursday, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 3.63 percent on no follow-ups for the market-boost talks and on demand for profit taking.

Source: Xinhua

Hong Kong's consumer prices rise 6.3% in July

2008-08-22T07:47:00.001-07:00

Hong Kong's consumer prices rose 6.3 percent in July over the same month last year, and were up on June's 6.1 percent rise, the Census and Statistics Department said in its latest statistics released on Thursday.

The worsening inflation was mainly due to increases in the price of fresh vegetables and private housing rentals, according to the department.

The headline inflation rate of 6.3 percent was the same as the underlying rate because the effect of the rates concession by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government was offset by a similar relief measure in July last year.

In July, food prices excluding meals bought away from home jumped 19.7 percent from the same month of last year. Foods with large price hikes were rice , beef , canned meat , fresh-water fish , edible oils , pork , fresh vegetables and other meat .

Year-on-year increases were also recorded in electricity, gas and water , housing , meals bought away from home , miscellaneous goods , transport , clothing and footwear and alcoholic drinks and tobacco .

Only the price of durable goods fall 1 percent year on year.

The department said the inflation outlook for the rest of the year was "rather uncertain" as food and energy prices in the international markets remain elevated compared with a year earlier though they had eased somewhat more recently.

The earlier surges in private housing rents would also be increasingly reflected in the consumer price inflation in the coming months, the department said.

However, the improvement in labor productivity and the expected moderation in the rate of economic growth in the period ahead should provide some alleviation effect, according to the department.

The relief measures announced in the HKSAR government's 2008-09 Budget and by the Chief Executive in July would also help lower the headline inflation later this year, according to the department.

Source: Xinhua

Macao registers over 2.6 mln visitor arrivals in July

2008-08-22T07:46:00.004-07:00

Macao's visitor arrivals amounted toover 2.6 million in July 2008, a year-on-year increase of 20.7 percent, according to the figures released Thursday by the city's Statistics and Census Service .

The figures showed that the majority of the visitors came from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and China's Taiwan, which accounted for 57.6 percent, 29.2 percent and 4.3 percent of the total, respectively. Same-day visitors took up 52.6 percent of the total arrivals, at 1,401,478.

In July, visitors from the mainland and Hong Kong rose by 29.9 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively, while those from China's Taiwan decreased by 7 percent, according to the DSEC.

As for the first seven months of 2008, visitor arrivals reached over 17 million, up by 18.5 percent year-on-year. Visitors from the mainland and Hong Kong went up by 27.5 percent and 0.2 percent respectively, while those from China's Taiwan dropped by 4.7 percent. Same-day visitors made up 52.9 percent of the total arrivals.

Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea went up by 12.5 percent over the first seven months of 2007 to over 5.5 million, and those by land and air grew by 21.5 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively, according to the DSEC.

Source: Xinhua

National tax revenue increased 13.8% last month

2008-08-22T07:46:00.003-07:00

The national tax revenue this July was 532.325 billion RMB, 13.8% higher than the same period last year. However, the rate of increase is 19.3% lower than the same period last year; and 19.7% lower than in the first half of this year.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the reasons for the significant decline in tax rate this July is as follows: Firstly, China has carried out various macro-control policies to prevent the national economy from overheating and safeguard against inflation. As these policies become more effective, the rate of economic increase slows down.

Secondly, some tax policies have been adjusted, such as the carrying out of new business income tax, the reduced rate of the stock dealing stamp-tax, and higher standards for imposing personal income tax.

Finally, the one-off special element, which caused the rapid increase in tax revenue during the first half this year, no longer exists.

By People's Daily Online

ICBC becomes most profitable bank in world

2008-08-22T07:46:00.001-07:00

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , the country's largest lender, said on Thursday its first half after-tax profit totaled 64.88 billion yuan , which made it the world's most profitable bank.

The earnings marked a year-on-year increase of 56.75 percent during the first six months, the bank said in a statement.

ICBC said the biggest profit came on greater fee incomes and better operations to evade risks from the U.S. subprime crisis, which has ravaged profitability in many of ICBC's international competitors.

Total assets hit 9.40 trillion yuan as of June 30, up 8.2 percent from the end of 2007. Earnings per share reached 0.19 yuan.

Non-performing loans accounted for 2.41 percent of total credit volume at the end of June, down 0.33 percentage points from the end of 2007, while its capital adequacy ratio was 12.46 percent.

Its shares declined 2.86 percent to 4.76 yuan on the Shanghai bourse while the Hong Kong-traded shares closed 2.1 percent lower to 5.12 HK dollars.

In a previous report released last month, ICBC expected its unaudited first half net profit to jump more than 50 percent from a year earlier to over 61.26 billion yuan.

Source: Xinhua

Games souvenirs will go on sale next month

2008-08-22T07:45:00.005-07:00

Parlaympic paraphenalia will go on sale at Beijing's Olympic souvenir stores from next month, ahead of the Games' start on Sept 6, an official said yesterday.

"About 70 percent of goods on sale in September will celebrate the Paralympic Games," Wang Jian, general manager of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Flagship Store, said.

Paralympics licensed products in more than 10 categories, including clothing, toys, pens and mugs, are under production he said, adding that both Beijing Olympic and Paralympic licensed products will remain on sale until March.

The flagship store in Gongmei Mansion on Wangfujing street has been serving an average 60,000 customers a day, 20 percent of them foreigners, since the Games opened, Wang said.

"We expect even more before the closing ceremony," he said.

In anticipation of the influx, from today the store will extend its hours of business from 12 hours to 14 hours for the next four days.

The store has sold 400 million yuan worth of goods over the past year, with daily takings during the Games averaging out at about 3 million yuan, Wang said.

"Both domestic and overseas customers have been coming in to buy Fuwa," salesperson Wang Qiuxia said.

But more expensive souvenirs, such as the gold and silver miniatures of the Bird's Nest, which cost about 10,000 yuan, have also been selling well because they are collectors' items, a salesperson surnamed Zhou said.

Between 2005 and the end of last year, the total revenue generated from sales of Beijing Olympic licensed products was over $700 million, BOCOG said earlier.

Source: China Daily

People of Sichuan follow Olympics

2008-08-22T07:45:00.003-07:00

Shi Sha, a 22-year-old tourist from Huangshi, Hubei province, on Tuesday visited the irrigation project here, which was damaged in the May 12 earthquake.

"I was impressed when I saw people watching the Olympics on TV in front of shops on both sides of the street and the Nanqiao Bridge near the 2,200-year Dujiangyan, which is the world's oldest irrigation project still in operation," Shi said.

"So many people were drinking beer and watching TV it was hard to believe the quake wreaked havoc in the city," he said.

The Dujiangyan irrigation project, which is on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, is a famous visitor attraction, as it was key to Sichuan's development by diverting water from the Chengdu plains and turning the city into one of the country's granaries, he said.

Wang Jin, deputy mayor of Dujiangyan, said many locals in the city had been glued to their TV sets since the Olympic torch relay visited Sichuan on Aug 3.

"Some have even gone to Qinhuangdao and Beijing to watch the events live," he told China Daily.

Wang Xiuqun, a farmer from the town of Yutang in Dujiangyan, said that just before the May 12 quake, she booked three tickets for the Olympic football match between Italy and Honduras in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, on Aug 7.

Her house collapsed in the quake, but after she and her family moved to a prefabricated home built for them by the government, she decided to go to see the game.

After watching the match, Wang, her husband and their son visited the resort of Beidaihe, where they saw the sea for the first time in their lives.

"The next day, we went to Beijing for two days, and visited Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City and Wangfujing," Wang said.

Because of my accent, people asked where I came from. When they learned we came from the quake zone, they asked us lots of questions and were impressed with our optimism toward life," she said.

Zhang Jian is a 51-year-old farmer from the village of Huangli in the Sichuan city of Pengzhou, also lost his home in the May 12 quake.

For the following two months, he and his family lived in tents, but last month moved to a prefab in Xiamen.

Feeling more at home, the family of four decided to go to Beijing to watch the Games.

"We didn't have any tickets, so we just looked at the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube from a distance," Zhang said.

"Then we took our first ever ride on the subway. We just wanted to feel the ambience of Beijing during the Olympics."

Last month, people enjoyed 70-80 percent discounts on air tickets from Beijing to Chengdu, but now they get only 20 percent because so many Chengdu people have arrived in Beijing for the Olympics, Deng Gongli, deputy secretary of the Chengdu municipal government, said.

Source: China Daily

Elderly volunteer full of passion

2008-08-22T07:45:00.001-07:00

Grey-haired Chang Zhifu stands out from the young volunteers working as guides in Xidan Culture Square, one of the capital city's booming business districts.

"Welcome to Beijing. I am an Olympic volunteer," Chang said on Tuesday to Carhen Winston, a tourist from Washington DC.

"It's amazing to hear a 66-year-old Chinese lady who can speak good English," Winston said.

In order to become a volunteer in Beijing for the Olympics, Chang began to study English and sign language from scratch a year ago.

"There is an old Chinese saying that says however old you are, a person should continue to learn, and what I have to do is to put in more effort," Chang said.

Every day she carries two booklets, one for English and the other for sign language. The time she spends on the bus is "always good for revising".

Chang is often invited to teach sign language to young volunteers. "Go, China!" is always the first sign she teaches.

"Granny Chang is a minor celebrity here, because of her hard work and Olympic spirit. We just want her to have a short break." Wang Hao, the leader of the volunteer team said.

Ever since Beijing won its bid for the Games in 2001, Olympic fever has been a part of Chang's life.

Every morning, her first job is to water the flowers in order to "clear the air for the green Olympics".

"You will never know what questions tourists will ask. There is never too much preparation, once you wear the volunteer polo shirt of blue and white resplendent with a smiley face badge." Chang said.

An old man asked her, "What does the word zhanyun mean on the decorated archway?"

When the other volunteers did not know what to say, Chang said: "It means looking toward the clouds."

Chang has done a lot of homework on the cultural background of the service sites.

"There are 38 service sites in Xicheng district, all of which have their own history. I have read a lot of material on most of them." Chang said.

"We should learn from Granny Chang, because of her serious attitude." Wang, the team leader said.

"They are the best volunteers I have ever seen, and their smiles make me feel comfortable," Peter Gorsa, an athlete from Croatia, said.

There are 1.7 million volunteers in Beijing for the Olympics, 70 percent of whom are aged below 35.

"Everyone can be a volunteer, even without the uniform and card, as long as you have a heart for serving people," Chang said.

Source: China Daily

Sacred Wudang Mountain

2008-08-22T07:44:00.011-07:00

Wudang Mountain, located in Shiyan in western Hubei province, is both a famous scenic spot and a holy site of Taoism, China's indigenous religion.

The mountain is a famous Taoist center in China with a long history of Taoist practices and profound Taoist culture.

Taoists believe that the legendary Emperor Zhenwu, one of the most influential gods in Taoism, practiced austerities and ascended to heaven as an immortal in the mountain.

Every year, Taoist communities in the mountain hold grand ceremonies to celebrate Emperor Zhenwu's birthday on March 3 of the Chinese Lunar Calendar and his ascension to heaven on September 9 of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

Visiting the temples of Wudang to burn incense for Emperor Zhenwu became popular in the Song Dynasty , with tens of thousands of pilgrims journeying to the mountain each year.

As the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty highly esteemed Wudang, the government granted the mountain the titles of "Taiyue" and "Xuanyue," meaning "the country's most sacred mountain".

Most groups of Taoist pilgrims have names related to Wudang or the gods they believe in.

Before Taoist pilgrims started their journey to Wudang Mountain, they would first hold ceremonies to tell gods of their pilgrimage.

They would then visit their ancestors' graves to honor the dead. After that, they would take a bath and wear clean clothes and set out with the other members of a pilgrimage.

Among Chinese, burning incense in a temple has always been a solemn and grave activity.

It is especially the case for pilgrims of Wudang Mountain. They have a set of strict customs and rituals to follow during the ceremonies.

They must show serious facial expressions and be cautious in making speeches.

The tradition of making pilgrimages to Wudang Mountain goes back more than 1,000 years and is still popular among people.

Source: China Daily

Chinese president meets Dominican counterpart

2008-08-22T07:44:00.009-07:00

Chinese President Hu Jintao met on Friday with President of the Commonwealth of Dominica Nicholas Liverpool, who is in Beijing to attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

China and Dominica have maintained sound and stable growth of friendly relations in the past four years since they clinched diplomatic ties, said Hu.

"The two countries have maintained high-level contacts, deepened mutual political trust, carried out fruitful cooperation in diverse fields, and supported each other and enhanced coordination in international and multilateral affairs," he said.

Hu said China cherishes the friendly relations with Dominica, an important country in the eastern Caribbean, and is ready to work with Dominica to keep expanding exchanges and cooperation in diverse fields and achieve common development and prosperity.

Liverpool thanked China for its support and assistance to Dominica over the years, vowed to keep to the one-China policy and hoped the two countries keep expanding all-round cooperation.

During the meeting Hu also expressed gratitude for the Dominican government's support for the Beijing Games.

Calling Liverpool a "senior statesman" and "old friend of the Chinese people", Hu said the Dominican president has always treated relations with China from strategic high, kept to the one-China policy and done immense work to promote the friendly cooperation between the two countries.

"China highly appreciates these efforts," Hu added.

Liverpool arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for the Games.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese president meets Icelandic counterpart

2008-08-22T07:44:00.007-07:00

Chinese President Hu Jintao met on Friday with Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympic Games to discuss bilateral relations and areas for further cooperation.

China and Iceland have enjoyed traditional friendship and maintained friendly cooperation, said Hu. Such a relationship is a good example of equal treatment and friendly cooperation between countries with different social systems and at different stages of development, he added.

"China is ready to make concerted efforts with Iceland to continuously deepen bilateral relations and practical cooperation in various fields," the Chinese president said.

The China-Iceland free trade negotiations are going on a smooth track, and China hopes an agreement is reached at an early date, based on the principle of equality and practicality, Hu said.

Grimsson said Iceland and China have kept expanding cooperation in diverse sectors and have set up a paradigm of successful cooperation between a small country and a big one.

He hoped the two sides work together to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in economy and trade, higher education, science and technology, earthquake prediction and monitoring, and utilization of terrestrial heat.

Iceland is willing to work with China to push forward the free trade negotiations, said Grimsson.

During the meeting, Hu congratulated Grimsson on his reelection as president and thanked the Icelandic government's support for the Beijing Games.

He said that Grimsson, an old friend of the Chinese people, has made active contributions to the development of friendly relations with China. "We highly appreciate these efforts and feel grateful."

Grimsson said he attended the Special Olympics in Shanghai last October and is very happy to be at the Beijing Games. His presence is a historic event in his country because this is the first time for an Icelandic head of state to attend the Olympic Games.

He also congratulated the Chinese government on the successful hosting of the Special Olympics and the Beijing Games.

Grimsson, the fifth president of the Nordic nation, took office in June 1996 and was sworn in for his fourth term this year.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese president meets Australian governor-general

2008-08-22T07:44:00.005-07:00

Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Australian Governor-General Michael Jeffery on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympics Games on Friday to renew the two countries' friendship and seek further cooperation.

As two important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, China and Australia are principal partners for cooperation and share extensive and vital common interests, Hu said.

The further development of the two countries' mutual beneficial and friendly cooperation is in line with the common aspiration of the two peoples and is conducive to the world's peace, stability and prosperity, he added.

China is ready to make concerted efforts with Australia to handle and develop bilateral ties with a strategic point of view, always make sure their relations are forged in the right direction, and elevate such ties to a new high, Hu said.

Jeffery said his country values cementing of cooperation with China and is ready to bolster the practical collaboration with China in diverse sectors including economy and trade, energy, environment protection, defense, education, culture and personnel exchanges.

Hu welcomed Jeffery to the Beijing Olympics and expressed thanks for the governor-general, as well as the Australian government, for their support for the Games.

He also congratulated Jeffery on Australian athletes' outstanding performances and achievements at the Beijing Olympics.

Jeffery expressed his great affection to China. He congratulated China on the magnificent achievement of running the Games and on Chinese athletes for their super performances in the medal tally.

The world has become a happier place through the contacts of the Games, Jeffery said.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese president meets British prime minister

2008-08-22T07:44:00.003-07:00

Chinese President Hu Jintao met Friday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is in Beijing to attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Hu said he was pleased to meet Brown for the third time this year, and welcomed the prime minister to the Beijing Games.

He expressed appreciation and thanks for Brown, who, in a gesture of support for the Beijing Games, greeted the Beijing Olympic flame at his residence at No. 10 Downing Street when it was relayed to London in April.

Hu also voiced gratitude for Britain's valuable assistance and support to China after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Wenchuan County in the southwestern Sichuan Province on May 12.

Brown expressed congratulations on the "spectacular success" of the Beijing Olympiad. "With the whole world watching, the Beijing Olympic Games have captured the imagination of the whole global community," he said.

He also spoke highly of Chinese athletes' outstanding performances. China has taken 47 gold medals, "perhaps even higher", he said.

Beijing has "set a new standard" that London will "seek to follow", said Brown. He voiced confidence that the London Games of 2012 will also prove a success and Chinese athletes will score good results there as well.

Brown said he is happy to learn that the sports administrations of the two countries have reached an agreement on cooperation, which will boost their collaboration for the London Games, especially in such events as diving and table tennis, where China enjoys advantage.

Source:Xinhua

China attaches importance to developing ties with Pacific Island countries

2008-08-22T07:44:00.001-07:00

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi said here on Thursday the Chinese government always attaches importance to the relations with the Pacific Island countries.

Speaking at the 20th Post-Forum Dialogue partners meeting, Liu said China is ready to make friendly cooperation with these island countries, supports these states in their efforts to develop their economies, improve their life standards and make sustainable development.

"We are willing to keep close contact with leaders and peoples of these island countries, strengthen mutual political trust, expand cooperation and exchange in the fields of economy and trade, culture, education and health, etc. We are ready to provide assistance in our ability, push forward the relations between China and the Pacific Island countries," Liu said.

He also made a brief introduction to China's policies on climate change, energy and food safety, and hoped to make contribution to help the island countries in their efforts in these areas.

The leaders of the 15 Pacific Island Forum member countries and14 Post-Forum Dialogue partners' representatives held their one-day meeting on Thursday and discussed such issues as climate change, energy, food safety and fisheries.

Source: Xinhua

Typhoon Nuri moves closer to Hong Kong, halting industries

2008-08-22T07:43:00.003-07:00

The Hong Kong Observatory issued the No. 8 Northwest Gale or Storm Signal Friday morning as Typhoon Nuri edging close to the southern Chinese city.

According to the Hong Kong Observatory, at 9 a.m. Friday, Nuri was centered about 150 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong near 21.5 degrees north latitude and 113.8 degrees east longitude.

It was forecast to move northwest or west-northwest at a speed of 14 kilometers per hour towards the Pearl River estuary and threatens Hong Kong.

The arrival of the typhoon forced the cancellation of Hong Kong's most ferries connecting some of the far-fetched islands, the neighboring Macao as well as some cities. Most of the bus transport in the city was also suspended.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited announced Friday's morning trading sessions of both the securities and derivatives markets have been delayed due to the issuance of Tropical cyclone Signal No. 8 by the Hong Kong Observatory.

The markets of HKEx's major products will resume trading from 2: 30 p.m. local time if the signal is canceled before noon. If the securities market resumes trading in the afternoon, there will be no pre-opening session.

The Hong Kong Observatory said that gale force winds were prevailing over Hong Kong gales over offshore waters and high grounds, with the maximum sustained winds recorded at 86 kilometers per hour. The Observatory advised the public to lock all windows and doors, fit bars and insert reinforced shutters and gates, and stay away from the shoreline, not engaging in water sports.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority expected at least 82 flights arriving at or departing the Hong Kong International Airport to be canceled Friday due to the bad weather, advising passengers to call the hot-line of the airlines before going to the airport.

All courts, tribunals, day school classes, immigration offices and other government non-emergency services were also forced to suspend because of the hoisting of No. 8 gale or storm signal.

The Olympic live sites in Victoria Park and Sha Tin Park were closed due to Typhoon Nuri but the 11-day Beijing Olympic Games Equestrian competitions has come to a close Thursday night at the Shatin Equestrian Venue.

Source: Xinhua

Chinese president, premier express condolences over Madrid plane crash

2008-08-22T07:43:00.001-07:00

President Hu Jintao of China sent a message to Spanish King Juan Carlos on Thursday to mourn those killed in Wednesday's deadly plane crash in Madrid, a Chinese Foreign Ministry press release said.

In the message, Hu expressed his condolences to the victims and their families on behalf of the Chinese government and people.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also sent a message of condolence to his Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

At least 153 people died Wednesday after a Spanair MD-82 crashed on takeoff and burst into flames at Madrid's Barajas airport at 2:45 p.m. local time .

Source: Xinhua

Vice premier: China values relation with Cuban

2008-08-22T07:42:00.006-07:00

China values its friendly ties with Cuba and is willing to work with Cuba to push bilateral relationship to a new height, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday.

Li made the remarks when meeting with Jose Ramon Fernandez Alvarez, vice president of the Cuban Council of Ministers, here on Thursday.

Li said Sino-Cuban relations were at a new stage of development, as the two countries had maintained frequent high-level contact and increased economic cooperation and consultation in international affairs.

Li also congratulated the Cuban guest on the good performance of Cuban athletes at the Olympic Games.

Fernandez, also president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, said Cuba would make new efforts to strengthen relations with China and believed the Games would be a total success.

Li also met on Thursday with Tony Hayward, BP Group chief executive officer.

He said energy was an important resource for economic development and high oil prices had become a cause of concern for many countries.

He said that nations should strengthen dialogue and cooperation to safeguard global energy security.

China would take the scientific development outlook and adopt measures to save resources and reduce emissions, , the vice-premier said, adding China will improve the efficiency of energy consumption to pursue sustainable development.

He hoped BP would expand cooperation with its Chinese partners to achieve a win-win deal.

Hayward said his company would continue to strengthen cooperation with China.

Source: Xinhua

New earthquake hits Yunnan's Yingjiang County

2008-08-22T07:42:00.005-07:00

French paper lauds Beijing's anti-pollution measures

2008-08-22T07:42:00.003-07:00

Measures taken by Beijing to tackle air pollution before the Olympic Games have proved to be effective, setting at rest previous concerns over the issue, an article in the French sports daily L' Equipe said Thursday.

Measures taken before the Games, such as relocating or closing pollution-causing factories and pulling half the cars off the streets each day, have all proved effective, the article said.

It also highlighted the blue skies seen during the event.

Beijing's air quality has also received high praise from athletes participating in the Olympics, the paper said.

"Honestly, I did not feel uncomfortable. The sky is blue and it is only a bit hot. That's it," said Jared Tallent of Australia, who won bronze in the men's 20km walk.

French race walker Yohann Diniz, who won a silver medal at the 2007 World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, said he did not feel the presence of any pollution in Beijing. It was in fact easier for him to adapt to the weather in Beijing than in Osaka, he added.

Race walker Francisco Javier Fernandez of Spain said he was very satisfied with Beijing's weather information service, calling it "perfect."

Source: Xinhua

Russian president congratulates Olympic champions

2008-08-22T07:42:00.001-07:00

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has hailed the victories of Russian athletes at the ongoing Beijing Olympic Games and sent congratulatory letters to the champions.

"In the hard, uncompromising wrestle you have defeated your rivals and confidently added a new chapter to the national big-time sport history, " the Kremlin said on Wednesday, citing the president's letter to Mavlet Batirov, Olympic champion in the men's 60kg freestyle wrestling.

Batirov, also a world champion of 55kg at Athens, won his second Olympic gold medal on Tuesday, beating Ukrainian Vasyl Fedoryshyn in the final.

"The best wrestler's qualities have helped you to climb the Olympic summit: courage, excellent techniques and the enormous will to win, and certainly, the talent of the trainers, support of the team-mates and a million of fans that believed in your mastery," said the letter.

In a letter to Yelena Isinbayeva, champion in women's pole vault, Medvedev said the victory marked by a new record "is a bright confirmation of your unequalled mastery, perseverance and enormous purposefulness."

"It has become a real gift to the numerous fans of track-and-field athletics," Itar-Tass news agency quoted the letter as saying.

Isinbayeva, dubbed the female Sergei Bubka, broke her own world record to win the women's pole vault gold on Monday.

The 26-year-old has broken the world record for 24 times. She has vowed that her career goal is to beat Ukrainian Sergei Bubka's mark of 35 world records.

Russia has so far won 14 golds, 14 silvers and 18 bronze medals at the 16-day sport events, ranking No. 4 on the medal table.

Source: Xinhua

Typhoon Nuri nears Hong Kong, forces flight cancellation

2008-08-22T07:41:00.010-07:00

Typhoon Nuri moved to about 300 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong on Thursday evening, forcing cancellations of at least 10 flights scheduled for arriving in and departing the Hong Kong airport on Friday.

The Hong Kong Observatory issued a No. 3 strong wind signal at 8:40 p.m. Thursday, saying "winds with mean speeds of 41 to 62 kilometers per hour are expected."

The typhoon was forecast to move west-northwest at about 14 kilometers per hour and strong winds were beginning to affect the offshore waters. Nuri would be rather close to Hong Kong on Friday and the weather is expected to deteriorate on Thursday night, with strong winds and heavy rain over the next couple of days.

The Observatory also said it did not rule out the possibility of issuing a storm signal No. 8, which was only seen on rare occasions when typhoons hit the city.

Dragonair announced that ten of its flights into and out of the Hong Kong airport on Friday have been canceled due to the typhoon threat. The canceled flights were due to depart or fly to cities such as Shanghai, Fuzhou, Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Other flights could also be delayed or canceled, the company added.

Cathay Pacific, another major airline, said the remainder of the flights on Thursday were operating as normal, but there could be delays and cancellations on Friday.

Some of the ferry services leading to neighboring mainland piers were also canceled, and the double-deck buses were advised to leave the upper deck empty.

The Transport of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said it was monitoring the public transport and road conditions closely and that information on the operation of the local transport system will be relayed to the media for broadcasting.

The equestrian events of the Beijing Olympics were proceeding as scheduled so far. The Equestrian Company, organizer of the events, has said earlier that the events was not affected. The awarding of the last medal was expected in the evening.

Source: Xinhua

China's Guangdong on top alert of sea wave as Typhoon Nuri approaches

2008-08-22T07:41:00.009-07:00

South China's Guangdong Province issued a red warning alert on sea wave on Thursday as Typhoon Nuri, the 12th tropical storm this year, approached, according to local flood control headquarters.

Typhoon Nuri was moving northwestward at a speed of 15 to 20 kmper hour and expected to hit the coastal areas between Shanwei and Yangjiang in Guangdong from Friday noon till night.

On Thursday, billows, about six to seven meters high, lashed the province's coastal areas.

Force 12 wind, torrential rain and geological hazards were expected when the typhoon landed, a headquarters spokesman said.

By Thursday evening, 45,374 vessels and 159,332 people had been recalled to harbors in the province. Another 87,000 people were evacuated.

Both Guangdong and neighboring Fujian Province had been hit by lingering heat with temperatures rising to 37 degrees Celsius. The observatories expected the impending typhoon to cool the air.

The Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday night issued an urgent notice requiring fishery and agricultural departments in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangxi and Guangdong to keep the public informed and help fishing vessels avoid risk.

Source: Xinhua

Gang on trial for smuggling pangolin scales in SW China

2008-08-22T07:41:00.007-07:00

A gang of eight people stood trialon Thursday in southwest China's Yunnan Province on the charge of smuggling more than 20 tonnes of pangolin scales worth 20 million yuan .

The gang leader, Li Miwei, 39, managed an Internet bar in Menglian County, Pu'er City, as a front, said the Intermediate People's Court of Kunming City, the provincial capital.

Li was responsible for contacting buyers and buying pangolin scales from sellers in Myanmar. His gang then transported them to the county.

He also bribed two clerks at the local post office and mailed the scales to buyers across the country.

Police caught Li last August and busted the smuggling ring, involving 14 suspects, two months later. They seized a huge quantity of pangolin scales and four cars, and froze 400,000 yuan.

The court said the gang had been smuggling pangolin scales on the border with Myanmar since 2001. The scales were mostly bought from India, Thailand, Nepal and Laos before they were transported to Yunnan via Myanmar.

The endangered armadillo-like creatures are widely hunted for their medicinal and culinary value.

Source: Xinhua

Officials' overseas trips to face tighter scrutiny

2008-08-22T07:41:00.005-07:00

The National Bureau of Corruption Prevention said yesterday that officials' applications to make overseas trips will be subjected to tighter scrutiny to avoid the abuse of public funds.

Expenses for business trips will be restricted and pre-auditing will be carried out, according to the bureau.

Officials must take responsibility if their trips violate disciplinary codes or laws, the bureau's notice stated.

With the country widening international exchanges in recent years, some officials have taken advantage of overseas trips in order to pocket public funds.

Last August, Xu Wen'ai, vice-procurator-general of Anhui province, was removed from his post for wasting public funds on a trip to Finland.

A delegation of 10 people from the procuratorate headed by Xu was found to have fabricated an invitation from the Finnish government.

An investigation found the delegation also tampered with business travel routes, adding a number of additional destination countries.

The incident caused a nationwide outcry, with many provinces considering tighter regulations to screen officials planning overseas trips to international conferences or for study.

In order to prevent similar abuses, an inter-ministerial mechanism has been established, with its office at the bureau.

The mechanism involves the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Supervision, the Ministry of Finance, the National Audit Office and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

In June, the CPC general office and the State Council general office jointly issued Regulations on Intensifying the Management of Overseas Business Trips.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Supervision have made improved supervision of overseas trips at public expense one of their major tasks for this year.

Ren Jin, a professor with the law department of the National School of Administration, said tighter scrutiny will pay off.

"It is obvious progress if officials make more efforts to avoid such violations of discipline," Ren told China Daily.

He suggested that expenditure for officials' overseas working trips be included in government budgets.

Source: China Daily

NDRC to focus on balanced growth

2008-08-22T07:41:00.003-07:00

China's top economic planner will see the focus of its work shifted to ensuring balanced economic growth and the number of its leading officials more than halfed, according to a plan approved by the central government yesterday.

The National Development and Reform Commission will have one minister and four vice-ministers whose remit will be ensuring stable growth.

The commission, which currently has one minister and 10 vice-ministers, will also lose some of its responsibilities for energy, industry management and price regulation.

Its powers over energy production, international cooperation and scientific research have been handed to the newly established National Energy Administration, while the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has taken over its decision-making power in terms of major industrial projects.

"The commission's powers in project approval will be gradually reduced," the central government said in a circular.

"Enterprises will play the leading role in business investment while local governments should have a say on whether projects ought be approved in accordance with laws and investment policies."

While the prices of most commodities are now determined by the market, the commission remains responsible for supervising the pricing of water, electricity, oil and gas. The central government said pricing rights should be further deregulated and some responsibilities handed to local governments.

Meanwhile, a department has been created in the commission to deal with climate change and handle international negotiations and cooperation on this issue.

The commission has also established a department to promote overseas investment.

Source: China Daily

Increased security in city parks is for benefit of all: Beijing tourism official

2008-08-22T07:41:00.001-07:00

Temporary quarters for all medical institutions in southwest China's quake zone will be finished by the end of this month, so as to fully restore medical service, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

As of Aug. 10, about 70 percent of the temporary structures needed in Sichuan Province had been built in the province's 42 quake-hit areas.

Construction work is almost done in Shaanxi Province's hardest-hit city, Baoji, and Hanzhong District, and work is going well in Gansu Province, according to the ministry.

Work has gone slowly in a few places because of transport problems. The ministry said it was coordinating among different departments to ensure medical service.

Under the rebuilding plan, the medical care system will be restored by the end of 2008.

The reconstruction of damaged infrastructure and medical facilities is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2009, and all medical service functions are scheduled to be restored by the end of 2010.

The plan involves the rebuilding of 169 hospitals, 63 disease control centers, 52 maternal and child health centers, 1,263 town and township clinics, seven drug inspection agencies and 67 other institutions.

About 12 billion yuan is said to be needed to restore medical services.

The May 12 quake is known to have killed more than 69,000 people, and it also injured hundreds of thousands of people and damaged the health care system, with hospitals destroyed and staff killed.

Source: Xinhua

Beijing airport promotes Chinese culture week for departing Olympic travelers

2008-08-22T07:40:00.004-07:00

The Beijing International Airport kicked off its Chinese culture week on Thursday in the new Terminal 3, with the aim of giving Olympic visitors a fond farewell.

Chinese folk artists were performing Chinese calligraphy and paper cutting, making traditional clay figures and tying Chinese knots in the departure hall.

"We are planning a Chinese culture feast to see off foreign quests and members of the Olympic family," said Dong Zhiyi, the airport general manager.

Between Thursday and Aug. 27, artists will give passengers performances of Chinese traditional music, Peking Opera, Tai Chi and other local dramas, he said.

Source: Xinhua

Laos, China to strengthen natural resource management co-op

2008-08-22T07:40:00.003-07:00

Technical staff from Laos and China have recently reached in-principle consensus on establishing a center for cooperation on land and natural resource management in Laos to exchange technical knowledge between the two countries, Lao newspaper Vientiane Times reported Thursday.

China has valuable expertise in requiring investors to take into consideration environmental issues when developing projects, the newspaper quoted Chanthaviphone Inthavong, acting director of Laos' Center for Research and Information on Land and Natural Resources, as saying.

China has faced similar problems to Laos, including deforestation for trade and agricultural purposes, but its officials have succeeded in introducing income-generating activities attached to forest preservation.

Jin Jiaman, executive director of Global Environmental Institute, a Chinese non-profit, non-governmental organization in Beijing, said China had implemented a number of environmentally friendly land development projects in such Chinese localities as Sichuan and Yunnan over the past 10 years.

Jin gave the example of a dam constructed in Sichuan province where the dam's investors established a fund to rehabilitate the forest and implement social and environmental activities to provide a preservation area for pandas.

"This shows the development process can be aligned with environmental protection for sustainability," she said.

Source: Xinhua

Senior Chinese political advisor meets senior Thai legislator

2008-08-22T07:40:00.001-07:00

Wang Gang, a Communist Party of China senior official, on Thursday met with the First Deputy Speaker of the Thai Senate, Nikom Wairatpanij.

Wang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference , the country's top advisory body, welcomed the Thai legislator, who came here to watch Olympics events and attend the closing ceremony.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said the CPPCC had maintained multi-level friendly exchanges and cooperation with Thailand's senate in recent years.

Exchanges between the two bodies constitute an important part of China-Thailand ties, help enhance mutual understanding and trust, and promote bilateral ties, Wang said.

THe CPPCC would like to expand and deepen cooperation with Thailand's senate and contribute to bilateral relations.

Source: Xinhua

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2008-08-03T02:30:00.000-07:00

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