The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, is being held in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. It was opened by Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday during a stunning ceremony at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing. In the three-hour spectacular show, 6,000 performers and 4,000 disabled athletes from 148 countries took part in front of 91,000 ecstatic spectators.

The opening spectacular featured a number of disabled actors and actresses, focusing on themes of space, time and life.

About an hour into the extravaganza, a female spectator broke through the security cordon and made it onto the main arena. She was immediately removed by security staff.

Hou Bin, an amputee athlete and Paralympics gold medallist in athletics, lifted himself and his wheelchair up to the couldron with a rope before lighting it.

With the theme of ‘Transcendence, Integration and Equality’, the Paralympic Games reflects the yearning and quest of persons with disabilities to build a better world, together with other people.

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References: [Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games Official Site], [Wikipedia 2008 Summer Paralympics], [XinhuaNet The Opening Ceremony of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games], [BBC Dazzling show opens Paralympics]

Technorati Tags: Beijing, Paralympic Games, Hu Jintao, Bird Nest, Stadium, Hou Bin, Amputee, Athlete, Disable

Guo Jingjing is one of the most sexiest female athletics in Beijing Olympics and she also became the most successful diver in Olympic history Sunday by winning the women’s springboard event.

It was the second goal medal of these Games and the sixth of her career. She had been tied with China’s Fu Minxia and American Greg Louganis for the most diving medals all time.

Diving refers to the sport of performing acrobatics whilst jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard of a certain height. Successful competitors possess many of the same characteristics as gymnasts and dancers, including strength, flexibility, kinaesthetic judgment and air awareness.

However if you think it is fun and you are thinking of learning it, then think again, you will understand what I say after looking at these pictures…

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Technorati Tags: Diving, Beijing, Olympics, Sexy, Guo JingJing, Acrobatics, Water Cube, Aquatic Centre, Christina Loukas, Haley Ishimatsu, Wang Xin, Russia, Julia Pakhalina

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh; The beach volleyball’s dominant team ranked No. 1 in the world prepares for a second gold medal in Beijing Olympics. They beat The Cuban team their 103rd consecutive victory, to virtually assure themselves of a berth in the round of 16, which gets underway Friday.

Beach Volley is one of the most Hottest matches in Beijing 2008 Olympics, bikini-clad competitors, cheered on by dancing “beach babies” cheer leaders and a raucous crowd.

“Beach-babies” sporting bikinis danced to rock music played by a DJ, and were sometimes accompanied by Olympic volunteers.

Some 12,000 spectators in Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground seemed to enjoy the time-outs – during which the cheerleaders danced and huge video screens panned the audience – as much as the competition.

More on Cheerleaders of Beijing Olympics 2008

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Technorati Tags: Beach Volleyball, Beach Volley, Misty May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh, Beijing Olympics, Bikini, Cheerleader, Babes, Volley, China

The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be celebrated from August 8, 2008, to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony beginning at 08:08:08 pm CST (12:08:08 UTC) at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

It is going to begin at tonight; All together 205 countries will be participating in the 2008 Olympic. China and Chinese people are now absolutely ready to celebrate this feast of games.

Altogether 31 venues will be used in Beijing during the 29th Olympiad. All of them have been completed early this year. An additional six cities, namely Hong Kong, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang and Tianjin, will also co-operate with Beijing to run the Equestrian, Sailing and the Football Preliminaries.

Here are some of the exciting venues for Beijing Olympics 2008.

Bird Nest – The Beijing National Stadium

The Beijing National Stadium (???????) or the “Bird’s Nest” (??) for its architecture is a stadium finished for the Olympic Green in Beijing, China that was completed on March 2008.

Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron collaborated with ArupSport and China Architecture Design & Research Group to design the stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, the track and field competitions and the soccer tournament. Nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest,” the 93,000-seat arena was built with 36 kilometers of unwrapped steel weighing 45,000 tons.

Water Cube – Beijing National Aquatics Center

The National Aquatics Center, or simply the “Water Cube,” a blue palatial structure with an area of 80,000 sq m, will accommodate 17,000 fans for the swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming competitions.

The outer structure is a steel frame filled with more than 100,000 square meters of ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene), a plastic which reduces energy costs by allowing increased light and heat penetration.

Beijing National Indoor Stadium

Located in the southern part of the Olympic Green, the National Indoor Stadium joins the group of landmark structures in the area, including the National Aquatics Center to the south and the National Convention Center to the north. The stadium consists of a main structure and a warm-up gym nearby and other outdoor facilities, with an overall building area of 80,900 square meters. The seating capacity of the National Indoor Stadium is 18,000. The outdoor landscaping and roadways occupy an area of 44,000 square meters.

The National Indoor Stadium will be the competition venue for the Olympic Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline, and Handball competitions and the Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball competition.

The Beijing National Indoor Stadium seats 19,000 fans and will host the artistic gymnastics, trampoline and handball competitions.

Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium

The indoor arena slated to host the Olympic basketball tournament is part of a larger athletic complex, including Wukesong Sports Center Baseball Field and other commercial facilities.

Covering an area of 168,000 sq m, the gymnasium has three floors underground and four floors aboveground, with capacity for 18,000 spectators.

Entering Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium, one first notices the funnel-shaped LED display system. It is the first set of comprehensive displays in China that is able to meet the demands of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Not only are the standards met for basketball games, the LED system is also capable of being used for theatrical performances, real-time broadcasts and background imagery.

Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center

The center’s three main courts are dodecagonal with each of the 12 sides as a stands. The gray cement walls around each of the 12 sections form 12 stands which look like 12 petals of a lotus flower in the Olympic Forest Park.

Featuring 10 competition courts and six training courts, the venue covers a surface area of 16.68 hectares and has a building area of 26,514 square meters. The venue has a capacity of 17,400 seats, including 10,000 seats in the main court; 4,000 seats in the No. 1 cour; 2,000 seats in the No. 2 court; and 1,400 seats in the seven preliminary competition courts at the No. 2 platform.

Laoshan Velodrome

Occupying a land surface of 33,320 sq m, the Laoshan Velodrome shines as a brand new venue for the track cycling event for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The three-story building is 33.8m tall, capable of seating 6,000, including 3,000 temporary seats. It is capped with a dish-shaped dome where more than 200 lights are installed. A 250m-long all-weather wooden cycle track lies on the floor, surrounded by rows of blue spectator chairs.

The velodrome has a lattice-framed steel structure, with a horizontal shadow spanning 133.06m, and 150m in diameter. To put 1,400 tones of steel structure in place, the engineers and workers displayed their “weaving” skills on and above ground.

Beijing Shooting Range Hall

With a seating capacity of 9,000, the Beijing Shooting Range Hall will host the qualifications and finals of the 10-, 25-, and 50-meter range shooting events. The first gold medal of the 2008 Summer Olympics will likely be awarded here.

The Beijing Shooting Range Hall was designed to reflect the shape of a hunting bow. This design takes into consideration the origins of the sport of shooting—hunting in the forest. The Shooting Hall’s qualification competition halls and the final competition hall are connected by the venue’s main entrance, which contributes to the venue’s “bow” shape.

Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park

The Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park seats 37,000 spectators, with 1,200 permanent seats and 25,800 temporary seats, including 10,000 standing room only seats and will host the rowing, canoeing, kayaking and 10-kilometer marathon swimming events.

With a building area of 31,850 sq m, it occupies the largest surface area of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games venues.

The Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park is the world’s only first-class rowing-canoeing venue that contains both flatwater and slalom courses.

Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground

The Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground is now ready for the Beach Volleyball events during the Beiijing Olympic Games, from August 9-22. The building a fabulous 12,000 seat volleyball palace that rivals all other previous incarnations of Beach Volleyball since its medal inception at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

The volleyball ground contains 17,000 tons of fine sand imported from Hainan.

China Agricultural University Gymnasium

Located on the campus of China Agricultural University (CAU) in Beijing, the 8,200-seat gymnasium will host the wrestling competitions. The complex spans an area of nearly 24,000 square meters.

After the 2008 Games, the venue will serve as a multi-functional facility accessible to university students and staff, as well as the residents in the neighborhood

Peking University Gymnasium

Located on the Peking University campus and covering an area of 26,900 sq m, the gymnasium includes a natatorium and is 122.6 m long from south to north and 87.7 m wide from east to west. The table tennis venue on the first floor is 47 m long and 39.5 m wide, has room for eight competition tables, and can seat 7,557.

The project’s steel structure relies on a seven-part support system comprising a pre-stress inhaul cable and horizontal, vertical, and other supportive components. Its roof resembles a table tennis ball between two hyperbolic surfaces, garnering it the name “China Ridge.”

Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium

The University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB) Gymnasium is completed. Comprising a main gymnasium and a 50 m X 25 m standard-sized swimming pool, the gymnasium has a total building area of 24,662 sq m.

The main gymnasium contains a 60 m x 40 m competition area and 8,012 spectator seats, including 4,080 permanent seats and 3,932 temporary seats. The venue will hold the Judo and Taekwondo competitions of the Olympic Games and Wheelchair Rugby and Wheelchair Basketball competitions of the Paralympic Games.

Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium

The Beijing University of Technology (BUT) Gymnasium is the only Olympic venue located in Beijing’s southeastern area. It will serve as the Badminton and Rhythmic Gymnastics venue.

With a building area of 24,383 sq m, the BUT Gymnasium has seating capacity for 7,500. The gymnasium includes a competition hall and a warm-up hall.

A world record in suspension dome structures – The BUT Gymnasium boasts the world’s largest prestressed suspension dome ceiling 93 m in diameter. Also, the steel used in producing the structure weighs less than 1,200 tons, averaging 60 kg per sq m.

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References [Beijing Olympic Official Website], [Reuters], [XinhuaNet], [Guardian.UK], [CNN SportsIllustrated], [JAMD Sports], [DayLife]

Technorati Tags: Beijing, Olympics, Stadium, Peking, Bird Nest, Water Cube, Gymnasium, Velodrome, Badminton, Canoeing

http://ifs88.imagefly.info/v/1b/jpg/Olympics Venue 01.html

Gymnast Li Ning lights the Olympic Flame during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China.

The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics will begin from August 8, 2008, to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony beginning at 08:08:08 pm CST (12:08:08 UTC) at the Beijing National Stadium (The Bird Nest) in Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

Stringent security surrounding the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics has failed, with a Korean television station broadcasting preview footage after a reporter managed to walk into the National Stadium during a rehearsal on Monday.

The opening ceremony, directed by China’s best-known film director, Zhang Yimou, has been under the strictest security. Design and production teams and the thousands of cast members have been required to sign confidentiality agreements. Breaches are punishable by up to seven years jail.

Beijing Olympics spokesman Sun Weide last night told The Age the footage was obtained by “abnormal means” and questioned the professional standards of the reporter. But he said: “We hope to surprise the world with an excellent performance.”

Olympics 2008 Opening Ceremony – A funny movie is a click away

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Beijing Olympic Games Flame-lighting 8-8-2008 HQ – Watch more amazing videos here

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The Most Exicting Venues of Beijing Olympics 2008

Highlights of the Opening Ceremony

Following are more pictures taken from the full dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games last week on 31st July, 2008:

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Technorati Tags: Bird Nest, Beijing, Olympics, Opening Ceremony, Leaked, Footage, South Korea, Zhang Yimou

The Beijing National Stadium (北京国家体育场) or the “Bird’s Nest” (鳥巢) for its architecture is a stadium finished for the Olympic Green in Beijing, China that was completed on March 2008.

The stadium will host the main track and field competitions for the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, and some events for the later Paralympics in September 2008. It is located east of the Beijing National Aquatics Centre (China Water Cube).

This signature stadium is placed in the Olympic Green and occupies 21.4 hectares. It stretches 333 meters from north to south and 298 meters from east to west, covering an area of 258,000 square meters. The National Stadium is 68 meters high and holds 91,000 seats. The construction of the National Stadium began in December of 2003, and the cost was up to 3.5 billion yuan (423 million USD).

The stadium also topped architecture category of the 100 most influential designs in Times magazine earlier this year.

Dan Chung’s 360 degree view of the new National Stadium, open for the first time today.
Click and drag the image below to look around

View Larger Map

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References [Beijing Olympic Official Website], [Wikipedia.Org], [News.XinhuaNet], [ShowChina.Org], [Guardian.Co.Uk]

Technorati Tags: Bird Nest, BirdNest, Stadium, National Stadium, Beijing, Olympics, Paralympics, China, Architecture, Green, Signature

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be celebrated from August 8, 2008, to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony beginning at 08:08:08 pm CST (12:08:08 UTC) at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

Earlier in June, China launched a week-long series of anti-terrorist drills called “Great Wall 5″, in preparation for the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games. The drills involved emergency responders, “police forces, the People’s Armed Police, the People’s Liberation Army and the health, environmental protection, meteorology and transportation departments.” according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.

The picture above shows members of China’s armed police demonstrate a rapid deployment during an anti-terrorist drill held in Jinan, east China. A few surface-to-air missile launchers have also installed near to the Olympic Green.

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Source [Boston.Com]

While Beijing prepares for the 2008 Olympic Games, a few hundred kilometers away in Qingdao, guests at Sun Asia Ocean World can witness the Underwater Olympic Games!

Qingdao Underwater World is a sprawling complex with a myriad of animal species on display.

Among the four underground levels you’ll find an inter-tidal zone display, a seabed tunnel, a cabin passage, a marine theater, the purported largest cylindrical aquarium in the world, a rare marine species zone, a rainforest area and a surprisingly large marine education area which features an open lab, a touch pool, interactive video displays and a studio.

The Underwater Olympics competitors are all professional scuba divers, although they’re now involved in activities they probably hadn’t imagined before. There’s underwater fencing, shooting, gymnastics and even cycling. It’s enough to make you think it’s the year of the fish, not the year of the rat.

I feel the events are pretty limited. Here are some of the ides of underwater sports they might want to consider if they making the second game.

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References [QingdaoUnderwaterWorld], [XinHua], [ChinaTravel], [HownWow]

The Chinese edition of FHM (For Him Magazine) is celebrating its forth anniversary, and shows their support for the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympics in a stunning photoshoot. The May’08 issue of the magazine covered a 32-pages Olympic theme special and outsize pullout poster, titled ‘Journey of The Olympic Flame‘.

The magazine features four models engaged in combat and sport, with art direction that appears to be inspired by Zhang Yimou historical films.

One of the models Dai Feifei (戴菲菲), who is also a blogger, shared about how tough was the 3-days photoshoot experience (收获的5月–《男人装》4周年封面照). Dai was an Olympic Torchbearer during the Olympic torch relay in Shenzhen May 8th.

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Credit: [DanWei], [Dai Feifei], [QQ Women], [FHM China]

Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games is less than 100 days to go, I am so facinating of getting to China to enjoy the sensational event. I ‘ve started to decorate my desktop with these lovely the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; The Fuwa.

The cute Fuwa group consists of five members according to the traditional five elements: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. Each of the five names is designed to look like a plausible name for a small child, while also achieving a more complex task: when the first syllable of each name is put together, it sounds nearly identical to the phrase “北京欢迎你”, Běijīng huānyíng nǐ which means “Beijing welcomes you”.

Here are some nice screensaver

The People’s Olympics

A little athlete

Green Olympics

The Spring of BEIJING 2008

The Summer of BEIJING

The Autumn of BEIJING 2008

The Winter of BEIJING 2008

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