The Beijing Olympics

The Olympics 2008

The Summer Olympics of 2008 will be held from August 8 to August 24, 2008 at Beijing, the capital city of China.  That the 2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing is seen by many as China’s grand entry into the world stage.

The official logo of the Beijing Olympics is known as Dancing Beijing.  The logo is a stylized calligraphy of the Chinese character “jing,” which means “capital,” therefore referring to Beijing.  The mascots chosen for the Beijing Olympics are five Fuwa dolls, each doll depicting a color of the Olympic rings.  Fuwa dolls are good fortune dolls in China.

Scheduled to comprise 302 events in 28 sports, just one event shy of the total number of events at the Athens Olympics of 2004, the Olympics 2008 will be centered on the new Beijing National Stadium, although some events will be held at other cities in China, such as Hong Kong.

The Beijing National Stadium

The Beijing National Stadium will be the center of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.  The track and field events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics will be held here.  The stadium has a seating capacity of 100,000.

The stadium carries the nickname “Bird’s Nest” because it looks like a gigantic nest made of steel.  The famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei collaborated with the design of the stadium.