Fr. Irek Dampc’s explanation of the Beijing Olympic preparations and symbols.  

A few weeks ago I noticed one of my classmates from Chinese language class at Beijing Language and Culture University looked very tired. His eyes were red, and during the class he was constantly yawning.

 

So, after the class I asked whether he had a health problem or he was homesick. He sad his heath was all right and he didn’t miss his family that much. However his greatest worry is that he cannot sleep because he is renting a room near the Olympic Park. The construction work is going 24 hours a day. Heavy trucks passing near his window make so much noise, he is unable to have even a few minutes of peaceful sleep.
  The following weekend I was on my bike going toward the Olympic Park. The trip didn’t take long as it is just a half an hour away from my flat. However it was long enough to get a bit tired and completely covered with dust from numerous trucks passing one way or another.  
The National Stadium, dubbed the “Bird’s Nest” for its giant irregularly latticework structure, looks very impressive. According to official sources, construction of all competition venues and related projects are supposed to be finished before the end of 2007.     

Looking at the stadium, still very much under constriction, I could hardly believe that everything will be completed by the end of 2007.
 The 1,110-hectare Olympic Park is being built where the 14 sport events venues and the Olympic Village will be located. The National Stadium, the place of the opening ceremony, lies in the middle of the park.
 

  National Aquatics Center
The 2008 Olympic Village will be a ‘green island,’ with 40-50 percent of the area covered by trees and flowers.
 
 
 
Olympic VillageDriving my bike inside the Olympic Park from one venue to another, I noticed many flags with the Olympic emblems, mascots and even pictures of the Olympic medals. I was wondering what they symbolize, whether there is special meaning in them. So I decided to ask my Chinese friends for the explanation. They told me about the following.

The Official Opening Date 

The 2008 Beijing Olympics will begin at 8pm on 08.08 2008.
Eight is considered the most fortuitous of numbers in China. Its pronunciation “Ba”, (八) sounds the same as the word “Fa”, (发) which means “to make a fortune, money”. So, the date of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is in keeping with the nation’s luckiest number.
 
 
The Olympic Emblem
 
 
The Olympic emblem consists of three parts: a Chinese seal, the words “Beijing 2008,” and the five Olympic rings. The main part of the official emblem, a red dancing figure, resembles the Chinese character “Jing” (京- capital).Its free-style strokes symbolize the energetic and open city of Beijing. The design well represents the spirit, characteristics and verve of the Chinese culture. It also indicates the Chinese capital city’s determination to have a New Beijing a Great Olympics, a Green Olympics, a High-tech Olympics and a People’s Olympics. This is exactly the Olympic spirit - friendship, peace and progress. 

The Official Mascots

 
The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games draw their colors from the Five Olympic Rings. And they draw their inspiration from the traditional Chinese five “Fuwa” () to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends. The five “Fuwa” also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals: the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope and the Swallow. And other represents the Olympic Flame.
Each of the “Fuwa” （福娃） has a rhyming two-syllable name, a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. “Beibei” （贝贝）is the “fish”, “jingjing” （晶晶） is the “panda”, “huanhuan” （欢欢）is the Olympic Flame, “yingying” （迎迎） is the “Tibetan antelope” and  “nini” （妮妮） is the “swallow”.
  
When you put their names together – “Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni”, they say, “Welcome to Beijing” offering a warm invitation and welcome to everyone.
 
Although there is not much rain in Beijing the chances that the skies will open up over the “Bird’s Nest” Stadium at the Olympics opening ceremony on August 8, 2008 are 50/50, according to China’s top meteorologists.

Beijing’s meteorological bureau believes it can manipulate the weather to guarantee a dry opening ceremony at next year’s Olympic Games. They will use various artificial measures to make the rain fall before it arrives in the Beijing area.

 “Shooting up the clouds won’t work anyway”, says one of the atmospheric scientists. “Absurd-it never works”. Maybe that’s why, the chief engineer of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau is resorting to another unlikely technique in secular China: “God bless Beijing,” he said.

  At the time the photo below was taken there were 253 days, 5 hours, and 57 minutes and 32 second to the opening ceremony of the Olympics Games in Beijing. As I talk to people, ride my bike to school, I can see they are more and more exited the closer the opening day gets.
 People from all walks of life are actively involved in the preparatory work. Their aim has always been to stage the most distinctive and high-level Olympics to date, so that people all over the world can remember the moment forever.
  I hope the Games will be remembered for a very long time. I pray God will be with the Chinese people and all the athletes and visitors not only during the Olympics, but also after it and for ever. God bless China. May it be in someway a foretaste of the Kingdom of God.    Fr. Irek Dampc OMI