Village takes shape

Forty-two buildings and six auxiliary facilities of the Olympic Village have passed all pertinent examinations recently, marking a significant step forward in the site's construction.

Covering an area of 66 hectares and with a total building area of 556,000 square meters, the village will host 16,000 athletes and officials during the Beijing Olympic Games.

Chinese cultural elements and an environmental theme have been incorporated into many of the buildings. The village will officially open on July 27 for the Olympics. It will open on August 30 for the Paralympics.

Mystery customers

Kerry Oils & Grains (Arawana), the exclusive supplier of cooking oil to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, recently announced its plan to invite 2,008 volunteers as "mystery customers" to check the quality and service of their products during the Games. The plan aims to improve the transparency of its manufacturing process.

Chen Feng, vice-director of BOCOG's Marketing Department, praised the oil producer's commitment to offering products of excellent quality.

Arawana, manufacturer of the best-selling cooking oil brands for almost a decade, will see its products used in over 513,000 dinners serving over 10,000 athletes, officials and visitors at the upcoming Olympics.

Technical drills

The first of two technical rehearsals for the Beijing Olympic Games has been successfully completed, BOCOG and Atos Origin, the worldwide IT partner of the Olympic Games, announced last week.

The success of the rehearsal is a strong demonstration of the readiness of the technology staff, systems and operational procedures for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

During the three-day rehearsal, more than 100 pre-defined operational scenarios were carried out, covering IT systems, communications, IT security and press operations.

Art and future mesh

"It is now an extraordinary period and probably only the beginning of contemporary art in China," said Guy Ullens, cofounder of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), in an interview with BOCOG's official website www.beijing2008.cn.

Ullens, who comes from a Belgian family, has been collecting Chinese modern arts since the 1980s.

(China Daily 05/09/2008 page2)