From our Definitive Guide to the Beijing Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics will have:
« 28 sports
« 302 events, with 165 men's events, 127 women's events and 10 mixed events)
« 35 Olympic disciplines (including swimming, football and tennis)
« 9 new events, including in cycling, swimming, table tennis and fencing at this Games
« 31 Beijing-based Olympic venues and 6 located in other cities (Qingdao, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Shanghai, Qinhuangdao and Shenyang)
« Of the 31 Beijing-based venues, 11 are newly constructed, 12 are existing venues and 9 are temporary venues
« The 11 new Games venues will have a total capacity of 236,524
« 75% of the total number of tickets are available to the domestic public (of China), while 25% were available to overseas public
« In total there will be over 7 million tickets available to the public
« There were approximately 26,000 tickets available for the opening ceremony. And a total of approximately 6 million tickets available for the whole Olympics
« There are over 5000 items of Olympic merchandise currently available from the official merchandise website http://en.2008eshop.cn/
Trivia
« Beijing officials have planned to seed clouds (changing the amount or type of rain by dispersing silver iodide, dry ice or other substances into the air) as a preventative measure to ensure good weather during the games.
« Beijing authorities predict a marriage registration and birth boom on the opening day of the Olympics. As 08/08/08 is considered an auspicious date.
« Normal beds at the Olympic Village will be 1m x 2m. The one for Yao Ming, the famous Chinese basketball player, will measure 2m x 4m to accommodate his 2.29 m height.
« Bathrooms in the newly constructed stadia in Beijing are off limits to local residents. The government has imposed a 500 yuan fine for any violators.
« The man who designed the 2008 Beijing Olympics mascots was only paid 1 yuan for his work. Mr Han Meilin said he didn't want any sort of payment.
« A new terminal at Beijing International Airport was completed in time for the Olympics. Two miles long and half a mile wide, its design resembles a dragon. It is larger than all the terminals of London's Heathrow airport put together, and took 4 years to complete. It was opened without any of the chaos that accompanied a new terminal opening in England earlier this year
« In anticipation for the Beijing Olympics the 11th of every month has been designated as Queuing Day, while the 22nd of every month is Seat-giving Day, encouraging local residents to show more courtesy on public transport.
« The Beijing Organising Committee has released an ‘official Olympic cheer' for the games. The official cheer includes a series of clapping and hand movements combined with the chant "Olympics, let's go! China, let's go!" (Zhongguo jiayou).
Sources:
http://beijingolympicsblog.wordpress.com/
http://www.purpleslinky.com/Offbeat/Five-Things-You-Didnt-Know-About-Beijing-2008.105704
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/2008/2006-08/22/content_671363.htm
http://summerolympicsnews.com/
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