Beijing on target for spectacular Olympics

CHINA: There may still be three years to go until Beijing hosts the Olympic Games, but Chinese authorities are stepping up their…

CHINA: There may still be three years to go until Beijing hosts the Olympic Games, but Chinese authorities are stepping up their efforts to make sure they are ready for an event that has captured the public imagination.

The Chinese are spending billions of euro to get the ancient capital ready, with the city one giant construction site in preparation, and Beijing authorities promising some spectacular events.

Olympic organisers are working out how exactly the Olympic torch relay will be run across the top of Mount Everest.

However, televising the event from Everest, the world's tallest peak at 8,850 metres (29,035 feet), remains a headache. Getting the broadcast equipment up there will not easy.

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The Beijing Olympics, due to take place in August 2008, will be only the third summer games in Asia. Tokyo hosted them in 1964 and Seoul in 1988.

The Chinese government has also sent a team of climbers to do a clean-up job on Everest. Climbers and tourists have left about 615 tons of rubbish on the mountain since 1921.

There are also plans for the Olympic torch to pass through Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, during the relay run of the "flame of peace".

Many billions of euro have already been spent erecting spectacular new buildings and infrastructure which are expected to be cheaper than Athens, and on time.

"Beijing is the only organising committee that has been asked to slow down the construction. We are completely confident that the venues will be completed on time," said Kevin Gosper, a member of the International Olympic Committee co-ordination panel.

Early-morning rush-hour traffic was brought to a standstill in Beijing yesterday as the IOC experts whizzed through town to see how the national stadium is progressing. It will hold 91,000 spectators and will be ready by the end of 2007, said Li Shizhou, general manager of the site.

They also saw the national aquatic centre, which will also be ready by the end of 2007.

There have been fears that Beijing's badly polluted air - the IOC visit took place on a smoggy day - could be a problem, but Mr Gosper said he thought Beijing was doing enough to deal with it.